Johnnie Moore cites a study today by Mark Prensky:
the life arc of a typical 21-year-old entering the workforce today has, on average, included 5,000 hours of video game playing, exchange of 250,000 e-mails, instant messages, and phone text messages, 10,000 hours of mobile phone use. To that you can add 3,500 hours of time online
As parents of a 19 and a 16 year old we can attest to the fact that they spend alot of time online, on cell phones, text messaging etc., but these figures are startling!
My wife and I met when we were 16 and often compare how we communicated relative to how our kids communicate today. Despite the obvious dangers that lurk with some of this technology/behavior I think it’s generally for the better.
I’m also fascinated by the impact these "skills" will have on the future workforce. Especially sales and marketing where communication between employees, customers, vendors and partners can offer a competitive advantage.
I do think back to my first day on the job with ASG Industries in 1976 – a box of pencils, a couple of legal pads, a real Steelcase desk made from steel and a phone. Those were my tools, my weapons, my means of communication.
I also worry about the distractions that many of these technologies offer. Rather than making one more cold call the sales rep is too busy searching for the perfect clipart to insert into a PPT presentation.
Rather than taking an important meeting face-to-face the sales rep uses a web collaboration platform that delivers a fraction of the impact.
Rather than "smokestackin" and creating his own leads that he can trust, the sales rep relys on automated demand generation applications that deliver a boot full of leads every week – none of which he trusts.
Rather than carefully crafting the language in a press release, the MARCOM Manager relies on Word’s grammar and spell checker and sends out an error filled release about a critical enterprise development.
I’m not a Luddite. I use most of the new tools myself. And I was the sales rep looking for the perfect clip art image above. But I do find myself amazed at all the sound and fury created today, that at the end of the day, does nothing to increase our competitiveness… and in fact may diminish it.
That being said – we’re proceeding with the development of the ultimate technology platform- the utilization of salesforce.com’s AppExchange to automate vSente’s Armory. Look for more information over the next few weeks.
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