Issue #39

In this issue:

• Mind Games: Quick Thumbs and Quicker Wits
• Whys Cracks
• The Buzz
• WhysNews Archive

Word to the Whys

"It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for."
Benjamin Elijah Mays

"But if you ask what is the good of education in general, the answer is easy: that education makes good men, and that good men act nobly."
Plato

"I look for people who don't get stuck with an idea, who are more nimble, who are able to change comfortably in tumultuous times without panicking."
Larry Bossidy, former Chairman and CEO, Honeywell, Inc.

"The joy of life consists in the exercise of one's energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die."
Aleister Crowley

"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage."
Victor Kiam

"You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created."
Albert Einstein

"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas."
Condoleezza Rice

"Love is not something you can put chains around and throw into a lake. That’s called Houdini. Love is liking someone a lot."
Jack Handey – Author of Deep Thoughts

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Mind Games:
Quick Thumbs and Quicker Wits

This past July, Spiderman 2 broke all box office records when it took in $116 million in ticket sales on its opening day. Compare that to Halo 2, the video game that came out earlier this month, which took in $125 million in sales on its opening day, and you will see how big gaming has become in America.

According to the National Institute of Media and Family, 80% of all kids aged 2 to 17 have a computer in their home. And 92% of those same kids have regular access to video games. Gaming is a billion dollar industry and the common denominator among the tens of thousands of different games sold is that they all come prepackaged with high speed graphics and an adrenalin rush. Halo 2 may be the latest and greatest, but it will be a relic within a few weeks when the next big game hits the scene.

Most of the boomer parents I know try to limit the time their children spend playing video games. We want them outside climbing trees and playing hide-n-seek and the like. Admittedly, this has always been an uphill struggle for me. I thought my son's passion for gaming would end in junior high, if not, certainly by the time he was a junior in high school. But Zac is now a junior in college, and he called home a few weeks ago with the news that he had waited in line for three hours to be one of the first to buy Halo 2.

How upset could I be? After all, I played video games in college. I first conquered Pong, then Space Invaders, and then I went on to eat dots in the phenomenon of Pac-Man. It's easy to see how addictive these electronic games can become. To do well in the video games of my era, it took fast reflexes, a quick trigger thumb, and a lot of quarters. Today's games are most typically played at home on PlayStation, Game Cube, or Xbox systems. Although they require fast reflexes, they clearly require strategy and sophisticated problem-solving skills.

As Kevin Maney observed in his article published in USA Today "The tables have turned and the axis is videogames. We boomers have become like those Woodstock town folk we once laughed at. We're on the tragically un-hip side of a generation gap, and the gamers are on the other side." The kids on your payroll are the gamers Maney refers to, and when it comes to how they face challenges and solve problems, their approach is from the "other side."

Today's video games turn players into stars and feed their egos by heaping praise and rewards on them when they excel. The hero in these games isn't always the honorable character, but rather the one who shows the most machismo and bravado. Therefore, players advance only when they act daring and assume great risk.

Gamers amass countless hours rapidly analyzing new situations and interacting with characters they don't even know. They must quickly discover their limitations and learn where to pull resources to defeat their opponent. There can be no doubt that these new-fangled games are teaching Gen Why players critical thinking skills that will someday serve them-and their employers-very well.

Whether or not you ever play Halo 2, it's important that you understand the tremendous impact games like this have had on the mindset of your new recruits. Obviously, you won't get them to invest themselves if they're not challenged to think, react, and affect the outcome of the 'game'. You need to consistently provide them with opportunities to learn new things, multi-task, and input their ideas. And if there isn't a clear path to emerge as a star in your organization, you might as well say "TILT-Game Over."

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Whys Cracks

Toy Solider Gets Enshrined. G.I. Joe, an action-figure toy with a love it-or-hate it history, drew a historic salute from the National Toy Hall of Fame. ''Some people like this toy - a lot, and some don't like it - a lot,'' Strong Museum's chief executive, G. Rollie Adams, said as the 40-year-old miniature soldier was enshrined last week along with the rocking horse and Scrabble. They joined 28 classic playthings, from Barbie to Mr. Potato Head, Legos to Lincoln Logs, Slinky to Play-Doh and Crayola crayons, in the six-year-old Hall of Fame. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP)
...Rumor has it that Big Wheel is feeling snubbed and is now holding Gumby hostage, threatening to put him in an Easy Bake Oven if he's not inducted soon.

Airheads. Two girls at Greenfield Junior High School in Gilbert, AZ, were setting up the decorations for a school dance and got the idea of inhaling the helium they were using to fill balloons to hear themselves "talk funny." Principal Jill Bowers noted the school district's policy that prohibits the "non-medical use of drugs" also includes inhaled drugs, and suspended the girls for five days. "If it's such a dangerous substance," complained one of the girls' fathers, "why weren't they supervised? I think they went a little bit overboard and took the zero-tolerance policy to the extreme." Bowers relented, reducing the suspensions to one day. (Arizona Republic)
...Whew! Now they'll be able to squeak by the seventh grade.

The Buzz

What are THEY Saying?

What do your colleagues have to say about LIVE Generation Why Presentations?

"Eric grabbed our attention with laughter in the first five seconds he began talking and I don't think he lost one person for the nearly two hours he spoke. He was right on the money in describing the issues our leaders face as we try to manage multiple generations. And, although he made it very clear that these generations were different, he also offered real solutions for bringing people of different learning and working styles together so that our workplace would be efficient, desirable and ultimately successful. Our leaders thanked us for inviting him to speak at their retreat."
~Jan Hallmark - Senior VP Human Development and Community Outreach - Sumner Regional Health Systems, Nashville, TN