Answering Why: Unleashing Passion, Purpose, and Performance in Younger Generations

Written by Mark C. Perna

Narrated by Braden Wright

Bridge the Gap and Reach the Why Generation 
 
If you've ever struggled to motivate the young people in your sphere of influence, Answering Why is the game-changer you've been looking for. From the urgent skills gap crisis to the proven strategies to inspire our youngest generations, Answering Why addresses the burning questions faced by educators, employers, and parents everywhere.
 
Author, CEO, and generational expert Mark C. Perna shares his wide experience and profound success as both a single dad and performance consultant for education and workforce development across North America. Readers will be empowered to:
 
- Embrace the branch-creak crisis moments of life
- Make meaningful, productive connections with the Why Generation (anyone under 40 today)
- Bring relevance, self-discovery, and passion to the learning process
 
The Why Generation is asking a serious question, and it’s time to answer it. This book will help awaken the incredible potential of young people everywhere and spur them to increased performance on all fronts, so they can make a bigger difference—which is exactly what they want.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
• Release date: Sep 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781626347984

Reviews for Answering Why

[liagiba-509990 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was disappointed in this book. I had hoped it would provide insight into managing and leading workers of a younger generation. But I found it intellectually shallow, and I didn't learn anything that common sense and some experience in that arena hadn't already provided. I was also irritated that it mostly sounded like a 240-page advertising brochure for the author's management consulting services. It may have some value to managers encountering Gen Z or the youngest Millenials in the workplace for the first time.

[James Gillespie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am a teacher, this book reminds me of why I came to teach. But even if your not a teacher this book has so much to teach us about connecting with our younger generations.

[mitchellray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mark Perna has written a clear and practical book on how to help Millennials and Generation Z individuals unleash their passion and discover meaningful work. Perna does an effective job explaining why we need to stop advocating that everyone attend college. The push for higher education for everyone is damaging our economy and the future of many young people. Perna describes the many satisfying, meaningful, and high-paying careers available to those who choose to go to college and those who decide not take that route. Perna provides clear and useful models that can be employed by educators and employers to assist young people to envision their future and plan on how to make their vision a reality. This is an important book for educators, employers, parents, and students.

[nanagee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a millenial, this book was a joy to read and really resonated with me. Passion and knowing why I do what I do helps keep me going. I took over a year off from working to review my passions and whys. Now I try to impart the same philosophy every time I train our new hires. There's not many books that are on my list of re-reads, but I'll have to revisit this book once a year.

[vpfluke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is written to describe the problems of inspired young people in the reality of employment life. The author combines Generations Y and Z into Why. It is probably written from the perspective of a Baby Boomer, who wants to truly help then younger generation of Why's. He sees a sense of unreality when they don't hear the creaking branch of their life. Employers get frustrated, and Perna wants to close the awareness gap. The need is to have education with a purpose and for this generation to develop a competitive advantage. The older generations don't really understand this generation.My experience with the Why generation as a Silent generation person is not reflective of Perna. In my latter days, I found in my transportation scheduling position that these people were a blessing compared to the older jaded generation. And in retirement I do keep up contact. Maybe for me to get to know a person is more important than the employment task at hand. I would slide into this later.

[fritzs-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Being a member of the Baby Boomer generation who currently works with an office full of employees from the Why generation has been a very interesting experience. Mark Perna’s book Answering Why has been helpful for me to better understand my coworkers. Mark also takes a very hard-hitting look at the countries love affair with college. I worked at a small university for 20 years and during that time felt that many of the students would be better off heading into the skilled labor market instead of becoming a knowledge worker. Mark goes in to different programs his firm has developed to help high school students and parents understand that the skilled labor market can lead to a very promising and fulfilling career. This book should be read by every parent who has children to show that there are other paths that can bring high pay and a great feeling of achievement for their children.

[julieandbeli · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a homeschooling parent this book proved itself invaluable to helping with the many questions addressing education and where it can take you. It is an excellent read that not only illustrates the Why but lays out the how. This is a tremendous blueprint that addresses the needs facing our youth as they move forward into the world outside of their education in the primary/secondary years. This is a timely and focused read that will benefit students today and the American economy of tomorrow.

[lace8structures · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I assumed, wrongly, that the current group is 'smarter' because of their access to smart-technology. Once I got my head around that error, the rest was obvious. School administrators were dropping metal shop, electrical, auto, drafting, math-for-life, music, cooking, in 1970's, so its not a surprise that there is no shared knowledge of career ladders in these fields. As one of the few who crossed from teaching Calculus, and Beginning Drafting, with stops at CAD, and Math for Life, the cross-over theme needs to be to "keep learning all your life"-- experimenting. Read "What Color is your Parachute?" when confused about what to do next. The book reads like an info-mercial for the author's materials. Can't recommend them, since I haven't see them.