One of the massive changes every organization is going to have to deal with in the coming years is the arrival of the millenials in the workplace. These are folks who have been raised on the Web, IM, and SMS. They are digital natives, who think nothing about taking two disparate systems and tying them together with AJAX or whatever is at hand. This is going to be a scary time for a lot of IT organizations, especially ones who are led by digital immigrants. It will be the changing of the guard, the face-off between two cultures who are both large, ego-driven, and don’t want to be ignored.

In my time in the industry, I have seen (and heard recounted) the history of a number of cultural conflicts:

• Mainframes vs. Midframes
• Midframes vs. PC’s.
• Copybooks vs. Databases
• Databases vs. Spreadsheets
• Memos vs. Email

In each of these cases, the “old timers” resented the “young turks” who had no respect for how things ought to run. At the same time, the turks resented the fact that they had to work so hard to do somethng that was so obviously needed. In retrospect, it wasn’t an issue of right or wrong, it was a question of new vs. established.

Why This Matters

It is really, really hard to look out on the world and see that you are on the other side of the “us vs. them” line. The same baby boomers who decided not to trust anyone over thirty are now pushing sixty and looking back. They empathize with their parents a little more, and find themselves starting their sentences with phrases like, “The kids today …” Conflict is brewing, and it is brewing hot, our quote for the week not withstanding.
Recently we been witnessing some skirmishes of our own, such as:

• Email vs. IM
• IM vs. SMS
• PC’s vs. Web 1.0
• Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0
• Web 1.0 vs. CMS
• CMS vs Blogs
• SOA vs. Databases
• Compiling vs. Scripting

How is your organization doing in the culture wars? And who’s side are you on, anyway?

The Bottom Line

There is a changing of the guard occurring. This isn’t because of moral failings or ineptitude, it is simply demographics. Still, it is happening. You have to understand it, plan for it, adjust to it, and embrace it. This is simply going to be the reality for the next 30+ years. The people who are setting the standards are not going to be the ones around to deal with it.

Information architecture will be key in making millenials productive in your organization. This is very important to your bottom line and you need to take this seriously. The pace of change is going to be increasing in the IT industry after the lull from the dot-com bust. The most best organizations are going to be able to take advantage of this, the others will struggle to replenish their workforce.

As an example, I have worked for technology related companies that don’t allow IM. While for most of my co-workers this wasn’t a problem, it almost caused me not to take the job and most certainly pushed me to purchase a phone that allowed me to do it. I can’t imagine a 25-year-old PhD with a blog who lives on IM thriving in that kind of environment. The company I am thinking of thrives on talent and innovation, and I think they are shooting themselves in the foot with this kind of policy.

Conclusion
So, it turns out that Elvis wasn’t the end of western civilization, nor were The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Neither was Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur, Metallica, or Marilyn Manson. However, trying to paint them as such was the end of the line for would-be crusaders like Tipper Gore.

Locking things down isn’t the answer. Hooking people up is.