Synopses & Reviews
Generation Blend
Technology and demographics are on a collision course. Digital Natives, Boomerang Boomers, and Generation X-ecutives are all grappling with the transformative implications of Web 2.0 technologies, and organizations are scrambling for the best ways to unlock the talents of a multigenerational workforce in a connected world. Generation Blend ventures deep into the technology age gap and provides real-world solutions to combine the best that younger and older workers have to offer.
Generation Blend explores how generational attitudes toward technology affect issues as diverse as recruitment and retention, employee training, management decision-making, collab-oration, knowledge sharing, work/life balance, and ordinary workday activities. How can your organization promote the continuity of knowl-edge and culture in the face of the coming demographic transition? What hidden factors put new technology deployments at risk? How can IT departments manage the growing demand for social and collaborative software while maintaining governance and security? What initiatives can you launch to bridge the divide in work styles and tech-savvy that separates veterans and newcomers in the workforce?
In Generation Blend, author Rob Salkowitz builds on the groundbreaking work of Don Tapscott (Wikinomics, Growing Up Digital), William Strauss and Neil Howe (Generations, Millennials Rising), and many others to connect the dots of sociology, technology, and management, and trace a roadmap for decision-makers. Generation Blend is rich with research and includes two original in-depth case studies from organizations that have developed unique approaches to bridging the technology age gap: Microsoft's Board of the Future project, which assembles college-age students from around the world to discuss a wide range of workplace issues, and Older Adults Technology Services, a New York-based nonprofit dedicated to intergenerational technology training and reciprocal mentoring programs. Organizations of all types and sizes can profit from their methods.
The retirement of the Baby Boomers, the arrival of the Millennials, and the impact of Web 2.0 technology in the enterprise create unprece-dented complexity for employers and workers in the 2010s and beyond. Organizations looking to solve the puzzle of productivity across the technology age gap should start with Generation Blend.
Synopsis
Generation Blend explores the origins, characteristics, and implications of generational attitudes of people toward information technology and showcases two innovative approaches to bridging the generational-digital divide. It discusses approaches to technology that empower people of all ages to contribute their talent, knowledge, and experience to the workplace, and offers ways to foster productive intergenerational dialogue around business and technology issues.
Synopsis
Praise for Generation Blend: Managing Across the Technology Age Gap
"There is no more important issue facing today's enterprise than the digital age gap. To avoid a generational clash and exploit the power of intergenerational collaboration and knowledge sharing, every organization needs to think differently. Generation Blend spells out clearly what your company needs to do to get it right."
Don Tapscott, coauthor, Wikinomics and author, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation
"Salkowitz usefully explains how generational attitudes shape workers' responses to technologies in the workplace and offers practical recommendations for how organizations can respond to increase the success of technological innovation. He opens a discussion that will only rise in importance as the rising generation of Millennials enters the workplace in full force in the decade ahead."
William Strauss and Neil Howe, authors of Generations: A History of America's Future and Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation
"The dirty little secret of essentially every company is that their most critical asset is their people. Generation Blend is a uniquely powerful tool for grasping the forces that are driving the tumultuous changes afoot in today's workforce, and for managing with and through them most effectively. Rooted in the concrete lessons of case study, it draws important lessons for managers and decision-makers who must understand the future of the workplaceand that, I believe, means all of us. Generation Blend is must-reading for managers who mean to succeed over the next decade."
Lawrence Wilkinson, Chairman, Heminge and Condell, and cofounder of Global Business Network
"Generation Blend presents timely data and analysis about the generations from a wide range of sources and is sure to become essential reading for people who want to understand and bridge the generational divide at work. If you want to engage, motivate, and retain young workers without driving the veteran workers away, then this book can help you."
Penelope Trunk, business columnist, The Boston Globe and author, Brazen Careerist
"Rob Salkowitz turns traditional thinking upside down for a witty and enlightening look at the unique technological challenges facing today's workforce."
Paul Andrews, technology columnist and author, How the Web Was Won
Synopsis
If you want to engage, motivate, and retain young workers without driving the veteran workers away, Generation Blend can help you. This timely book explores how generational attitudes toward technology affect issues as diverse as recruitment and retention, employee training, management decision-making, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and work/life balance. Looking to solve the puzzle of productivity across the technology age gap? Start with Generation Blend.
About the Author
Rob Salkowitz is a writer and consultant specializing in the social implications of new technology. He has worked with leaders in the ITindustry, including Microsoft, to help formulate market strategy and articulate business goals. Rob is coauthor (with Dan Rasmus) of Listening to the Future: Insights from the New World of Work (published by Wiley). He lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Chapter 1. Introduction.
Technology as the Locus of Conflict.
Technology as the Enabler of Potential.
Why Should We Care about Generational Attitudes Toward Technology.
Generation Blend.
Chapter 2. Changing Workforce, Changing Work.
The Looming Skills Shortage.
How Technology Changes Work.
Disruptive Impacts of Technology.
Outlook.
Chapter 3. Understanding the Generations.
Life Stages and Generations.
Generational Analysis as a Predictive Methodology.
Generation vs. Generalization: A Few Caveats.
What is a Generational Attitude?
Generational Attitudes and Workstyles.
Outlook.
Chapter 4. Older Workers- Blending Experience with Technology.
The Silent Generation.
Older Boomers.
Growing Up Pre-Digital.
Technology Issues Facing Older Workers.
Why It Matters: Capturing Knowledge.
Outlook.
Chapter 5. Younger Workers- With Great Potential Comes Great Expectations.
Who are the Millennials?
Millennials and Technology.
Millennials in the Workforce.
Why It Matters: Managed Innovation.
Outlook.
Chapter 6. Generation X-ecutive: Leadership from the Outside In.
Late-Wave Boomers.
Generation X.
GenX in the Workforce.
Mid-Career Workers: Technology Created in their Image.
Why It Matters: Becoming Leaders.
Outlook.
Chapter 7. Reintegrating Older Workers into the Connected Information Workplace.
The Digital Age Gap.
Serving the Technology Needs of Older Adults.
Learning Style of Older Adults.
First Steps.
Moving Beyond the Basics.
Bringing Skills and Experience to the Connected Workplace.
Becoming Comfortable in the Digital Culture.
Navigating Unmanaged Information Space.
Connecting the Generations.
Keeping Pace with Rapid Change.
What Other Organizations can Learn from OATS.
Outcomes.
Chapter 8. Ambassadors of the Future: Turning to Younger Workers for Strategic Insights.
Microsoft and the Future of Work.
Scenario Planning.
Following Up: Board of the Future 2005.
Technology and Society: The Perception Study.
Refining the Scenarios: Characters and Narratives.
Forecasts.
Outcomes.
Chapter 9. Across the Digital Age Gap.
Are you Clearly Explaining the Benefits of Technology?
Are you providing a Business Context to your Technology Policies?
Are you making the Technology Accessible to Everyone's Workstyle?
Does your Organizational Culture Support your Technology Strategy?
Are you Building Bridges, Not Walls?
Final Thoughts.
Index.