SCD IST 110H

In a recent article from Computer World, the net generation is explored. In his new book, Grown Up Digital, Tapscott revisits the so-called Net generation -- those born between the late 1970s and early 1990s -- to take at look at how they are already affecting the workplace with their unique attitudes and aptitudes. That book, due out late next year, will include data gleaned from a $4 million research study that included interviews with more than 11,000 of the 80 million people that make up the Net generation. According to Tapscott about our generation:

"These kids' brains are actually wired differently," Tapscott said. "Their IQs are up by all the measures we have. This is the smartest generation ever. They are highly motivated and bring with them a new kind of culture. They bring a new model of work and collaboration into the workforce that is better, results in higher performance and better innovation."

Companies have to adjust to what Tapscott calls Talent 2.0. The net generation craves the speed of instant messaging and mobile communication and is often bogged down by traditional business procedures.

Other suggestions from Tapscott's research for successfully engaging Net Generation workers include the following:

- Providing a healthy amount of project work, which has the intensive time frames and cyclical nature they prefer.
- Catering to employees' taste for speed by setting up quick (perhaps five-minute) opportunities for them to present their new ideas to management.
- Encouraging management to develop informal relationships with workers, where criticism and congratulations are accepted and invited by both.

I thought that this article was pretty interesting. We do not have to adjust to companies. Companies have to adjust to us. The Internet has changed the way we do business and who we are. We are the net generation. Who's next?