The answer to this delimma is that Baby Boomers are partially responsible for the problems America faces and can easily be the majority of the solution. For example, America's Top CEO's earned $5.4 billion last year. 400 or the Fortune 500 CEOs are Baby Boomers. Approximately 70% of the members of Congress are Baby Boomers. Of course, since Boomers represent one of every three adults in America and range in age from 45 to 62, the preceeding facts shouldn't surprise anyone.

In C. Rich's blog dated December 31, 2008, Mr. Rich states: "The baby boomers are the most self absorbed, dysfunctional group of malcontents that have ever been created in the history of the United States of America. These bozos have almost destroyed the entire world, America, the family, marriage and just about any institution they got there hands on. As Obama screamed at the Democratic convention at the Republicans, "Enough!"  This battle cry comes from the generation that had to clean up the mess of this depraved group of people. "Enough!""

Guess what Mr. Rich, Barack Obama is a Baby Boomer. This is where the solution comes into play. Sure, Baby Boomers protested against war, fought for racial and gender equality, rebelled against the military-industrial complex and did a lot to change America for the better back in the sixties and seventies. But it seems most Boomers left their activist nature at college, joined the work force, raised families, created a comfortable lifestyle for themselves and disappeared into normal society. The rest became disillusioned and gave up the fight. A lot of them became the people they distrusted and protested against.

Can they be re-engaged? Will they rejoin the fight to change America? I am convinced they can rise to the challenge with the proper motivation and leadership. A quote from Dr. Greg Ketchum in David Mills' book, 10,000 days goes straight to the point: "I think a lot of the ideals we had in the '60s and '70s were youth based. We were naive in how we could make things happen...Now I think we have enough years on us and maturity. It's natural to get to the unfinished business." And given the problems facing America, we don't have time to waste.

Boomers have the numbers, as well as the financial and political power to take on these issues.  "The next ten years are going to be very defining for America," said David Gergen, White House adviser and Professor of Public Service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government,  "The big question about Baby Boomer Generation is, is it going to grow up in time and get serious about facing up to the challenges that are going to be here for our children and grandchildren, or are we going to slide by and leave them with a really big mess."

Boomer-Insight.com already provides a platform for your voice to be heard. Are you ready to get this movement started? Don't you think we have waited long enough? Let's get with the program. We have no time to waste.

  

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I happened upon an article on the EdmundSun.com website written by Nick Massey discussing Harley Davidson motorcycles, lingerie, Baby Boomers, their progeny - Echo Boomers - and market demographics. I was amazed that the writer was able to talk about Harley motorcycles and lingerie in an investment column. The point of the column was that the American motorcycle manufacturer's target market, Baby Boomer men between 45 and 55, would be diminishing significantly in the next few years and would put the company's future at risk. He concluded that younger motorcycle buyers wouldn't or couldn't pony up the $20,000 for a well equipped hog.

 

By the same token, the children of Baby Boomers, Echo Boomers (mainly Gen Xers) would most likely increase sales for the purveyors of lingerie like Victoria's Secret, Provocateur, Ann Summers and other lingerie retailers. Following in their parents footsteps, Echo Boomers would be entering into courtship, marriage, children, divorce, new courtship, second marriage, and maybe second divorce. He believes that should keep the Echo Boomers buying more and more lingerie. What a jaded view of American life. I can't say that his assumptions are incorrect, but what does it say about American society?

 

The final question is: Just because a lot of Boomers will be hitting their sixties in the next few years, why would that keep them from continuing to buy Harley Davidson motorcycles? And by the same token, who says they aren't still buying lingerie? A reader of the blog I wrote titled Baby Boomers Don't Think they are Old chimed in and said,  "No, I think baby boomers think they are ageless. Even though the number is getting higher they still think young and act young. Most are doing everything they can to stay fit and look younger. The gym has never been so crowded and the plastic surgeons have never been busier. We have so much to help us stay younger. Personally I think age is in you head, and of course how you feel."

 

Mac's blog can be read at www.Boomer-Inight.com under MacM's blog and at www.Blogger.com under Mac@Boomer Insight.

 

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Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the business best seller, Made to Stick, recently released their latest book titled Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. A synopsis of their book was written up in the February 2010 issue of Fast Company magazine and provided some great insights in dealing obstacles that one might encounter in life or business.

The basic premise of the book has to do with taking a different approach to confronting change. The Heath brothers encourage their readers to move away from analysis and towards locating any positive elements within the problem or issue. As we all know, change doesn't come easy to people or employees.

Chip and Dan point out that when encountering difficult problems, most people try to discover the solution by over analyzing the problem. Rather than analyzing all of the negative components of the issue the authors advocate finding the positive elements or bright spots within the problem. Instead of looking at what isn't working, why not focus the spotlight on what is working. And clone those elements to resolve the problem.

According to the Heath brothers, psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems - emotional and rational systems that compete for control. The rational mind wants to change something while the emotional mind wants it to stay the same. By using emotional keys to drive the rational changes, change can indeed be accomplished. It is all about discovering those keys and incorporating them into the solution.

Using a narrative style of story telling to get their points across, the authors provide real world examples of how this is being done across the world. According to the editorial review of Switch, Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

According to Publishers Weekly, "The Heath brothers...address motivating employees, family members, and ourselves in their analysis of why we too often fear change. Change is not inherently frightening, but our ability to alter our habits can be complicated by the disjunction between our rational and irrational minds: the self that wants to be swimsuit-season ready and the self that acquiesces to another slice of cake anyway.

The trick is to find the balance between our powerful drives and our reason. The authors' lessons are backed up by anecdotes that deal with such things as new methods used to reform abusive parents, the revitalization of a dying South Dakota town, and the rebranding of megastore Target."

You can find this book on Amazon or at your favorite retailer. Understanding how to best deal with changes in your life or your business is critical if you expect to keep moving forward. Of course, if you are perfectly content to stay where you are, then you won't need to learn these lessons.

How do you deal with change? Do you embrace it or fight it?

 

 

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A recent Op-ed piece in the Washington Post by Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO,  discusses disturbing trends that he believes demonstrate America's failure to maintain its leadership position in innovation. The trends he points to have to do with searches related to delaying back to school purchases last fall and increases in searches for payday loans over the past two years.

Mr. Schmidt believes that the best ways to curb unemployment and spur job creation will be through business and product innovation. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has talked about America's ‘innovation deficit'. America has been the global leader in innovation for generations, but it appears that we are losing our leadership position.

In the area of green energy, China and Germany are making significant technology advances and threaten to become the ‘green silicon valley' soon if we don't redouble our efforts and get some help from Congress. Schmidt clearly states that America relied on big investments in NASA and the military to create new technology breakthroughs, but that is no longer the path to the future for America's innovators.

According to the Google CEO, the internet provides the tools and information to anyone with an idea and access to the web. He goes on to say that the next breakthroughs are just as likely to occur in a coffee shop as they are to occur in the lab of a major corporation. His best advice to the government is to get out of the way and eliminate any roadblocks that might stand in the way of small business or individual entrepreneurs.

 He believes that any legislation that is considered by Congress should promote competition rather than protecting the interests of the established businesses and corporations. Generally these protectionist policies are encouraged by lobbyists and special interest groups in Washington. As we know, many legislators try to protect businesses and corporations in their districts. Competition is critical to business innovation.

