Roundtable: Exploring the Generation Gap

The digital generation— the largest in history—is just starting to step into the workplace, bringing with it dramatically new demands, ideas and attitudes. Are you ready for the revolution?

Just as the post-World war II Baby Boomers of the TV generation dictated the economic, political and business agenda of its time, today's Net generation—the first to be born into an all-digital world—is developing its own culture and is just starting to impose it on the workplace.

Some 80 million strong in the U.S. alone, the N-generation is the offspring of the children of the boomers. They're the Baby Boom "echo." Yet what makes them formidable is not so much their sheer numbers or technology acumen as much as their attitude toward authority. This generation, now between the ages of 6 and 26, thinks differently, behaves differently and is already starting to demand, aggressively, big changes in the way society, business and individuals interact. Is your workplace prepared for the changes?

To discuss the coming revolution, CIO Insight Executive Editor Marcia Stepanek convened a roundtable on youth and the future of the workplace at the magazine's editorial offices in Manhattan on July 24. The ten participants included a Silicon Valley high school teacher, a couple of child techno-prodigies and a father-son CIO duo in middle-age and retirement. Most agreed the N-generation will alter the power balance between managers and workers, forcing today's leaders to forge new partnerships with employees in which authority will be based less on seniority than on the negotiated abilities of people or teams, regardless of age, to execute change, promote new skills and harness emerging technologies in the service of business goals.

	Fred Crawford Age 40 Executive Vice President, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
	Michael Furdyk Age 21 Cofounder and Director of Technology, TakingITGlobal.org
	Darwin A. John Age 65 Special Advisor to the Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation and former CIO, FBI
	Steven John Age 42 CIO, Agriliance LLC
	Glenn Kelman Age 32 Vice President of Product Management and Marketing, Plumtree Software Inc.
	Jory J. Marino Age 53 Managing Partner, Global CIO Practice, Heidrick & Struggles
	John Patrick Age 58 Former IBM Vice President of Internet Technology
	Michael Roberts Age 29 Executive Project Manager, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
	Don Tapscott Age 56 President, New Paradigm Learning Corp. and Adjunct Professor of Management
	Felicia Webb Age 29 Teacher, Director, Cisco Systems Networking Academy Program, Gunderson High School, Silicon Valley

The good news? CIOs will be at the center of the changes, given fresh opportunities to integrate new ideas and technologies into the business fabric of their organizations. Those who resist? They'll be forced out, or banished to the sidelines. What follows is an edited version of the roundtable. For a complete transcript, click here.