A Consultant's Chronicles

Digital Native vs Digital Immigrant: Line of the Week 11-01-09

This week's line of the week emerges from a provocative post by Brian Whalley of Hubspot, an online marketing company I know well & respect a great deal. In it he discusses how important it is for organizations today to have people who are so completely at home with the digital universe that it is essentially a way of life for them. He & the folks at Hubspot have deemed these people “Digital Natives.” Those who may not see technology as the "be all, end all" [because they are coming to it later in life], they call “Digital Immigrants” [or "those those who speak web with an accent]. Whalley went on to offer a cute little quiz to see how people rated themselves on this score.  However the post is not without some significant "issues."

Definitions: Digital Native vs Digital Immigrant

First of all, keeping these two definitions in mind, he goes on to discuss a new book just put out by 2 key people at Hubspot stating that: 

"...they recommend hiring more Digital Natives, not Digital Immigrants ('speaks web with an accent')..."  

The line as well the underlying attitude it reflects caught many people's attention & raised a few hackles. It is also an HR person's nightmare. As someone who coaches employers about how to navigate such "rocks & shoals" in the workplace, I found this to be both a huge problem as well as a potential liability for the company. Why? Aside from the problematic reasoning which I'll get to in a moment, all it takes is some "forty-something" or older who's passed over for a desired position to be able to point to such a document & scream "discrimination." Could this post [alone] be considered certain proof of such discrimination as in "case closed?" Absolutely not. What it creates is a sense of vulnerability that no company wants & the potential for a "legal headache," which no  company needs. 

Put The Focus On 'Skills' Not Age

My suggestion is that Mr Whalley clarify his thinking in a new post [something he tried to do in a comment] that speaks to the fuller meaning of what he was trying to convey. It is my belief that what he & others in the company meant is that organizations hire people with the skills of 'digital natives.' This takes the focus off of "age" & puts it squarely where it belongs: ability. While it may be what he meant, unfortunately it's not what he wrote.  Additionally, many of those who commented on the post [including me] pointed out that such a narrow definition is an injustice to the amazing pioneers in the field who helped contribute to the creation of the digital universe. I'm referring to people who have names like Jobs, Gates, Packard, Dell, & many others like them; none of whom fit the specified description of “native.” Perhaps it's safer to say that people like Jobs & company reside in a kind of twilight zone between the two groups. The whole analogy is problematic. After all, in political terms, I seriously doubt that anyone would consider Ronald Reagan, the father of his own brand of huber-Republicanism, as someone who "spoke Republican with an accent" even though he started out as a Democrat! Just thinkin'

Digital Line of the Week

This discussion gave rise to the digital line of the week in the form of a summary comment made by Peter Rastello. Whether you agree or not, I think he gets kudos for style points. He said

"..."if you weren't born with a mouse in your crib, you're not in the Digital Native club..." 

That seems to be the long & short of what was written by Whalley. What's your view?

High Tech High: Helping Business Tomorrow By Planting Seeds Today

One of the by-products of a change in health care policy will be the need for more doctors because there will be a significantly larger number of people seeking care. However,in this country we are experiencing a doctor shortage. How can this be when receiving  medical treatment in this country is highly desired throughout the world? One of the real culprits aside from the lack of interest in becoming a doctor is our declining education system especially when it comes to math & science. In disciplines other than healthcare, as the American workforce has moved away from manufacturing, the emphasis of jobs today & especially tomorrow are in the areas of research & development because innovation is what America has always done best. As a result, business also has a vested interested in seeing its children return to math & science. Increasingly blue chip companies are putting their time & money into the problem with mixed success.

Tomorrow's Jobs Require Math & Science Today n

Why are businesses having only modest success?  Generally, it's hard to fire up American children when it comes to math & science...or so we've been told.  Pursuing a career in medicine also means spending a minimum of 10 extra years training before reaping the monetary benefits which today amounts to less earning power than lawyers, stock brokers, & a host of other jobs that don't require anywhere near the same of amount of work & dedication.

High Tech High: A Solution To The Math/Science Deficit

However, the first real sign I have seen in a long time that someone has a clue about how to turn things around was while watching a brief news clip a few days ago about a relatively new public [charter] school in San Diego, Ca called High Tech High. It's a school full of math & science that challenges kids through the use of technology to dream & create. Children get in through the lottery system & can enter as early as grade school.  Although there are no tests, they are evaluated on an ongoing basis; every child who attends graduates & most attend college. A public school where kids willingly focus their energy on math & science most of the day & thrive? What a concept! Apparently it's one successful enough to spawn 4 more schools just like it. I can hear the health & business community now: "bring it on!"

Line of the Week 10-25-09

This week's line of the week belongs to Rebecca Mead of the New Yorker. She's written a brief article that explores the age old question "what do women want" except this time it's from a business perspective.  Apparently companies are so perplexed by this issue that they have engaged the services of a consulting group that examines retail behavior. They assigned consultant & author Micheal Silverstein to the task [am I the only one who thinks this is just a wee bit ironic?]. Clearly, understanding this demographic is essential in an era when it is smart business to cater to women. Silverstein noted that according to his findings, women want to be Swedish. Why? Apparently the Swedes not only have an egalitarian workforce in terms of money & treatment but they also value having ample vacation time in addition to truly sharing childrearing duties & household chores. There is of course a glitch. Quoting Silverstein, Mead writes:

" Swedish social policy might be a hard sell in America- much of the Midwest barely has IKEA..."

On its face, the line seems a tad flippant but I'd have to agree with its underlying meaning. However, you'd think these companies might consider looking for their solutions a little closer to home. Hiring a woman to help them discern what women want might be a good place to start. Just thinkin'  

Apps: How Can They Be Used By Small Business

Reading the November 2, issue of BusinessWeek where the cover story is about the business of "apps" triggered an interesting discussion with a friend who is novice app designer. According to their cover article, apps are no longer just about games & will soon explode as an integral business tool. The question I put to my friend is what are some ways small business can  leverage this new tool aside from writing documents & retrieving email. According to BusinessWeek the most obvious untapped use for small business is as a payment tool. My friend demurred because while he has some thoughts on how small business can benefit/profit from apps, they are not quite ready for "prime time." As a result, I thought I'd throw the question out there to you: if you own a small business, what would you like to be able to do straight from your smartphone that cannot be done today. Let your imagination run wild.

Apps As a Business: It's The Real Thing 

As you ponder the question consider Zynga's runaway success in their app "Farmville" on Facebook where people manage a plot of land, buying animals, crops, & other "necessities" for their virtual homestead. The cost of these items are seemingly "small potatoes:" under a dollar, maybe slightly over but that's all. So how much money has the parent company made in their short time in business? How about 100 million dollars which just goes to show that as a business, "apps" can be a very big deal.

Line of the Week 10-18-09

This week's line of the week belongs to the Washington Post's Pulitzer prize winning columnist, Eugene Robinson. In the face of this administration's plan to cut salaries & bonuses for the banks while Wall St goes hog wild, Robinson's description of these events as something akin to arresting jaywalkers instead of bank robbers seems apt. He summarized the current state of affairs the following way: 

"...Capping salaries and bonuses is fine... But we need to pay attention to the guys in ski masks with bulging bags of money slung over their shoulders... They're about to jump into the getaway car..."

Personally, as a businesswoman, I am all for private business reaping the rewards of honest effort in a good business year just as long as those same businesses don't look to our tax dollars to bail them out when things go badly; especially when they have been careless & unwise when it comes to spending other people's money.