Kairos

If you thought the Bob Garfield chapters were bad, wait until you read this.http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2009/bs2009115_016982.htm

It’s disheartening that our world and technology is changing so quickly that our best educators can’t keep up with teaching it. This article says it best— employers are expecting college graduates today to enter the workforce being equipped with all of the latest digital knowledge, and even to teach others within the company. But— how easy is it for us now, in college, to fully learn the latest tools when our professors don’t know how to use them, either?
Ultimately, how do the millions of us in college right now, without structured digital education, thrive in the upcoming job market? There’s the stigma surrounding Gen-Y that we are lazy. However, I believe our generation is going to emerge as the polar opposite of lazy because of the urgent need to start teaching ourselves. There’s a massive shift happening that Gen-Y needs to view as kairos, or “the opportune moment,” to shine.

I’m currently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” and he discusses how the most successful and rich people didn't become successful solely because of their intelligence and drive, but because of the opportunity that arose as a result of the cultural context. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were obviously brilliant, but they both were born at the opportune year to be the opportune age to take full advantage of the “computer-boom.” That, combined with practice, hard work, and intelligence, created success for them. The richest people in history were born at times where the world was changing— John D. Rockafeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Andrew Mellon are numbers 1, 2, and 6 richest ever. And, coincidently, they were all born around the industrial revolution— when change was happening at exponential levels. Even Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook happened to be in college at the opportune moment to take advantage of the next shift in communication when social media was in its infancy. He founded the thing in his dorm room, whereas people like me were still in high school; not the opportune age to have the means or focus to create something like Facebook.

But guess what? The tech-shift is still happening. And many of us are still in college. Those younger than us are most likely going to receive digital education, because by the time THEY are in college, the professors will establish a curriculum to cover it. However, for those with the entrepreneurial spirit… it may be kairos.


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