He also believes that we need to create a culture that tolerates failure. As Eric states in his article, "Show me a program with a 100 percent success rate and I'll show you one with 0 percent innovation." Remember the light bulb? Let's see, how many element combinations did Thomas Edison try before he succeeded in creating an operational light bulb? You get the point.

Mr. Schmidt applauds the decision by Congress to double science funding, but says they need to take it a step further. He advocates an R&D tax credit in order to encourage more businesses to invest in their future and America's future. Eric also believes that information needs to become more open and accessible. Government funded research should be made public to everyone through an internet platform similar to Wikipedia.

Mr. Schmidt also thinks that the government should loosen its reign on Visas since so many of the best and brightest foreign students that come to study in America leave after completing their programs in America. He thinks we are losing too many gifted and talented people to our foreign competition.

I agree with Eric 100 percent. America's global leadership position has always been about being able to outsmart and outthink our competitors, whether it was in battle or in business. And when it came to innovation, look what we have accomplished in the last 100 years. Think about Henry Ford, Xerox, IBM, Apple, and a myriad of other innovative leaders.

Our economy is in the tank. Unemployment is too high. It seems to me that our only hope of recovery is innovation. New ideas translate into new industries which translate into new jobs. And let's keep those jobs here for a change. One of the reasons we are in this pickle is because we didn't just outsource jobs overseas, we outsourced our technologies.  Let's try to be smarter this time.

What is your take on this topic? Do you have a million dollar idea? Do you agree with Mr. Schmidt on how to erase the innovation deficit? We want to hear your thoughts.

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if enough of you speak up, we can profoundly impact the tone and direction of business and political policies in America.

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The debate has gotten hot and heavy in the last few weeks and I am amazed at the misinformation that is being disseminated by the shouters and disrupters at the Town Hall meetings across the country. I realize there are a lot of legitimate beefs with healthcare reform. You certainly have a right for your voices to heard. Just like you guys, I want my voice to be heard. But, I am not interested in shouting down my Congressional Representative or my Senator. My political views not withstanding, I am most interested in what is best for America and American Business.

First, let me say, that I have health insurance and I am satisfied with my coverage and my provider. I can go to the doctor of my choice for a small co-pay and get my prescriptions filled for a small co-pay. Being an old guy, and a very active one at that, I feel very fortunate to have this insurance. In the last year or so, I have had my knee scoped, my cholesterol checked, my wrist operated on, and several other examinations and consultations. I have been seen by my family doctor, my cardiologist, my orthopedist, and an endocrinologist. 

I can understand why a lot of you guys are skeptical of the government becoming more involved in our healthcare. Based on the government's ability to manage other areas of our lives, you have good reason to be skeptical. Given the fact that the U.S. government has mismanaged numerous projects and contracts over the years from defense to building bridges to nowhere, it stands to reason that you should be concerned about them getting involved in the healthcare business.

That said, I would remind you that the government has been running Medicare for the past forty five years. And they have done a pretty good job with Medicare. Ask any senior if they would give up their Medicare coverage and I am quite confident you wouldn't find any takers.  Is it perfect? Not really, but it is better than a number of private plans. So what does Medicare have to do with healthcare reform? It demonstrates that the government can manage a healthcare program and do it well for the long term. It also dispels a number of myths that many of the dissenters have raised about government run healthcare.

With Medicare you can choose your doctor.  Yes, there are small percentage of doctors who don't participate, but most do. Medicare pays for your prescriptions. Medicare will take you regardless of pre-existing conditions. There are no death panels determining who gets to live and who doesn't. Most private insurance providers want you to convert to Medicare when you turn 65. The older you get the more healthcare you require and the more it would cost those private providers. Medicare doesn't ration treatments or procedures. Medicare doesn't require that you drop your current plan when you turn 65, if you are satisfied with your coverage.

Current private healthcare is responsible for a lot of waste and inefficiencies.  There are many physicians that will recommend tests and procedures that you might not necessarily need just to protect themselves from potential medical malpractice suits. As long as the costs of these procedures and tests fall within provider guidelines, the private providers pay for them with no questions asked. So litigation definitely is a factor in rising healthcare costs. The lack of online universal record keeping systems translates into redundant tests, missed diagnoses, prescription interactions and lots of other problems that result because those practitioners don't have access to your complete medical history. Private providers don't encourage or pay for preventative procedures in most cases. That raises healthcare costs as well.  

 AARP has come out in favor of healthcare reform. Obviously, they want to see the final bill before they endorse it, but they know that the system is broken and needs fixing. They also know that Medicare has been good for Americans and will cost taxpayers less if people received better healthcare before they turn 65. Can the government fix healthcare without putting our great grand children in debt? I certainly hope so. Cost will be a concern, but I believe they can accomplish this through better efficiencies and preventative care. Plus, if there is a public option, that will cause the current providers to become more efficient, put more pressure on the drug companies to be more realistic in their pricing, and in turn make private sector healthcare more affordable. That will be a win/win for everyone concerned.

I would also like to point out, that one of the reasons American businesses have not been able to compete with their foreign competitors is partially the result of skyrocketing healthcare costs they are paying to keep their workers insured. In fact, that is certainly one of the problems our automakers have had to deal with for the last couple of decades. Add to that, the rise in litigation in America relating to corporate, product and service liability and you can see why American business has lost its competitive edge. Tort reform should be next after healthcare reform if America is to regain its competitive position in the world of business.  

What's your take on this issue? Inquiring minds want to know. Comment on Linkedin and/or on my web site, www.BoomerOpinion.com. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion that don't mind speaking out and can successfully complete a sentence.

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 In the last thirty years I have worked as a product manager, marketing manager and sales manager. I even wrote a book on marketing in 2002 titled Marketing Alignment. Shameless plug number one - my book is available on Amazon.com. Based on my background, one might think it would be improbable that I would be in favor of banning any consumer advertising and marketing.

Sure, most people understand why companies can't advertise automatic weapons or cigarettes on television. And if you NRA members won't to take me to task on that issue, feel free, but remember I am an advocate of the second amendment. I suspect a lot of you would be in favor of at least limiting the TV advertising of fast food late at night or sugary cereal products targeting kids in the morning. After all, thirty percent of Americans are obese.

My complaint has to do with prescription drug advertising. Congress allocates the FDA $2.4 billion to regulate our foods, drugs and cosmetics. The big pharmaceutical companies spend twice that amount each year on consumer advertising.

About six years ago Congress, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the big pharmaceutical companies were wining and dining the healthcare professionals (doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, etc) in order to get them to prescribe their company's drugs. So they passed legislation to put a halt to most of these practices. Well, the executives at the major pharmaceutical companies scratched their heads and came up with a different approach. They decided to go straight to the consumers and advertise their goods on national television. 

I am certain a great many of you would be happy if you didn't have to witness another erectile dysfunction or enlarged prostate commercial ever again. Include me in that group. There is a movement in congress these days to try to put some limits on this advertising. Representative Henry Waxman, (D) California, would like to see the FDA  bar consumer advertising for any drugs until they have proved safe in real world use. Another democrat, James Morgan of Virginia is sponsoring a bill that would ban ads for prescription sexual aids like Viagra and Levitra during prime time on grounds of decency.

