THOUGHTS
I think a lot, I can't help it. You'll find out soon
enough.
(normally when doing something mundane)
Younger, Smarter, Better Paid…*gulp
Whilst sat in the George and Pilgrims pub, waiting for friends to arrive. I over heard a brief snippet of conversation where 3 gents sat back and listened to one of their sons, talk about firmware upgrades for Nikon digital cameras. This kid was 13 tops. The adults basically didn't have a clue what the young man was talking about. Yet they listened hard, trying to take in the words, technicalities and acronyms, which flowed naturally from the son.
This was quite a cool sight I think. 'How roles have reversed' I thought. And from this conversation I began a brief spell of 'extended thinking' as I like to call it.
I imagined 20 years down the line, where the middle-aged technophobe parents of today, are the seniors and OAP's in future… and how the position of company status and employment will have changed incredibly. I'm thinking how it may get to the stage where the youngest of brains are actually the most knowledgeable of employees. Consultancy roles will be available to huge multi-nationals for school and college leavers. We already know how bedroom computer hackers have been offered highly paid jobs as good guys ('white hat' hackers) in large software companies looking to protect their systems. I think this is all going to filter down in time to many, many other companies that require technical computer based systems and yet lack the knowledge to understand and develop them in-house. Of course eventually, the age-gap of knowledge will close up and the smart people will be at the top again. But I'm convinced this 'honey moon period' (of maybe decades) will exist for at least a generation of our current (and soon to be) school leavers.
Personally I'm already excited about it. I'm in the computer industry for my 9-5, and I'm seeing school leavers and work experience pupils from the local secondary school sit next to me in the office and 'teach me a thing or two'… so much so, that I can't help feeling a little threatened. But threatened in a good way. I can't wait for the day to be replaced by someone younger and smarter and know they have absorbed more in 18 months, than I've taken several years to soak up.
So, here's me raising a metaphorical glass of celebration to the kid in the pub, and all the other kids in the pub, that are smart before their time and threatening the livelihoods of all the old dogs and dinosaurs out there.
Granddad: my first job was picking apples for a penny
Dad: my first job was in a factory for £10
Son: my first job was a dotcom startup for £15k
Grandson: my first job was software consultant for IBM for £50k, a company car and 6 weeks holiday in the Canaries.
By the way, I let a young man borrow my mobile phone once, after making his call; he quickly switched the phone language to Turkish and handed it back to me. 6 hours later I was on landline call to an Indian helpdesk operator trying to get it switched back. Grrrrrr.
