During a talk about
the baby boom echo generation
(individuals born
between 1978 and 1997 inclusive),
Don Tapscott shares*
“These kids are in front of a screen
about the same amount of time,
maybe a little bit more.
But they have three windows
and they’ve got three magazines open
and they are listening to mp3 files
and maybe talking on the phone
– more likely texting on the phone
– and they’ve got a video game…
Oh yeah and they are doing their homework.
When they are online,
what are they doing?
Rather than being a passive recipient
of somebody else’s video,
they are reading,
organizing,
authenticating,
researching,
composing their thoughts,
so-called multi-tasking,
and telling their stories.
This is creating a generation
that thinks differently.”
And this generation is in the workplace right now.
They’re our employees,
customers,
partners,
leaders.
We should understand this difference.
*University of Waterloo Magazine,
Fall 2012