The drug makers and their proponents contend that direct to consumer ads educate the public and inform them about medical advances. Personally, I think diagnosing yourself based on a television ad is dangerous and will do more harm than good. I also believe that this television advertising is a significant contributor to the rising cost of healthcare in America. It seems to me that the big pharma companies see this as an easy way to reach the more gullible hypochondriacs out there who will take any pill they can get their hands on. I believe that healthcare reform should include some type of ban on these prescription drug ads.

Marcia Angell, a senior lecturer in social medicine at the Harvard Medical School and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, says, "Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising does exactly what it is intended to do - increase sales for drug companies. Increasingly, it does that by promoting medical conditions, as well as drugs. If the industry can convince essentially normal people that minor complaints require long-term drug treatment, its market will grow."  She goes on to say, "The argument that ads educate consumers is self-evidently absurd. No one should look to an investor-owned company for objective, unbiased information about products it sells. Do we ask the Ford dealer whether his cars are any good?"

Still, there are those that argue that these advertisements go a long way in educating the American public about specific medical conditions and how to treat them. That would be a good argument if it were true. A study that compared the health literacy between the U.S. and Canada demonstrates the fallacy in that argument. Canada, where these ads are not allowed, has a higher health literacy than here in America where we are bombarded daily with these ads.

James P. Othmer, a former advertising creative director and author of the forthcoming book, Adland: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet, had this to say about prescription drug marketing, "My all-time favorite pharmaceutical ad is for something called R.L.S. (Restless Leg Syndrome) a condition whose degree of absurdity is topped only by a drug's potential side effects: "Tell your doctor if you experience increased gambling, sexual or other urges." Mr. Othmer went on to say, "If I had a dime for every time I heard the words "ask your doctor" or saw a crude clip of phallic imagery during a commercial break from the evening news, or was forced to contemplate a stomach-turning side effect, I'd be able to afford my own health care."

So what is your take on this topic? Do you think these drug companies should be able to advertise freely on any medium they choose? Are you ready to contact your Senator or Congress person and tell them to ban this advertising?

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if we recruit enough of you, we can positively impact business and political policies around the country.

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 In the beginning there was normal reality. What you saw was what was there. Then there was altered reality, but that was in the sixties and you needed a competent drug dealer to ensure you could return from your trip on Transcendental Airways. Next came virtual reality and if normal reality didn't do it for you, then you could create your own virtual persona and be as cool as you thought you should be. Now there is Augmented Reality. How many realities will we need to experience before it is all said and done? How about your own robotic surrogate? Wouldn't that be the ultimate augmentation? Well it is the twenty first century.

According to Wikipedia, "Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, like for example sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable."

Practical applications for augmented reality are mostly about digitally overlaying information over what you are seeing in real time. These types of applications have been used by the military for years. Head's up displays in jet fighters, helicopters and tanks are just one example. The yellow first down line on a television broadcast of your favorite college or NFL game is another example. Some automobiles have digital displays projected on the inside of the windshield just above the dash board so you can check your speed or fuel level without taking your eyes off the road.

The most popular consumer uses for AR are apps for smart phones. Yelp was one of the first AR companies to develop apps for the iPhone. Using a Yelp app, you can aim your iPhone at a restaurant and it will overlay reviews and other information about that eatery. Another app will allow you to point the iPhone at an historical site and the app will provide you with a summarized history of that landmark or show you what that site looked like 100 years earlier.

There are apps in development that will use facial recognition to find entertainment or business celebrities in a crowd. Another will allow you to aim your phone at a classmate at a reunion and view that person's social networking pages. Of course, there will be apps that provide directions from your location to the closest Starbucks if you point your phone at the street sign in any major city.

What if everyone in New York or London is walking around holding their smart phone in front of their face to augment their own reality. How long will it take for them to run into a wall, another person, a poll or walk into oncoming traffic? You thought it was bad enough just having people around you talking or texting on their smart phones while walking or driving. In the future they might be looking through them.

Of course, if that technology takes off, people will purchase glasses or goggles that provide the digital overlays. I have even read about a company that is working on contact lenses that will provide you with terminator eyes complete with computer graphics layered onto your lenses. Naturally, you can expect Washington to provide legislation that will keep us from harming ourselves or others while using this technology.

In the movie, Surrogates, people had human like robots carrying out there day to day activities, while the humans cloistered themselves indoors in their homes or apartments. The humans controlled their surrogates through virtual eyewear and headset devices they put on when it was time for their robots to leave their homes and go about their daily routine.

Their surrogate robots interacted with other surrogate robots both at work and socially while the humans reclined in their beds and vicariously interacted with the other surrogates. I can't imagine how anyone could go without real human interaction for a long period of time. And if you thought obesity was a problem today, just consider how humans would look if they spent all day reclining in bed.

Is the authenticity of our human existence being supplanted by a digital existence? Social interaction and personal communication are being replaced by digital interaction via smart phones, email and Facebook. And if you think that I am a Luddite rebelling against all forms of technology, you would be wrong. After all, I am writing this blog on my Toshiba notebook computer and publishing it on my web site, Linkedin and Wordpress.

I do believe it is reasonable to question the impact of technology on our daily lives. I did grow up in the fifties when social interaction was the only interaction and the only reality. I can certainly see the value in having instant global communication capabilities and the world's knowledge base at your finger tips. Let's just not replace ourselves with digital devices. There is a lot to be said for the human experience and face to face human interaction. That is, after all, what makes us human isn't it?

What is your take on this topic? Technology evolution is impacting everyone on the planet. Now for my shameless plug: If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if we recruit enough of you, we can positively impact business and political policies around the country.

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I realize that this statement sounds backwards, but the fact is, email overload and multitasking do make you less productive at your job. Intel, the computer chip maker, estimates that email overload can cost large companies as much as $1 billion a year in lost productivity.

How is this possible? Aren't these supposed to be tools that make you more productive? It has more to do with interruptions to your thought processes. Your brain doesn't respond well to interruptions. These interruptions erode an area in your brain called effortful control. This in turn affects your ability to regulate your voluntary attention. Voluntary attention is the ability to concentrate on a chosen task. 

To make matters worse, this erosion of effortful control causes your brain to seek more interruptions. The more you check your email, the more you need to check your email. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, you should be all too familiar with this problem.

According to Gayle Porter, a professor of management at Rutgers University, "Technology is an addiction". She has studied e-compulsion and has concluded that if one cannot turn off their Blackberry when they need to focus on the job at hand, then there is a problem. Addiction to electronic devices is not all that different to addictions to cigarettes, coffee or drugs.

Sure people can walk and chew gum. They can juggle four different tasks at one time, but they can't do two thinking tasks simultaneously. I am sure you have carried on a phone conversation while reading an email. Trying to do both of these tasks at the same time causes the brain to switch back and forth between these tasks. A University of Michigan study found that productivity dropped as much as 40% when subjects attempted to two or more things at once.

It has been noted that executives who have to constantly deal with electronic interruptions have a hard time focusing even when they are away from these interruptions. Their brains are so scrambled they find it difficult to stay on message during face to face meetings, sales presentations or investor pitches. A cottage industry has emerged to help executives overcome these issues.

In reality, the brain will try to compensate by moving some tasks from the hippocampus, the area that handles the more demanding cognitive tasks, to the striatum, which handles the rote tasks. In other words some important cognitive tasks might be relocated to the gum chewing part of your brain when you are multitasking. This explains why we make those typos in important messages or send emails to the wrong persons.

