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Every parent Shon Coleman Jersey , educator, and manager knows that "Nintendo children"--those born after 1970 and raised on video and computer games, Walkmans, the Internet, etc.--are different. Unfortunately, the Gen-X discussion has focused mainly on the youths' supposedly short attention spans and attention-deficit disorders Carl Nassib Jersey , ignoring or underemphasizing what is perhaps the most crucial factor--that this under-30 generation thinks, and sees the world, in ways entirely different from their parents.


An example: This generation grew up on video games ("twitch speed"), MTV (more than 100 images a minute), and the ultra-fast speed of action films. Their developing minds learned to adapt to speed and thrive on it. Yet when they join our companies, we typically begin by putting them in corporate classrooms Emmanuel Ogbah Jersey , bringing in poor speakers to lecture at them, and making them sit through an endless series of corporate videos.


Speedwise, we effectively give them depressants. And then we wonder why they're bored.


I don't mean to suggest that Sega and Sony have created new intellectual faculties in under-30s but, rather, that technology has emphasized and reinforced certain cognitive aspects and de-emphasized others. Most of these changes in cognitive style are positive. But however one feels, it's important that managers (as well as educators and parents) recognize that these changes exist so that we can deal with the younger generation effectively.


Below are 10 of the main cognitive style changes Corey Coleman Jersey , which raise a number of important and difficult challenges. We have already begun to see the development of new business structures, ideas, and products that take into account under-30 employees' cognitive changes and preferences. It is likely that the full impact of these changes will not be felt until the younger generation fully comes to power, just as the movies were impacted by the coming-of-age of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. That time is not far off.


Twitch Speed vs. Conventional Speed


The under-30 generation has had far more experience at processing information quickly than its predecessors, and is therefore better at it. Humans have always been capable of operating at faster-than-"normal" speeds (as airplane pilots, race-car drivers Zane Gonzalez Jersey , and speed-reading guru Evelyn Wood can attest). The difference is that this ability has now moved into a generation at large, and at an early age. One problem this generation faces is that, after MTV and video games, they essentially hit a brick wall--short of piloting a jet, little in real life moves that fast. This generation's "need for speed" manifests itself in the workplace in a number of ways, including a demand for a faster pace of development Howard Wilson Jersey , less "time-in-grade," and shorter lead times to success.


An important challenge for today's managers is how to reassess and speed up their assumptions around time, while still keeping sight of other key objectives, such as quality and customer relationships. They also need to create experiences that maintain the pace and exploit the facility of "twitch speed" while adding content that is important and useful. Several possible approaches include speeding things up via technology (such as by providing workers with the kinds of real-time data that financial traders use), installing faster infrastructures with fiber-optic cable and T-1 telephone lines, and creating new Larry Ogunjobi Jersey , MTV-style corporate videos. Re-engineering systems and activities so that things simply move faster is another.


Parallel Processing vs. Linear Processing


Much of the under-30 generation grew up doing homework while watching TV and doing almost everything while wearing a Walkman. Many of them feel much more comfortable than their predecessors doing more than one thing at once. While some argue that this limits attention to any one thing, this is not necessarily the case. The mind can actually process many tracks at once and often has quite a bit of "idle time" from its primary task that can be used to handle other things. Today you see young computer artists creating wonderful graphics while listening to music and chatting with co-workers, and young bankers having multiple conversations on the phone while reading their computer screens and e-mail.


This growth of parallel-processing ability appears to be acknowledged by Bloomberg TV News, in which the anchor person takes up only one-quarter of the TV screen, the remainder being filled with sports statistics, weather information David Njoku Jersey , stock quotes, and headlines, all presented simultaneously. It is quite possible, and even fun, for a viewer to take in all of this information and receive much more "news" in the same amount of time.


Rather than admonishing their young workers to concentrate on only one thing at a time, managers should be thinking of additional ways to enhance parallel processing and take advantage of this increased human capability. This might take Jabrill Peppers Jersey , for example, the form of multiple types of information hitting employees' computer screens at once--the objective of so-called "push" technology and Microsoft's new vision for the corporate desktop. With all the information needed to do the job--numbers, video feeds, links, simultaneous meetings, and the ability to move seamlessly between them--it's the Nintendo worker's nirvana.


This generation's enhanced parallel-processing ability may also help them slide easily into the new "boundaryless organizations Myles Garrett Jersey ," in which each worker is expected to wear multiple hats and be part of many constituencies. I remember when the requirement that consultants at firms such as BCG and McKinsey serve simultaneously on multiple-project teams was considered unusual and highly suspect. With the arrival of the new generation, such parallelism is being demanded.


Random Access vs. Linear Thinking


The under-30 generation is the first to experience hypertext and "clicking around," in children's computer applic