I Still Wouldn't Trade My Life for Theirs

Woody Allen: "80% of success is
showing up." Truer than ever.

To those of us who worked long hours for modest pay increases and sometimes just to keep our jobs, getting ahead today seems almost effortless: [bold added]

common-sense moves that might once have been considered standard—meeting people in person, doing small favors for colleagues, hitting deadlines even if it means occasional late nights—are now seen as exceptional in the current work climate...

Consultant Alec Agana, a senior associate at KPMG in Los Angeles, says he knows that long hours in the office were a baseline expectation for many of his predecessors. Now he says he scores points by showing up in person a few times a week, even though he is often required to go in just once.

Every generation thinks that the succeeding one has it easy, and yes, we boomers have become our parents and grandparents.