In her book, Rapt, Winifred Gallagher wrote that humans are the sum of what they pay attention to. Obviously we should pay attention to only those things that are most meaningful, but instead we focus on what captures our attention. Therein lays the problem, particularly if we are constantly bombarded with electronic messages and e-interruptions.

This issue has become so pervasive that Google, Microsoft, IBM and Intel have begun collaborating on developing best practices and sharing new approaches to this problem. It is a matter of self preservation for these companies. Computer engineers have been among the most affected by these e-interruptions.

A Harvard Business School study by Leslie Perlow determined that the computer engineers at one software company were so interrupted by electronic messages that the only way they could get their work done was to do their work at night and on weekends. In an experiment to alleviate this problem, all messages and phone calls were banned at certain periods during the day and their productivity increased to the point that they no longer needed nights and weekends to complete their projects.

Some managers and executives have found that limiting the number of times they check their email and phone messages is the key to productivity. One senior financial advisor at Merrill Lynch found that checking messages four times a day was the answer. Another manager at Lockeed Martin cut his message checking to twice a day.

Bottom line: Figure out what works for you and wean yourself from these e-interruptions. Constantly checking your email or phone messages will make you less productive. If you want to get the most out of your day, focus on your job and not your inbox.

Do you suffer from this affliction? Have you come up with a solution? Tell us about how you have overcome e-interruptions in the workplace.

 My web community, www.boomeropinion.com is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership.

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Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y will all impact American business in different ways in the future and if companies don't begin trying to understand their differences, they will be left behind. Why is this issue so important? It is important because the primary drivers of our economy, Baby Boomers are reigning in their spending and preparing for retirement. If businesses don't start researching and learning all the subtle nuances between these generationally defined consumer groups, they will indeed be left behind.

Over the past 15-20 years Baby Boomer spending habits have been responsible for more than 75% of America's gross national product. During this period the 78 million Baby Boomers have been in their peak earning years and have basically bought whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Some researchers have labeled Baby Boomers as hedonists, free spenders and the most self absorbed generation in recent history.

Not exactly, the legacy most Boomers want to be tagged with, but it is hard for them to argue with the facts. During their younger years Boomers fought for social justice, spawned the peace movement and acted as America's social and political conscience. They worked hard at changing the political system and they played hard. Remember sex, drugs and Rock & Roll? If you are a Boomer, your memory from that period might be a little sketchy. After college came marriage, family, careers and integration into normal society. And once the Boomers hit their peak earning years, they began spending like no generation before them. Of course, lax credit policies and intense marketing through an expanding media base helped perpetuate this boom period.

During the recent economic downturn that began last fall, the Boomers' IRAs, stock portfolios and home values lost 20% to 40% of their value. Being so close to retirement, the Baby Boomers hit the panic button and just quit spending money on anything that wasn't a necessity. Consequently, the economic meltdown accelerated. Signs of recovery are beginning to show in a number of sectors, but it isn't going to happen quickly and it is hard to predict whether we will return to the good old days of mass consumption. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but if you are trying to grow your business in a declining market you had better outsmart your competition.

It is important to understand that the next generation after Baby Boomers, the Gen X'ers are quite different than the Boomers and there are fewer Gen X'ers out there. While there are 78 million Baby Boomers, there are somewhere between 47 million and 65 million Gen X'ers depending whose definition of Gen X you use. Some researchers classify Gen X'ers as those people born between 1965 and 1976, while others place the generation birth dates between 1961 and 1981. Gen Xer's are characterized as independent, sometimes adversarial or rebellious, informal, entrepreneurial, and on a quest for emotional security. In the past they have been referred to as slackers and whiners, but I believe that was a mischaracterization originating from their behavior during their youth.

Members of Generation Y (aka Millenials or Echo Boomers) are considerably more like their Baby Boomer parents. They tend to feel empowered because of their overindulgent parents, they have a sense of security and are very optimistic about the future. Gen Y'ers are characterized as loyal and more likely to volunteer and help others. They look for employers that provide flexibility in the workplace. And they are undoubtedly the most technologically savy generation to come along. There are almost 80 million members of Generation Y, which means that they will play a larger role in driving economic growth in America than the Gen X'ers.

Regardless of whether you are targeting these groups for marketing purposes or looking to hire new employees, it is critical that you understand the subtle characteristics and nuances of each demographic on the front end. There are plenty of books, articles and web based research to help you understand the best ways and methods to reach out to these groups for whatever purposes you have in mind. If you plan to market to these groups or manage a multi-generational workforce, your key to success will be understanding what motivates their behavior and leveraging that knowledge. Just remember, it won't be business as usual and you won't succeed if you are not prepared.

 What's your take on this issue? Inquiring minds want to know. Comments are welcomed and encouraged. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion that don't mind speaking out and can successfully complete a sentence.

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Yes, for most people the logical answer would be to hire the person with the most experience. After all, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If a person has been successful in his or her field for the last 10-20 years, why wouldn't they make the best hire and be a very productive member of your company? In the past, I would have voted for the experienced candidate without question.

That was then. Today, I am not so sure. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, "The times they are a changing...particularly in today's workplace". Given the fact that the world of business and technology has been evolving at warp speed since the introduction of personal computing, high speed communications and the world wide web, how valuable will all those past experiences be to your organization? Can a person's experience translate directly into great job performance in today's wired world and fast paced business climate? Will that experience add significant value to the organization they are trying join?

Having worked in high tech since the early days of personal computers, I have seen technologies and companies come and go faster than anyone could have or would have predicted back in the early days of the technology revolution. In the early 1980's, the dominant software companies were VisiCorp, Ashton Tate, and Micropro. I doubt many of you have ever heard of these companies. These companies went from zero to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and just as quickly disappeared a few years later. Why, they weren't able to adapt to changing face of technology quickly enough. By the same token, the skills required to work in most white collar jobs are changing just as rapidly..

I remember selling the first PC hard drive in Austin. I sold it to the governor's office. After setting it up, I told the IT administrator that there was no way he would ever be able to generate enough data to fill up that 5 megabyte external hard drive. Yes, that was 27 years ago. Should I put that on my resume? My current notebook PC has a 150 gigabyte internal drive and it only has 37 gigabytes free. I also have a 500 gigabyte external drive I use for backup.

A long resume might look quite impressive to some bosses. Unless of course, you typed it up on your Olivetti Typewriter. How will all that experience provide a candidate with the tools and skill sets they will need to help lead businesses in the 21^st Century? The tools and skill sets have both changed. World wide communications are now driven by the internet and cellular technologies. Meetings can be conducted from anywhere at any time and can accommodate attendees anywhere on the planet. Distribution systems, marketing, customer relationships, supply chains and brand awareness are all driven by the web.

The successful companies of the future will be built on ideas and new strategies to deal with rapidly evolving technologies. Can past experience demonstrate one's ability to create new programs and leverage new technologies? In some cases, a connection to such abilities can be articulated on your resume. In most cases, it isn't easy to illustrate those abilities. Resumes don't reflect how well a person can think on their feet when a disruptive paradigm comes into play. It also won't show how quickly they can generate new ideas or how well they can react under pressure.

Some companies are referring to their employees as human capital. After all, in some companies the most valuable assets in the company are their employees. If your employees are your most important assets, you should be wise in how you judge their potential performance and who you hire.

