The other day I was reading about a new generation of future
customers/workers/citizens referred to as the Generation Z. According to this
piece of analysis, it is a term used to collectively refer to people born in
this millennium. They are different from generation Y which was the
classification for Digital Natives – people who grew up with the Internet and
computers during their school and college years – while generation X typically
bunched together Digital Migrants (who were exposed to Personal Computers as
they got into the workforce).
Generation Z is on the go with their computer in their
pockets; they are the mobile generation equipped with smartphones, apps for
almost everything they need or want, socially active, leaving a trail behind
for anyone to leverage, fickle in their behavior with no perceivable loyalty to
brand or product, ready to experiment and explore the world at large, impatient
with the pace at which the rest of the world is moving, have a strong mind of
their own; a generation that is going to be ready to get into the work force in
the next 5+ years.
If we look inwards, enterprises today have embraced Cloud
and Mobility working their way through the legacy systems which are not easily
amenable. The journey has been full of challenges while the new generation
systems have attempted to disrupt the monolithic systems of the past.
Organizational inertia and fear of breaking a running system and process has
prevented large scale deployments. App-ification of the world of IT has begun
with new startups wanting to optimize every micro process by making it
available in real-time.
Productivity on the move has rendered the laptop an unwieldy
device which is losing ground to tablet computers as the primary consumption
device. The tablet too has evolved bridging the gap and offering similar or
better capabilities on the go; progressive early adopters have embraced this
trend while conservatives continue to view the tablet as a consumer device
under the ambit of BYOD. The sooner the transition happens, the faster the
enterprise will be ready to move to the next level of engagement and
productivity.
Focusing on the external world of direct and indirect
consumers, some parts of the world are going mobile first with the web being an
alternate channel; optimization of engagement and experience on the mobile is
the Holy Grail that everyone is chasing. While Generation Y is adaptable across
different channels, Generation Z will seek gratification primarily on the
mobile channel and may not engage on other mediums. Organizations are thus
building for current as well as the future which is creating discomfort for existing
decision makers, the Generation X.
Generation Z presents new paradigms for enterprises
internally as well as externally. The mobile first consumers of information are
used to finding everything at their fingertips. Can they be tied down to a desk
with a monitor, keyboard and mouse at their workplace and expect productivity
at the same level that is delivered today ? Their restless will be challenged
to stay subdued while they are corporatized to conform to existing norms of
workplaces. The multi-tasking generation will seek avenues to vent their high
energy existence.
At the same time, their social existence in the physical
world is complemented by the mobile digital world with 4G and 5G speeds. They
do not shun personal touch and immerse in the real world with equal élan
leaving bread crumbs for marketers and analysts to microsegment personas. Can
enterprises find a way to stay omnipresent in the new phygital world ? This was
a much debated topic in a recent conference with thinking caps of all knowing
consultants to enterprise captains and participants from all walks of life.
Conclusions were sparse with the world still evolving and no
one wanting to put their bets on one direction or another; pace of change being
what it is, attempting to hazard a guess was seen as epitome of foolishness.
Everyone agreed that the future remains opaque with wearables bringing in a
dimension as yet little understood in its impact. Work and Life are fungible
today; in a boundary less world of the future, the focus will shift to outcomes
rather than tasks; micro specialized skills will create new opportunities for
enterprises and people.
Get ready for the phygital world, its coming sooner than you
think !
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