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Jon Husband —
September 24, 2008 @ 6:33 pm 
Tim Young, Founder & CEO of Socialcast
He say he will be talking about “dealing with” Gen Y in the worklplace
Framed in the languaeg of “generational warfare”. The presentation uses stereotypical images to convey a brash, upstart, push-back, in-your-face attitude for this cohort … people who use Napster, facebook, MySpace, etc,
Shows image graffiti “MySpace is for Losers”
Characterizes Gen Y workers as synthesisers, they can pinpoint, seek and locate the specific expertise they need, and go to that expertise (bypassing all chains of command to do so). This cohort is now bringing that dynamic into the organization .. or … Organization Structure = (NOT) Communication Structure.
They are well versed in asynchronous communication … therefore more oriented towards breaking down organizational silos (this may be a logical non sequitur, but I know what he means .. do you ?).
From linear use of email to low-friction, lightweight micro-blogging – “learning to write about yourself in the third-person”.
Low-friction broadcast out, friends and peers consuming asynchronously when and how they wish … he states that this means “Silos Are Evil” and that the growing presence of these capabilities and dynamics on the part of workers means that the holy grail of organizational effectiveness (breaking down silos of information) is within reach.
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Celeste Merryman, KM for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
Projects with NASA and other high-end science-y organizations
Piloting Social Networking Inside NASA for Knowledge Sharing
Will share SN Pilot project at NASA
NASA one of the first and last “innovation strategies” created by the US Government
NASA 50 years old on October 1, 2008 – 120+ projects over the years.
Bush – To Mars & Beyond (The Constellation program – my editorial question: where will the Bush Administration get the money ?)
KM “pain points” for NASA
1. Geographically Dispersed (10 centers, 8 states; many other facilities)
2. Aging Workforce (Long-duration projects, average age 47, average tenure 17.9 years)
3. Mission Transition (4 year gap between programns)
She designed NASAsphere (Socializing, Innovating, Inventing) – “sphere” as in shape and circle of peers where one has influence of some sort. NASAsphere grew from 78 to 295 in 60 days via colleague invites.
Benefits of NASAsphere
Accelerates communication and problem-solving, creates P2P communications capability
Captures for re-use individual knowledge worker know-how .. supports collective intelligence
Creates P2P communications in context, deepening understanding for decision-making
The Radar O’Reilly Effect
“Go Ask Radar” (knows how to get it for you … Radar contacts Sparky … “I need 5,000 roll of toilet paper, so I can get you some steaks”
NASAsphere is better (since, for example, many NASA people have lots of vacations).
“The network of a conversation spreads based on its topic rather than by person-to-person sharing”
How NASA used OSN for Business
Sharing “a day in the life” of a NASA scientist
Asking where to find critical information and data to support NASA tasks
Presenting and vetting odeas to NASA’s collective intelligence
Enhancing the employee directory with interests, facts and conversations
“Yes, NASA overcame the Radar O’Reilly effect”
Overall Pilot Experience
Easy To Use
Easy To Grow
Easy To Manage
Easy To Integrate
Suggestions
Set Epectations For Participants
Give participants a task
Allow them to invite work colleagues
Many discussions about Gen Y – and other generations for that matter – suffer from blatant stereotyping. Here’s a good article: “Generational Myth – Not all young people are tech-savvy” by Siva Vaidhyanathan: http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04b00701.htm.
Mireille .. thanks for stopping by.
I think you’re absolutely right. And i think one of the key reasons for the stereotyping that the upcoming generations are these totally-connected link-o wizards is because many people of the two or three older pre-Web generations are still not all that comfortable with electronic, and web-enabled, devices. And .. please notice I said “many”, not “all”. I don’t want to stereotype older people either. But many of them are not certain about how to use computers beyond opening and sending e-mails, using MS Word, and browsing web sites with which they are familiar.
And when it comes to work having experience and context is often very valuable and it takes time, study and living through cycles of events to acquire that experience and context.
In other words, I am with you … Gen Y and its characterization as the interconnected smart-thumbs be-all and end-all of the workforce of the future can be misleading. But it’s also true, I think, that there are some significant generational differences that are observable when it comes to how they interact, participate and access, use and process information (in the workplace and elsewhere).
I picked out a few nuggets from Tim’s presentation in regards to differences in generational needs. Tim could certainly have gone with a little more neutrality in the delivery though. Perhaps some presentation coaching might help with bringing less tone and providing more clarity to his points. Just a little tweaking is all.
I did like his graphical slides for the most part. The image of the child and the grandmother at the end (hopefully I’m not mixing up presentations here, they sort of run together) didn’t seem to fit however. What I liked about this slide approach though was that he did talk to the slides and build a message for each. This is opposed to reading the slides which some of the presenters fell into. The only risk I see though is that, as leave behinds, the slides would require the presentation notes as well.
Hi Jon,
Glad to stop by again and thanks for your response.
It may be so that many people of the two or three pre-web generations are not very web savvy. But – perhaps because of being 49 myself – I know quite a lot people between 30 and 60 who are doing quite fine online. Anyway, the point of the article is that the Gen Y stereotyping is just about a small, socially uppish layer of Western kids. And if I understand the sociological research referred to in the article properly, even a substantial amount of those select few need extra class at university to learn the ropes.
What I actually think is that the Gen Y sterotyping thing is an invention of consultants who want to sell advice, and technical companies who want to sell toys. It is a marketing thing plain and simple: about slogans and sales.
Regards, Mireille