Blog Post: How ya gonna keep 'em on the farm?

All the recent brouhaha about President Obama and his BlackBerry reminded me of that old song. After the Inauguration when the new people got to the White House and bumped into the tech dark ages, I thought about Paree—and older workers and younger workers.

Younger workers (the new President with his BlackBerry is an example), have integrated new tech tools into their everyday ways of doing business and life. In many workplaces (and it appears even in the White House) older workers have continued to create speed bumps for using today’s efficiency tools.

With today’s new tools--and new disasters all around us--it's time to give up the familiar killer words, “We didn’t do it that way before.” It’s reasonable to expect that the people who went to Paree and got new tools and new ways to work are not heading back to farms to do things as they did in days of old.

Older workers, pay attention. You may not have to go to Paree, but it’s a good idea to go to school. Learn about the new tools, new techniques, new ways to work. Find out what younger people know, what they are doing, and also study the needs of today's workplaces. You can go to school by taking traditional or online classes, reading, talking with others...the point is to learn about the expectations and requirements of workplaces.

If you want to work, you need skills and knowledge that employers are interested in buying. It’s up to you to get ready to work with your next boss who may have new ways to work and probably will use the latest technology and expect the same from you.