Week One (part 2) - The Digital Natives don't play cards around the fire.
Caleb Walker
CEO & Founder of Collabowave | Enabling Frontline workers to share their Insights to the Organization | Veteran |
Did anyone ever used to have a job where you played cards in your downtime. The picture below was of me in Afghanistan in 2006. This is pre-personal devices. Pre-smart phone. Pre-lots of electronics. Actually - I am pretty sure I am playing the harmonica in the picture. We used to play cards a lot. As in - several hours a day. We would talk about family, hopes and dreams together in our small circle. We would kick a soccer ball and throw a rugby ball around for hours. In 2006 it was - Crib, Sports and verbal chats.
In 2016 when I returned to Afghanistan on my third tour it was very different. Everyone had their own personal computer and they were likely connected to the internet for hours on their downtime. They were more likely to talk to people halfway around the world than their team and squad mates. For those that shrugged off the trend - here is a crazy one from SSRS/Luker - "For the first time, children ages 12 to 17 place a higher priority on being alone or spending time online rather than hanging out with friends or family, let alone tossing a baseball or shooting hoops in the driveway."
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Why do I bring this up for the Digital Insurgency? Because - how do you engage with these people in an analog world? How do you recruit them? How do you train them? How do you keep them in/retain them? If you are building an insurgency you need to "know the people." Western militaries all seem to have a recruitment and staffing problem. They are missing tens of thousands of people. Currently - the campaign has been to reflect the diversity of the Country - which is partly true. What they are probably missing is that, Digital Natives don't play cards around the fire.
What do I mean? I was talking to a military school a few weeks back to find out their biggest concerns. A surprising one? "Most of the new instructors and students are not able to write hand written reports and assessments. They can't handle analog. We have to teach them. They are all used to quick and fast interactions online with fields and data auto-populated." I was talking to possible recruits looking to join the military. "Why is the recruiting online platform so broken? I can't track my application or information? They need me to call and follow up all the time. It is frustrating. I gave up." You then talk to those that are in the military and trying to track exercises, deployments, medical updates, postings and courses for them and their family. All of it is on the internal internet that only 15-20% of the military has access to day-to-day (most soldiers don't). They complain, "Why can't I ever get this information, why isn't it online? Why are they printing out the leave pass, posting message, course reports, assessments, exercise instruction and pre-screening? I gave up."
The Digital Natives don't play cards around the fire. For all those digital insurgents, that are trying to mobilize their villages - you have to meet them online. Here is a crazy analysis for you: "Children 10 and under today are having “the first unattainable childhood,” meaning that parents, teachers and other adults are unable to reach them if they’re not also online." Expect that to enter your recruiting centers in less 5 years. Better get moving and meet them in their domain.
Technology Professional, Innovator and Teacher
3 年It's a different generation. Maybe different generations from my perspective. When I was a kid, we played. Played outside, got dirty, sharpened sticks and ran at each other, had mock sword fights, swam in places our parents warned us not to go and slept outside. We even hiked into the woods and stayed there overnight making camp, cooking over a fire and then told stories until bedtime. This worked out well in high school for our Environmental Studies program. Twice each school year, we lived and learned outside for a week at a time. Lived in tents for basecamp or a week of canoeing the lakes and rivers of Ontario. Again, at the end of the day when supper was cooked and eagerly eaten, the activity was to gather around a fire to tell stories. The games I learned were cards, simple board games and the wager was a matchstick or a penny. Fast forward to my early military life. Card playing is what we did on break or to pass the time. Played cards at work and socially at each other's homes over drinks. Why do they put a deck of cards in every survival kit? Because, when you're down and have found shelter, start playing solitaire. Sooner or later, someone will show up to tell you how to play your hand.
Executive Director and Chief Information Security Officer @ Alberta Health Services - Dad, Proud Public Servant, DEFCON Speaker/Trainer
3 年We pushed the generation after us to this digital life, with the promise it would change everything. Except we forgot to change with them... and now they're rapidly leaving us all behind.