Generational Algorithm
I was honored this week to be sitting in a room with many excellent people as part of the TTPTP program. For those who are not tracking this acronym, it stands for Taking the Pentagon to the People. It is a program set up by the President to open up the doors of the Pentagon to people in under represented communities and allow college students and others to see themselves working for the DoD either as a military person or a civilian. I applaud the effort as jobs inside the Pentagon can seem improbable for many and most don’t know that they have a very robust civilian workforce making the place run. At the presidents round table there was great dialogue about how does the DoD connect to students to show them this could be a place for them to make a career. How can university administration collaborate with the DoD to bring more of their amazing students to the realization that government work is a viable option after higher education.
Now I wasn’t “at the table” I was seated in a chair on the outskirts of the table listening and pondering all that was going on when I was struck with an idea and term that I have yet to hear someone else coin. Generational Algorithm. I can’t think I am the first to come up with this term but until I hear it again, I will lay claim to it! What I realized listening in to the conversation is that when I was growing up, part of me wanted desperately to “Be all that you can be” by finding my future in the Army! The jingle was infectious to Gen X kids I think. I can remember whenever someone might accomplish something on the football field or on the wrestling mat that the short version of the jingle might break out among friends, “Be all that you can be!” and we would dance around awkwardly to the singing of it. The thought then went deeper for me, the use of this song was contingent upon the modality of its delivery, the television commercial or the radio commercial. Deeper still into this thought was that the delivery of both of these modalities was experienced communally. You would watch TV or listen to the radio with family and friends, experience the tune together and share that later on together in life. I decided after the thought in my mind had percolated enough that I would request a moment at the table to share what I thought. I stood, went to the microphone, and regaled the group with this thought. The DoD and anyone advertising for that matter, must find out what the Generational Algorithm is. For Gen X, music experienced communally was very effective, but for Gen Z and beyond, music is experienced in private with ear buds and playlists. For Gen X, commercials were highly effective in capturing an audience, I wanted a Big Wheel whenever I saw one skidding across the TV screen! Gen Z and beyond, TV commercials are fast-forwarded, or skipped, its not an effective mode of communication.
So what is the answer? Well I wasn’t able to spend any more time on the microphone during the meeting as there were much more important folks sitting around the table than I and I knew I should cut my comments short but I do have a thought.
I think in a world of virtual reality that the generational algorithm is this: Reality. Being in the flesh, someone to talk to, shake hands with, feel human around. For a generation who has lived online, we must return to in the flesh to reach them for the future. The flash might seem important, catchy slogans, awesome graphics, slappin’ tunes and the like, but I truly believe, a reality check-in is needed and yearned for in this newest generation as we prepare for them to lead us into the future.
