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Friday, April 9, 2010

Should the next "Apprentice" be a two year old?

I have to admit that I am an occasional fan of "The Apprentice" on NBC. This year's group of celebrities includes the former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who recently was fired by Donald Trump after demonstrating an utter lack of technical (computer) skills. During one episode he struggled to figure out how to simply turn on a laptop, and on another it became apparent he really had no clue on using e-mail or text messaging. In contrast, I came across the following video on one of the business blogs I follow (http://www.bnet.com/) that showed a young child's first interaction with the new Apple I-Pad. Watching the video I could only wonder at what the capabilities of the newest generation will be when they enter the work force in about 18 years. This 2 1/2 year old takes to the I-Pad like the proverbial duck to water. Watching her made me realize the challenges facing those of us already in the work force in terms of keeping up with change, including constantly evolving technology.

I can remember working for Pinnacol when we first got internet and e-mail (I can hear the gasps from all of those who have grown up with these things), but that was only about 12 years ago! I still see candidates spanning the spectrum from this toddler to Mr. Blagojevich. We do typing tests for some types of positions and I can pretty much guage the applicant's computer skills by the way they simply interact with the keyboard. Some of us love the new technology, some of us tolerate it, but watching this 2 1/2 year old made it abundantly clear that none of us can any longer avoid it. What are your thoughts?

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