Other factors include how well the potential hire can adapt to the existing corporate culture and whether or not he or she is a good team player. Consequently, the interview process will always be the most critical component in sorting out the best employees. Some companies are much better at this than others. Far too often, the bureaucratic nature of the larger corporations, places much more emphasis on the resume and background check, than the management and peer interview process. That's unfortunate for all concerned.

Regardless of which side of the desk you are positioned, hiring manager or potential hire, talk about creativity and idea production. If possible develop possible scenarios and have the candidates work up strategies and ideas for dealing with these potential calamities. Fresh viewpoints will be the key to successful business strategies in the fast changing world of today. A lot of those past experiences won't translate into useful skills when navigating the today's dynamic business climate, let alone in the future. Take the time to find out how well the potential hire can function in uncertain situations with imminent deadlines. Key hires are the key to business success. 

 What's your take on this issue? I am sure you have experienced this conundrum in your work life. Comment on Linkedin and/or on my web site, www.BoomerOpinion.com. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion who don't mind speaking out.

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Recent studies conducted by the Pew Internet and American life Project, as well as the Synovate market research group, found that people are ruder online than in person. The studies point out that more than a third of those surveyed are quite aware of the fact that they use language or words online that they would not consider using in person. I am sure this is no revelation to anyone who spends even a small amount of time online, but it does point to a developing situation that could undermine civility in America and around the world.

It is obvious that when we communicate using technology, we isolate ourselves from those we are communicating with and that sense of anonymity drives us to overstep the boundaries of appropriate behavior. And yes, there are those who believe there shouldn't be rules pertaining to proper online behavior and that anything goes when they go online. Even those folks who are shy and retiring in person can have major personality shifts when they go online. I suppose their perceived power online could be intoxicating to some.  

Is this behavior just a function of the growing online population? Can it be reversed? It's probably too early to tell, but something should be done. Given we are dealing with the world wide web, government intervention is not an option. Maybe a grassroots movement to encourage civil discourse on the web would be a first step.

Below I have listed The Core Rules of Netiquette from the book, Netiquette, by Virginia Shea. Ms. Shea understands the problem and provides a really good set of rules that people can use to avoid being rude online. I have also included brief portions of Ms. Shea's explantions for each rule.

Rule 1: Remember the Human The golden rule your parents and your kindergarten teacher taught you was pretty simple: Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other person's shoes. Stand up for yourself, but try not to hurt people's feelings.

Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life In real life, most people are fairly law-abiding, either by disposition or because we're afraid of getting caught. In cyberspace, the chances of getting caught sometimes seem slim. And, perhaps because people sometimes forget that there's a human being on the other side of the computer, some people think that a lower standard of ethics or personal behavior is acceptable in cyberspace.

Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there.

Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth It's a cliché that people today seem to have less time than ever before, even though (or perhaps because) we sleep less and have more labor-saving devices than our grandparents did. When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

Rule 5: Make yourself look good online I don't want to give the impression that the net is a cold, cruel place full of people who just can't wait to insult each other. As in the world at large, most people who communicate online just want to be liked. Networks -- particularly discussion groups -- let you reach out to people you'd otherwise never meet. And none of them can see you. You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing.

Rule 6: Share expert knowledge The strength of cyberspace is in its numbers. The reason asking questions online works is that a lot of knowledgeable people are reading the questions. And if even a few of them offer intelligent answers, the sum total of world knowledge increases. The Internet itself was founded and grew because scientists wanted to share information. Gradually, the rest of us got in on the act.

Rule 7: Help keep the flame wars under control "Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. It's the kind of message that makes people respond, "Oh come on, tell us how you really feel." Tact is not its objective.

Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy Of course, you'd never dream of going through your colleagues' desk drawers. So naturally you wouldn't read their email either. Unfortunately, a lot of people would.

Rule 9: Don't abuse your power Some people in cyberspace have more power than others. There are wizards in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and system administrators in every system. Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them. For example, sysadmins should never read private email.

Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes Everyone was a network newbie once. And not everyone has had the benefit of reading this book. So when someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer -- be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before reacting. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else.

Ms. Shea's book is available online through Albion Publishing at www.albion.com.  It should be mandatory reading for every one who goes online. Maybe, just maybe, we can encourage a higher level of civility on the internet and net etiquette can be resurrected.

I have written about this issue in the past, and I am sure I will write about it again. The internet is a wonderful tool for gathering information, social interaction and broadcasting one's opinions. If we can keep in mind that there are human beings on the other end of the wire who might be interested in what we have to say, but won't get the message if we shove it down their throat, maybe we can carry on civil dialog, get our ideas and opinions across to those folks and make some new friends at the same time.

What's your take on this issue? Am I too much of a prude to expect proper behavior from those on the other side of my computer screen? Comment on Linkedin and/or on my web site, www.BoomerOpinion.com. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion that don't mind speaking out and can successfully complete a sentence.

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Chatroulette is a website that pairs random strangers for the purpose of webcam based conversations. The site was launched in November, 2009 by a 17 year old Russian high school student, Andrey Ternovskiy from Moscow. The site has gone from obscurity, 300 visitors a day in December 2009, to over 500,000 visitors a day in February 2010. In fact, Ben Parr of mashable.com reported 4 days ago that the site is receiving 1.5 million visitors per day. 

Andrey created this site so that he could meet and talk to people around the world. Once the viral publicity began to build, the site really took off. The site activates your web cam automatically when you click start. You are immediately staring at another human sitting or standing at their computer. If you are not young and attractive, expect to be bounced to the next user over and over.

Even though this concept is really interesting and novel, the resulting conversations are not what most people expect.  In fact, in a great many cases there is no conversation at all. In the early days, there was one guy who would play his guitar and improvise a song on any topic that the person on the other end requested and perform it for that person. Another user would speed draw portraits of chat buddies. There were people who put on costumes to get different reactions and so on.

Over time the site has become somewhat unsavory. There are people inserting all types of things into the orifice of their choosing. A lot of masturbation goes on. One thing to keep in mind if you plan to visit this site is that Chatroulette's visitors are currently 71% male, 15% female and 14% perverts on most weekday afternoons. These results were reported by Casey Neistat in a recent article on "Mashable.com" titled, Chatroulette Explained...

John Stewart on the Daily Show did a bit on Chatroulette and basically stated that is was a great place to observe men's appendages (not exactly the terminology that he used). He improvised a session that included Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Brian Williams that caused me to fall off my couch.  If you have a minute, watch this bit out on the following link... http://bit.ly/anwnHQ . Disclaimer: you might fall out of your chair laughing.

Despite the perversion, there are a number of people and companies trying to invest in this web site. Many venture capitalists have expressed interest in the site. Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian venture capital firm that has invested $400 million in Facebook, has made an offer to buy a portion of the company. Most investors believe that unless the male genitalia is completely removed from the site, the company is not a terribly smart investment.

Have you gone on this site? What is your take on this concept? Is it just a passing novelty, or do you think it has promise? We would love to hear your feedback on this topic.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership.

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Today is Twitter's fourth birthday. Whooohooooo! I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with Twitter. I have yet to decide whether Twitter is of any value to most people. Is it a valuable tool when used for its intended purpose? What is its intended purpose? I suppose Twitter is like an adjustable wrench. If you use it to hammer nails then it isn't worth the money you paid for it. However, if you are tightening bolts or nuts with it, then it is a very useful tool.

