Move Out of Your Comfort Zone

I recently handed a newspaper column written by Financial Times columnist Luke Johnson to my 18-year old son for him to read. I knew that my son would like Mr. Johnson’s message. The column topic was the “clash of generations under way at the top of so many organizations.” His premise was that we are now in the Digital Age, yet most of those in leadership positions came of age in an old technology world and, therefore, are not “digital natives.”

So far, not much to argue with. We are certainly living in the digital age. And most of top management are old enough to remember the workplace without desktop computers.

But Mr. Johnson didn’t stop there. He was so bold as to suggest that most senior executives are wedded to old-fashioned products that have been passed by. They do this because they’re set in their ways and are too close to retirement to reinvent themselves or their companies — and they certainly don’t want to tear down what they’ve worked so hard to build. So they toil away at trying to preserve what they have instead of moving the company in a new direction.

Here’s where my 18-year old got interested. Mr. Johnson’s answer was to embrace the younger generation. Hire those people who have grown up in a digital world and listen to them. Harness their ideas, their energy and imagination. I have to say, Mr. Johnson is on to something.

Technology is moving at the speed of light. The younger generation has grown up in a world of computers, cell phones, and iPods. They likely don’t know what a VCR is, have never watched the evening news, and can’t imagine purchasing an album with 15 songs when they really like only three. Remember MySpace? It quickly peaked and gave way to Facebook. The iPod quickly evolved into the iPhone. The life of today’s technology is measured in months not years. The younger generation doesn’t know what life without technology or change is like. That’s why they’re so well suited to help push, even lead your business into the future.

So how can you improve the understanding of technology within your organization, as well as find and attract young talent that can help move your organization forward?  Here are some ideas:

1. Change your frame of reference. Get out of your office. Go on a field trip. Visit a college campus, hang out in a store that sells the latest gadgets, live where the younger people live.
2. Create a committee of 20 somethings in your department or company. Pick their brains. Ask them what they think about your company and products. Learn about their interests, habits, and ideas.
3. Assign each of your top managers to be mentored by a 20 something. Yes, you read that right. Have your senior managers meet with a digital-savvy employee on a frequent basis and make the managers report back to you about what they’ve learned. Provide them with goals that they need to meet as a result of being mentored.
4. Let one or more tech-oriented employees create their own jobs. Draw out their entrepreneurial spirit by giving them the freedom to use technology to re-invent your company’s business model. Remember the 3M model where they allowed employees a percentage of their time just to tinker on new ideas that might lead to something big? It resulted in the Post-It note among other new products. What could your employees achieve if they were given the time to experiment?
5. Create a contest at your company, or in your department, that recognizes the best application of technology. Give people an incentive to look for ways to enhance existing products or create new ones using the latest technology.

The bottom line is that the world around us is changing at breakneck speed. Some of the youngest people in your organization may be the ones best suited to make sure your company is moving in the fast lane instead of getting passed by. It will take courage to begin to rely more heavily on some of the least experienced people in your company. It will take creativity to figure out how to best tap into their ideas and energy. It will take your best diplomatic skills to ensure that your managers not only accept, but embrace what they can learn from their younger colleagues. And it will take commitment as you begin to experience the chaos and upheaval that will result as you jolt your company into the frantic pace that the digital world requires.

But if you can effectively harness the passion, energy, and ideas of the younger people in your company, you will be better for it. And if you don’t, your company might go the way of the buggy whip.