The Social Media Club offers up a great question this week which has me really thinking about how we "prepare" future generations for the workplace of the future. Here is a link to their original blog post: SMCQ11: How do we educate the younger generation to prepare for the modern workforce?
A great question indeed.
One of the most interesting things happened to me between 1995 when I finished undergrad and 2001 when I started my first serious company. In 1995 the field of eLearning (as we know it today) didn't truly exist. Yet in 2001 I founded a consulting firm to focus on strategic eLearning for associations and non-profits. My undergraduate program didn't necessarily prepare me for my chosen profession. So the question that Deborah Crooks poses on the SMC blog is a really good one indeed.
I think there are two sides to this question. One side is how can our education system teach students abstract concepts like change management, creative problem solving, and critical thinking or other important concepts around collaboration (in the broadest sense), teamwork, etc. And at what age is learning about these concepts appropriate in child development? I leave this to the experts in the education world who have to tackle the major institutional obstacles that keep our public education system stuck in the industrial age. As a parent of a pre-K and Kindergartner I see this first hand every day and honor parents that home school because of it.
The other side of this coin is how can we teach managers and organizational leaders to become "guides on the side" instead of the "sage on the stage"? Meaning, when can we get leaders to truly transform management styles so that we embrace and welcome learning from younger members in a professional population. When will companies get the idea that sometimes true leadership comes from following, learning, and listening (servant leadership)? When coaching and mentoring is led by the younger of the pair or group, not by the older?
In the human capital world there is a constant message that leaders and managers attempt to get Millennials to conform to the current way of doing things. Policies are created to limit the use of social media in the workplace. If someone is "caught" in IMs or surfing the Net it's assumed they are "slacking".
Perhaps what leaders and managers need to do is give up the Industrial Age leadership and management practices for those of the Knowledge Economy. Create new styles of leadership that acknowledge and embrace collaboration through the Internet, embrace teamwork and knowledge gathering using all means possible. Back on the flip side, educational systems need to be completely revamped to address the fact that many children today will be working jobs in the future that haven't even been created yet.
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