Being Twitter's Birthday, Mashable.com, the ultimate authority on social media and all things internet, posted an article about Twitter today, "140 Reasons I Love Twitter". It was actually 140 tweets. The categories for these tweets are Finding Love, Finding Fame, Staying Up to Date With Current Events, Stalking Justin Bieber, Stalking Celebrities in General, Making Friends Around the World, Making Friends with Similar Interests, Being Better Than Facebook or MySpace, Decreasing Performance at School, Tweeting on the Go, and Miscellaneous.

Finding Twitter's purpose has always been a mystery to me. In reality, the founders of Twitter are still trying to determine its real value proposition. Twitter's initial question has morphed from "What are you doing?" to "What's happening?" Bing and Google believe that it is a valuable tool for getting real time up-to-date information on events unfolding around the world, ie. instant news feeds. They both paid Twitter millions of dollars to get access to that info and use it in their search results.

To me, Twitter is more like a multi-tool...a Swiss army knife or a leatherman. These are very handy tools indeed if you are out in the middle of nowhere and need a knife, pliers, screwdriver, scissors or leather punch. So, I guess the real question is: How can I use Twitter to make my life or my business better?

Let's start with how the majority of people use Twitter: ego streaming. This is what turns most people off I think. I personally don't care what you had for breakfast or that you are going for a run. I don't care that you found a great deal on toilet paper or monkey chow. I don't care that your kid was just awarded a gold star for potty training at preschool.  I don't care that you just got your oil changed. I have more important information to consider.

Having 500 followers doesn't make you famous. In my best Andy Rooney voice, "Ever wonder why 500 people would think you are interesting enough to follow on Twitter? Ever wonder why those people's lives are so devoid of activities or excitement that following you on Twitter is what they do for fun?" Ego streaming is tantamount to stalking if you ask me. But that's just me.

Since time and common sense dictate that I cannot address every one of the categories listed on Mashable, I will select the ones I believe are relevant to the value of Twitter. Finding Fame is all about following/stalking celebrities and/or believing you yourself are a celebrity because you have hundreds of followers. I can see its attraction to young tweens and teenage girls. They want to know everything about their teen idols. But if you are over fifteen and you follow your favorite celebrity's every tweet, I say, "Get a life!"

I never considered Twitter a dating site, but apparently there a large number of people who have found their true love on this site. I am amazed and somewhat confused about this particular use of Twitter. I am guessing they have common interests and found each other by engaging in tweets about those interests. Examples of these star crossed lovers: @fallwall, "#thankstwitter4 being a good listener and perfect boyfriend substitute now and again..." and @Thick_Maddam: "#thankstwitter4 being eharmony and allowing me and my boyfriend @freakzilla718 to meet lol" Not exactly the boy and girl next door, but online romances are seldom traditional.

The category, Decreasing Performance at School seems to make perfect sense. If the high schoolers and college kids are tweeting instead of paying attention in class, then decreased performance is guaranteed. This category speaks volumes about the commitment and discipline of these students.

Tweeting on the Go provides the user something to do while being driven to school or work or when taking public transportation. I am not sure what they could be tweeting about in this scenario, but then again Twitter isn't always about communicating important or even interesting information is it? Although, they could be tweeting about black holes or nuclear fission...you never know.

Certainly for special interest groups I can see a great deal of value. If you just wanted to keep up with solar thermal energy production or bionic prosthetics, then I am sure there are Twitter sites devoted to these topics. Instant news on these developing fields is just a click away I suspect. Twitter would certainly be a way to stay up to date and get the latest links to studies and information in high tech, biofuels, medicine and any other field that you might want to track.

For businesses, I can certainly see the value in getting immediate customer feedback. I can see the value in announcing new programs or products. The instantaneous nature of Twitter provides value for any business wanting to connect in real time with their customers. Whether it is a movie review, product review, restaurant review, or customer complaint, the value is there for businesses wanting to stay close to their customer base.

When you get down to it, Twitter's most valuable use is instant news. Its real time coverage of unfolding events around the world is second to none. Since Twitter can be used by a smartphone or computer, the news coverage is both pervasive and instantaneous. No other forum provides those capabilities. No wonder Google and Microsoft were willing to pay to get access. If you don't want to scan the headlines of numerous online news sites, you can simply go to http://twitter.com/breakingnews and you will see all the latest news and headlines.

How do you use Twitter? Am I completely off base in stating that in most cases tweets are of little relevance or importance? We want to hear how and why you believe this is a useful social site.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion .

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The current model for most social media sites calls for free membership. Sites like Facebook make their money from advertising and premium features. The question is: How long will Facebook be free to use? There is a similarity between an addiction to social media and an addiction to drugs. The strategy is to get you hooked and then raise the price.

Most of my family logs on to Facebook several times a day to see what the other family members and friends are doing or saying. It seems like an addiction. Don't get me wrong, I think Facebook is a great platform to keep up with those closest to you. And unlike Twitter, your text is not that restricted and you can add photos and videos easily to your wall. And for the most part, it is not ego streaming about trivial stuff, there are a number of important topics and events that are documented daily.

The Facebook addiction is pervasive throughout the country and the world. So will Facebook take advantage of our addiction? I suspect they will. According to a Piper Jaffray report, "Pay to Play: Paid Internet Services", July 13, 2009, US Paid Social Networking Services will grow more than 25% per year in the next few years.

The big question is: Will social media users be willing to pay for this content? Currently, sites like Linkedin, Classmates.com, and Mylife.com are making as much revenue from fee-based content and services as they make from site advertising. Will Facebook and Twitter follow suit?

Consider the fact that Facebook now has over 400 million active users worldwide. Let's see, if Facebook charged a $5 per per month subscription to each member, then they would make $2 billion per month. Obviously not everyone would be willing to pay for Facebook, but if 20% of their members paid, then they would still make $200 million per month.  They could charge us a dollar a month and make some serious revenue.

Of course, Facebook has to think about the long term. Myspace thought they had taken the market by storm and just as soon as they rose to the top, Facebook came along and took the wind from their sails. Facebook had better features and a better approach. If Facebook were to move to a subscription based model, who's to say that another social media site with a similar model and some additional features might come along and displace FB.

The more likely scenario will be for Facebook to add more premium features that are fee based. What those features will be is pure speculation. They could involve mobile apps. The newest smart phones are providing geo features that will bring restaurants, transportation and shopping tips for your location. Expect a tie in to Facebook for these types of features. These could easily become fee based.

Twitter will probably never charge users a monthly fee, but the site could consider charging businesses for their tweets. After all, the two most important Twitter features are breaking news coverage and business related tweets. Twitter is already charging Google and Microsoft's Bing for using the Twitter database for their search engines. Businesses get free access to customer feedback and can set up their own accounts to tweet about products and services. Businesses would most likely be willing to pay for this exposure.

Do you believe Facebook will ever charge its membership to use the site or will the social network just begin adding more premium fee-based services? Will the site advertising model provide significant revenues for Facebook and Twitter? Do you think an upstart can take on Facebook and take their market share away in the same manner FB took Myspace's market share? We would love to hear your take on this topic.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion .

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Social media is taking over the world. It should be obvious to all of us that there are lessons that we should take away from this phenomena. The question is: What are those takeaways?

