I had a thought provoking experience this morning that warrants a post to the brain trust of the blogospher.
This morning I was invited to my son's middle school or a career day. I was asked to speak at 4 different sessions to a group of squirmy, fidgeting 7th graders. Now that crowd is a challenge any way you slice it.
Last night as my wife reminded me of this assignment, she commented "keep it straightforward and exciting." Which was a polite way of saying "don't bore them to tears, and try and save Matthew's fragile 7th grade reputation by not acting like a nerd." Being a self proclaimed tech geek, at that point I knew I had my hands full. All night long, I had visions of eggs being thrown and Matthew being damaged for life because of his dad's lack of the "cool" factor.
When I woke up this morning, I determined to talk about the impact of technology on our lives and how fun, yet fearful this change is. The biggest challenge was defining what we do. Think about it. How do you describe in 30 words or less what we do? I guess we could start by saying "The Democratization of Media Is At Hand!" Here come the eggs and my son Matthew is now crawling under the desk in horror... Luckily I did not do this, but sadly I could not hold it to 30 words or less.
One of my heros in life and a man I consider a mentor even though he really does not intimately know me is Ray Noorda. Ray was a brilliant visionary adept at creative technology strategy, conservative in nature, and full of strong moral fiber. Ray was the CEO of Novell and had huge impact in the networking industry. One of Ray's mantras was:
Resist Change and Die, Adapt To Change And Survive, Create Change and Thrive!
At no time in the history of the world has this statement been more appropriate. These squirmy little 7th graders simply do not realize the challenges they will face. The impact of globalization, the level of competition, and the dramatic changes that will occur in form and function in relationship to consumption of media and information.
By the 4th session with these 13 year olds I had it figured out (luckily Matthew my son was in the 4th session). I pulled out all the technology in my pockets, stole the teachers Trio phone, and painted the picture of our world - and thier world. Blogs, podcasts, VOIP, decouple of time from media, and most importantly the definition of self selected social networks . We talked about India and what the 13 year olds were doing in Bangalore to compete. We talked about the rapid change of technology and need to adapt and think nimbly.
To sum it up, they got it! They not only got it, but they welcomed it and were excited by it. My final thought in the blog is the same as my final thought to Matthew's peers.
To sum it up, they got it! They not only got it, but they welcomed it and were excited by it. My final thought in the blog is the same as my final thought to Matthew's peers.
Let's create change and thrive!
What a ride this is going to be.
What a ride this is going to be.
Posted by: Ellen Weber | April 13, 2006 8:01 PM | Permalink to Comment