AchieveGlobal's blog

Maybe This Really IS Your Father ’s Oldsmobile

By Todd Beck I’ve mentioned here before that I'm a pragmatist. So although I create videos for my YouTube channel and practically live in Facebook, I never (repeat never) use Instant Messaging. And I have a webcam (given to me free for participating in some survey) still in its original box in my closet. My wife says she thinks she wants it. Until she pushes hard, though, I'm procrastinating. So maybe I'm not a pragmatist, I'm just lazy. Either way, for me a technology must meet a need. If it doesn't, I consider it a waste of my effort. All of this makes me wonder if technology adoption is not a generational thing but just an age thing. In other words, regardless of generation, as we get older, maybe we start to prioritize more. We don’t have (or take) time for new technologies, not because they’re new but because the time required to learn them or use them won’t have the ROI we hope for. Kids love to pick up new toys which they often quickly abandon for something else. You can blame that on attention span, but I think it’s just that kids have the luxury of being able to spend time on what might turn out to be a dead end. What adult would take six months of golf lessons with absolutely no intent of ever playing after that? If the pace of technological change continues, then my 4-year-old son will eventually grow into an old man bombarded with new stuff. He’s a “digital native” who may end up just like his father—skeptical about how valuable each Next Big Thing actually is, and thus becoming very choosy. And if he does, I will be so proud.

DEBATE: What sort of training do younger workers--digital natives--need to master skills of leadership, sales, and customer service?

by Jack McDaniel The generation coming up in the workforce is learning to learn in a virtual world. IDC research shows “that 45% of companies have workers blogging, 43% use RSS feeds, and 35% of companies have employees using wikis.” IDC also reported that company executives and CIOs are often unaware of employee use of tools on the other side of the firewall. As corporations, we need to embrace the tools workers are using, make it safe to use them, and give workers opportunities to use them to learn. Secondary and post-secondary schools are increasing the number of on-line and virtual classroom sessions. Would any of us feel comfortable sending our kids to a school that did not teach and incorporate computer skills and virtual research techniques? The next generation expects to learn virtually. In addition, as companies are becoming much more global, with work groups that span the country, if not the entire world. Managers manage virtual teams, the service industry is becoming more and more a remote business (with offshore and virtual customer service groups), and sales are moving more toward on-line, with greater emphasis on reducing travel budgets. Corporate decision-makers may be located in three different states, or countries. If the next generation needs to learn to bridge distance and communicate virtually, so why wouldn’t training (including real-time skills practice) be virtual? The new generation is equipped to learn via elearning techniques, they are more comfortable learning via simulations, and they have virtual social skills that will need to be refined for the business world. So the best way to train them is in their native environment… online. If you're a digital native, or hope to be one in your next virtual life, watch this video in which Todd has no chance of winning this debate with me on AchieveGlobal Island in Second Life.