Nine Shift

"Because it's not NEWS!"

Younger people are less likely to read newspapers nowadays. This might be the reason.

At my mother's house on Christmas eve, the big headline in the Milwaukee Journal (one of the nation's best city newspapers) was "Is time up for the watch?"  A story about how young people do not wear or need watches.  They consult their cell phones instead. I was intrigued by the story. It was news to me. 

So I asked our son Willie, home from college, how many of his friends wear a watch.  "None," he replied, "Except for rich kids who want to show off." 

"Is this about that stupid article in the paper?"  he then asked.
"Well, since the article is right," I replied, "why is it 'stupid'?"
"Because it's not NEWS!"  he shot back.

I hate it when the kids are always right.......
Do you wear a watch? What's your take on whether newspapers can serve Gen Y?

Education: Boys get media attention but no solutions

In the last 2 weeks, the nation's media turned its attention to boys in school.
Finally, there's a growing awareness that boys have a different neurology than girls.
It is a big step forward. But just one step.
But few schools and colleges are working on solutions.

The national association of college admissions officers will spend only one hour of its 3 day annual conference on the topic.  Schools won't release data that can pinpoint the problem.
So mothers and boys may have to take action. One boy last week claimed gender bias in his school.

Here's one no-cost solution.
Stop punishing boys for behavior unrelated to learning and knowledge.
Stop grading boys on fidgeting, staring out the window, arguing with the teacher, or needing more exercise and physical activity than girls.
And here's the biggest solution.
Stop punishing boys for turning in homework late.
Turning homework in late (or not at all) is neurologically based for smart boys.

Stay tuned for our research on why this is so counterproductive.
We'll announce our full research in Washington DC on March 8 and London on March 21.
If you've got data or experiences to share, please help us out and post it here:

What does counterclockwise mean?

Doing a NineShift keynote in Rutherford County, North Carolina, this month, I was retelling how cell phones are replacing watches (see "Because it's not news", January 3, 2006 entry).
One participant noted that her daughter no longer knows how to tell time using an analog clock (big hand on the.....).

Then my host Fred Bayley noted how people soon will not know what the instructions "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" mean.  Wow. What will we use to replace those terms?

(photo of Fred Bayley)

Do you Have to change?

Do you personally have to change in the 21st century?
Well, if you are under age 50, the answer is probably yes.

But there were some people who did not change when society went from an Agrarian to Industrial one 100 years ago.  I used to think the Amish were a weird, small sect.  But they represent what everyone thought and believed 100 years ago.  Your great grandmother would agree more with the Amish than with you.

So a few people won't change from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. I'm calling these folks "Suburbanites."  They'll still drive minivans to the office when everyone else is telecommuting and riding trains at 150 mph.

(Picture is of me in Amish hat, doing a NineShift keynote for business and community leaders in Rutherford County, North Carolina, a few weeks ago. Photo courtesy The Daily Courier, Jim Hunt publisher.)

Fast rail a fact, not an option

Well, this takes Nine Shift Four (trains replace cars) to a new level:

"Fast rail is not an option. It is something that is going to happen."

Pat Haskell Robinson, community leader and businesswoman, said it in The Greenville (SC) News in a front page story on November 14, 2005.

Jobs here may ride on fast-rail links, by Jenny Munro. "High speed trains eventually will run across South Carolina, transportation experts said at the recent Upstate Transportation Summit."

Any predictions on how fast this will happen? Have you taken a train ride in the last year?

Education: Software for 3 month old

Friend, colleague and Brit Paula Whitehead Hogard went home to the U.K. this month to see her new grandchild, Grace Olivia.

Paula reports that "My son is Gen X. My son has already bought software packages that will begin to teach her to read and another to teach spatial skills when she is 3 months old! Whatever happened to Dick and Jane and Spot the Dog?"

Paula also asks, is her new grandchild in Generation Y or a newer generation.
Your thoughts?  Help Paula out.

Economy: more on where/why

This last year has seen lots of great breakthroughs on the 21st century economic front.
Is this another one?

A New York Times article by Robert Levine on small record labels in the music industry says:
"So instead of trying to sell millions of copies of hundreds of albums (the standard music industry strategy), small companies hope to sell hundreds of copies of thousands of albums."

Could this business strategy and model apply to other industries, products and services?
What do you think?

Could New Orleans win?

Could the rebuilding of New Orleans make the city a big winner in this century?
Buffalo, which suffered a tragedy exactly 100 years ago, was the 6th largest city in the country at the time, but went into decline.

This week the New York Times reports that proposed rebuilding of New Orleans will include plans for:
* A 53 mile light rail system crisscrossing the city, connecting neighborhoods with the airport, dowtown and other commercial centers.
* A heavy rail (fast trains) system tht would link New Orleans with Baton Rouge and the rest of the Gulf Coast.
* 4,000 or more houses at stops along the light rail lines.

Nice job New Orleans!  NineShift in action. We're rooting for you. 

Thanks for the Buggy Ride

As the Internet starts to dominate life, there's a backlash and an attempt to revive the old way.

Just like 100 years ago.
See if you can listen to this 55 second song from 1925. The clip is recorded in Real.
Here's the lyrics:

"Thanks for the buggy ride. I had a wonderful time. No smell of gasoline. Just an old fashioned team. It was a wonderful treat. To hear the patter of horses feet. I was used to riding in a big limosine. But buggy ridin lovin sure beats any machine. Now although I lost my pride, Thanks for the buggy ride. I had a wonderful time."

Nine Shift for 2006

For the rest of January, I will be posting snippets from this year's new Nine Shift presentation, "Work Becomes Play." It premiered at the LERN conference in Las Vegas in November before 450 people.