Tanveer Naseer, a self described business strategy coach, writer and overall good guy put up a post on his website titled, What Twitter Can Teach Leaders About Effective Communication. The four lessons he lists that we should learn from Twitter are:

•1.    Focus on the message, not the medium

•2.    Praise in public, criticize in private

•3.    Spend more time listening to others so you can learn and engage them

•4.    Put people first and let profits come later

The first lesson applies to not just Twitter or social media, but the internet in general I think. However, sometimes it is difficult to separate the message from the medium. Marshall McLuhan wrote in his 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extension of Man, that "The medium is the message". He believed that the medium embeds itself in the message creating an inseparable link between the medium and the content it carries.

Mr. Naseer's observes that if a message is relevant and important, the medium used should not impact its validity or discount its value. Given the amount of irrelevant content emanating from Twitter and Facebook, some people immediately discount the content because of its source. Content originating from most social media platforms is routinely discounted because it originates from social media and because most of it is of little value to anyone besides the person posting it. If you are sharing information with your team, the message should be what's important, not the platform you use to communicate it. You do have to ensure that your colleagues regularly access that platform or your message is irrelevant.

His second point relating to praising or criticizing someone in public should be recognized and understood as the proper behavior in any and all personal or business matters. His discussions on Twitter are obviously more civil than a lot of those I have personally witnessed. That said, chastising family members or subordinates should never be done in public. Making examples of your family members or coworkers in public is just wrong under any circumstances. I believe this more common sense than a lesson in leadership.

 Mr. Naseer's 3^rd lesson about spending more time listening is a lesson more managers and leaders should follow. In Stephen Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, he lists this concept as one of the seven habits:  "Seek first to understand, then to be understood". Too many of us spend most of our time formulating responses to what is being said rather than actually listening and trying to understand what the other person is saying. How can you truly engage in conversation with someone or get your own points across if you haven't given them your undivided attention when they were speaking? You can't.

Mr. Naseer's final point, "Put people first and let profits come later" is a great point. If BP would have adhered to this lesson, then maybe the oil spill wouldn't have happened. They cut corners to reduce costs and look where it got them. Twitter and Facebook have followed this rule and will ultimately be very profitable. Too many companies make choices and decisions strictly based on the bottom line and not on what's best for their employees, their customers or for their communities.

What lessons have I learned from using social media? I have learned that if your target audience does not regularly log on to your social platform then you posts are exercise in futility. I have also learned that if you can't produce compelling content day in and day out, then you won't develop a following of any consequence. Life streaming will only draw family and friends, unless you have an amazingly interesting life. I have learned that the anonymity provided by social platforms empowers some people to act badly and cruelly in their interchanges and messaging. This is a perverted use of social media, but no one has come up with a solution to this pervasive problem.

Finally, I have learned that following all of the social media streams that you subscribe to can consume most of your waking hours and negatively impact your ability to get your work done or live your life in a meaningful manner. What lessons have you learned from social media? How has social media changed your life? How has social media affected your job or career? Is the medium inextricably tied to the content or messages that it broadcasts?

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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Tech journalist David Kirkpatrick's book, the facebook EFFECT, published this year tells the inside story of the company that he says is connecting the World. In 2006 Kirkpatrick wrote an article for Fortune magazine titled Why Facebook Matters. Since his first interviews with Mark Zuckerberg, Mr. Kirkpatrick has been given complete access to the Facebook operation and its key executives.

Kirkpatrick believes that Facebook is more than just another social networking site. He agrees with Mark Zuckerberg who said in one of his early interviews, "Facebook's primary mission is to help people understand the world around them". According to Kirkpatrick, the Facebook founder is wise beyond his 26 years. Even though, when Kirkpatrick told Zuckerberg in 2006 that he thought the Facebook founder was a natural CEO, Zuckerberg acted as if that was an insult.  

Facebook is closing in on five hundred million users and is one of the fastest growing companies in the history of business. Current valuations put the company value at several billion dollars. Zuckerberg has managed to maintain a major percentage of his company stock and control of its board of directors. Given his age and experience that is an amazing feat. When the company does go public, Zuckerberg's stock will make him an instant billionaire.

So why is Facebook different than other social networking sites? Well, first of all, you have to use your real identity. Second, you can control who gets access to your page and personal information. Myspace can't make such claims. Advertising is unobtrusive on Facebook, unlike other social networks. Application development by third party developers provides users with lots of ways to engage their Facebook friends.

Every month, 20 billion pieces of content are posted on user walls. Facebook is the largest photo sharing site on the web, period. Facebook's major focus is to ensure that the information presented to you is the information that really you care about.  Zuckerberg's own wall lists his interests as "openness, breaking things, revolutions, information flow, minimalism, making things, and eliminating everything that doesn't matter".

It is not just about reading the lifestreams of your family and friends, although that is a major attraction for this site. Important news items, political provocations, holiday greetings, revolutions, viral movements, insults, jokes, wisecracks, thought provoking pronouncements, business news, first hand reports of catastrophic events, stock market results and everything else under the sun is posted daily by Facebook users on their walls and on their group pages.

Kirkpatrick says that not everything posted on Facebook is positive. Is living our lives in public a good thing? He wonders if we are becoming a nation of exhibitionists. Posting commentary on the minutiae of our lives can become tedious and a general waste of time. Will living our lives online take away our ability to experience our lives first hand?  Will we lose our ability to socialize face to face? Does Facebook contribute to information overload?   

Other questions Kirkpatrick attempts to answer in his book include: "How will Facebook alter users real-world interactions? How will repressive governments respond to this new form of citizen empowerment? Should a service this large be regulated? How do we feel about a form of communication used by hundreds of millions of people that is completely controlled by one company? Are we risking our freedom by entrusting so much information about our identity to one commercial entity?" Of course, these same questions could have been asked about America's phone company, AT&T, 50 years ago.

I suspect a lot of you reading this blog believe that Facebook is a harmless social network that has allowed us to find old friends and communicate with them as well as every member of our family. Although Kirkpatrick himself admitted that his high school daughter's circle of Facebook friends didn't include him. So the privacy feature does work. I personally believe it is a brilliantly conceived communication link that will change the world in more ways than we can understand at this point. I am not convinced it was designed with that purpose in mind, but it could conceivably evolve in that direction. One thing is for sure. It will be entertaining and enlightening to see where it goes from here.

Is Mark Zuckerberg the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? He has brought together a team of experienced executives to give him guidance. Members of his Board of Directors include the founders of Paypal and Netscape. He has a grand vision and all the money he needs to guide his company to become the next Microsoft or Apple. He started his company in a dorm room like Michael Dell. He dropped out of Harvard to take his vision to the next level like Bill Gates. Will he be able to maintain control and take his company all the way to the top? Only time will tell.

The Facebook Effect is an interesting and enlightening insider's look at the early beginnings, current operations and inner workings of Facebook and its inner circle of executives. If social media is on your radar or impacts your business, it is a must read.

What's your take on Facebook and how it might impact on human social interaction and global communications in the wired world? Do you think Mark Zuckerberg will become the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? Let us know what you think?

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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In Stephen Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, habit number two is: Begin with the End in Mind. His theory behind this principle was that if you were able observe what people might say about you when your life was completed - ie. at your own funeral - what would you want them to say? Based on that, you shouldn't have any problem determining how to live your life to get that result in the end. Of course, that principle can also be applied to your job or building a business. In other words, lay out your endgame destination at the onset of that job, career or startup and create a plan so that you arrive at that destination when it's all said and done. Rocket science it's not, unless of course that is you business or line of work.

