The quick way

There are always two ways to do things...the quick or the correct. Occasionally they overlap but not often. Quick can be synonymous with lazy or not thinking through and occasionally darn right dangerous.

Is the writing on the wall for newspapers

Check out this article on the state of newspapers in Zimbabwe...another example of changes in the traditional way of doing things costing companies who won't shift.

http://www.techzim.co.zw/2012/03/the-internet-and-the-declining-newspaper-readership-in-zimbabwe/

GAME Retail Stores signal change in the way we do business.

So GAME, the game retail store has suspended trading. Facing a shift in the way people buy games-either as digital downloads or through online retailer-has forced them to face possible closure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17341994

What are we really teaching our kids?

I WAS fortunate that when the computer age first hit schools, I was still a scholar. I remember that in those days we spent hours working on machines that have long since disappeared into oblivion and the great hardware-junkyard-in-the-sky.
It was, at that time, possible to programme your own games in BASIC, the simplest language of the day.
These were, in the large, word based problems with a simple story line and no graphics (my first computer teacher was a tweed coat clad, 70-year-old professor who composed his own to pass the time (no excuses for age related computer illiteracy please).
Computer gaming and the languages used to encode them have come a long way since then and I could programme a word but it is now possible to obtain a Masters in Computer Game Design.
An entire set of jobs in programming, game development, graphic origination and animation that did not exist 15 years ago have come into being.
Cellphones are another entirely new technology that did not exist until recent times (remember those days when calling someone meant trying a landline in the hope that they were in).
Simultaneously the Internet has helped change the world. Each has given rise to businesses that 50 years ago were like a pie in the sky.
With those businesses come roles, responsibilities and jobs that did not exist until a few short decades ago.
Roles for which there were no degrees for when they first occurred, careers that you did not dream of doing “when you grew up”.
There is a theory that the cycle of new technology creation is shortening, kids today will probably do jobs that do not exist as yet.
You will be employing people to manage departments that will be created in response to technology (20 years ago the IT department fixed your fax machine and typewriters). Possibly you may even be responsible for the invention of some of that groundbreaking creativity.
Our staff now and in the future will need to be prepared for an ever-changing world.
This affects our education system, our staff training, and the attributes we should be hiring for.
While there will probably always be a need for some of the basic professions, the education trend of the world should not be to train you to do a specific job but to equip you with the principles to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow.
To be able to transition into a field or role that does not exist today — the “vibe manger” of a space resort for example.
With so much knowledge in the world learning to discern truth from the multitude of voices is key, as is the accurate identification of trends.
Picking out from the smorgasbord of new ideas and inventions which ones will work for your business, which will sell well, and which will become the next iPod.
An essential talent is the ability to acquire new skills. Technophobia has no place in today’s workplace.
Software will change, hardware will be upgraded, and someone will develop a new way of interacting with the environment.
Imagine if flying cars became a reality, or we replaced the steering wheel with a different control system — suddenly we have to adjust to a new way of getting around.
Children are inquisitive to the point of insanity — a six-month-old tastes everything it can lay its hands on.
Heaven have mercy on you once your child learns the word “why”. Somewhere along the way some adults lose this ability to explore (perhaps it is part of the boring classroom syndrome that suffocates this skill).
Inventions happen because people ask “why” and “what if”. Not only that they are proactive in finding out what happens.
The Wright brothers did not ask for permission to build a plane they just went out and did it.
Too often our systems and structures hamper our ability to get the job done. As an employer, how many more emails need to clog your inbox asking for permission to draw up a new marketing strategy, permission to approach a new client or permission to change the cleaning fluid used in the toilet for one that is healthier and more environmentally friendly.
How many more emails do you need before you can free your staff to be proactive in finding and implementing solutions with the trust that when they report back to you they will have done an exceptional job that fits with your vision. Encourage and foster proactivity and idea generation.
One last thing we should consider teaching our staff and children is a sense of moral principle.
This is not some dust-collecting values poster stuck on the wall, but a well ingrained way of governing your life.
If we fail in this then the new technology may end up being the software that siphons off extra money from your account.