Penelope Trunk, the Brazen Careerist, wrote in a recent blog that a good piece of advice for anyone starting a company was to write a press release first. According to Ms. Trunk, once you have written that press release, simply work backward from your vision in developing your business plan. She goes on to say that from your press release you can map out your tasks, objectives and milestones needed to complete your journey successfully.

Some of you might believe that this is putting the horse before the cart, but I believe Mr. Covey and Ms. Trunk are right on the money.  How in the world can you reach your destination if you don't know exactly where you are going? It is like sailing out into the open water on your sailboat with no rudder. You will definitely go somewhere, but it probably won't be the destination you had in mind. You might have a great product or service, but without a really good understanding of how to achieve your business goals and a sound business plan, you will be sailing without your rudder and never reach your desired destination.

It's never too late to start, even for an established enterprise or a seasoned professional. Penelope went on to say that her management team did not write their press release first and have paid the price. In fact, Penelope stated that had she written a press release to match their current outcome, the release would have stated "Ryan Paugh announces that he has just made it through two years of Ryan Healy and Penelope Trunk fighting tooth and nail over totally irrelevant details of building a social network that is a career management tool for the next generation workforce." Not exactly the wording that compels venture capitalists to invest in your enterprise.

It reminds me of a presentation Guy Kawasaki made at an Apple conference back during his days as the chief software evangelist at Apple. He was talking about a new operating system that Apple was going to introduce for their latest Macintosh...that's what they called the Mac back then. Before he talked about the new OS, he gave the audience his tongue-in-cheek version of the typical software development process in Silicon Valley. He said the first step in the process was to order Tee shirts. Then he said development would begin. Well into the development cycle, the project manager would begin writing the detailed product specifications. Once development was 80% completed, Guy suggested that it was time to launch the product. Following the launch, the next step would be beta testing and debugging. Even though he meant this to be a humorous aside, I am not sure his description was that far off the mark.

How often do people start a new career or a new business without being totally prepared? Far too often I think. Planning on the front end will go a long way in helping you succeed and reaching the destination you envisioned at the beginning of your journey. So remember, before you set out to conquer the business world in a new career or start the next Google, do your homework, write a press release and hang it up on your office wall. It will remind you to stay focused on the final destination or outcome you set out to reach when you started that new job or business.

What's you take on this issue? Inquiring minds want to know. Comment on Linkedin and/or on my web site, www.BoomerOpinion.com. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion that don't mind speaking out and can successfully complete a sentence.

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 In a previous blog, Does Happiness in the Workplace Equate to Higher Productivity, I discussed Alexander Kjerulf's research on happiness in the workplace. He conducted his research in this area prior to writing his book, Happy Hour is From 9 to 5. According to Mr. Kjerulf, happy workers work better with others, are more creative, have more energy, are more optimistic, are more motivated, get sick less often, learn faster, make fewer mistakes, and make better decisions. It should be obvious that to be successful at your job or business, you need to cultivate happiness in the work place. Yours and your co-workers. So what makes us happy?

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar teaches the most popular class at Harvard, Positive Psychology, which has been referred to as Happiness 101. His first class had only 6 attendees, but today, enrollment in his "Positive Psychology" and "The Psychology of Leadership" classes has risen to 1400 students. He consults and lectures around the world to high level executives, the general public and at-risk populations. Topics include happiness, self-esteem, resilience, goal setting, mindfulness and leadership.

Dr. Ben-Shahar points out that positive psychology, as a discipline didn't really exist prior to the late 1980's. Despite all the self help and new age proponents of positive mental attitude and positive motivational techniques, this discipline has grown to become a serious field of study. Prior to this field coming into its own, psychological research primarily revolved around mental illnesses, anxiety, and depression. Bummer, huh? 

In his lectures, Dr. Ben Shahar discusses his six secrets to happiness. According to the professor, the six secrets are:

• Give yourself permission to be human. When we accept emotions - such as fear, sadness, or anxiety - as natural, we are more likely to overcome them. Rejecting our emotions, positive or negative, leads to frustration and unhappiness.
• Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable. When this is not feasible, make sure you have happiness boosters, moments throughout the week that provide you with both pleasure and meaning.
• Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on our state of mind, not on our status or the state of our bank account. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on (the full or the empty part of the glass) and by our interpretation of external events. For example, do we view failure as catastrophic, or do we see it as a learning opportunity?
• Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much.
• Remember the mind-body connection. What we do - or don't do - with our bodies influences our mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.
• Express gratitude, whenever possible. We too often take our lives for granted. Learn to appreciate and savor the wonderful things in life, from people to food, from nature to a smile.

His view of happiness makes a lot of sense. Suppressing emotions only leads to those emotions manifesting and erupting into an emotional outburst at a later time. If you deal with these emotions in the present your life will run more smoothly. He points out that 45% of college students feel so depressed and overwhelmed at some point during their education, they can't function at all. If you feel that way, take time for reflection which can translate into growth. Meditation and reflection will pay dividends both at home and in the workplace. Your best ideas come when you are doing nothing. Simplify your life when things get to overwhelming. Take a time out.

If you can't find meaning and pleasure in your day to day activities, then you should find people and activities that will provide meaning and pleasure in your life. Self concordant goals are goals aligned with your personal interests and values. You might have to do some deep reflection and soul searching to discover these goals. But it will certainly be time well spent. On the micro level, happiness boosters provide a direct impact on one's happiness. These can include time with a loved one, a walk on the beach, volunteering at the local soup kitchen or a game of tennis or golf.

Cultivating healthy relationships is a key ingredient to happiness. Whether romantic or platonic, relationships with family, friends and loved ones are key drivers of your happiness. Make sure you take the time to cultivate and enjoy these relationships. Sure there are times when your relationships don't always equate to happiness, but he says that in a sound relationship, positivity vs. negativity should be a 5:1 ratio. Conflict is an opportunity for growth. Deal with it.   

Another key to happiness is to get out and get some exercise. Dr. Ben-Shahar says that a good thirty minute exercise routine is like taking a small dose of Prozac and a small dose of Ritalin in terms of the chemicals released in your body. And you thought it was an adrenalin high. Exercise raises our base level of happiness, not to mention the health benefits it brings.

Finally, don't forget to be grateful for what you have. Stop taking your life and your gifts for granted. Another research study concluded that grateful people are much happier than people who feel superior or people who control others. Since Dr. Ben-Shahar recommends some form of regular meditation, whether it be yoga or internal reflection or a walk in the woods, you can take these as opportunities to consider how fortunate you are to live in America and have the gifts you take for granted every day. The happiest people seem to be those who believe what they have today is all they need. Greed (acquiring money and stuff) is not now, nor has it ever been a path to happiness.

What makes you happy? We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. If you are a Baby Boomer, and haven't yet joined my web community, www.boomeropinion.com, please do. It is free and only takes a minute to sign up. You can participate in our polls on major issues facing America and Baby Boomers. You can also join in our discussion forums or even set up your own blog at our site.

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 Let's face it, given the economy and the number of people out of work, most people looking for a job are not going to be that selective. They would be happy just to find a job. There are others who believe that it makes more sense to begin the process by screening companies before submitting resumes to every company that has an open position that coincides with their job skills, background and experience.

I tend to believe that you should do a company search first and a job search second. Why? My reasoning has to do with the fact that every company has a different set of values, a different culture and a different potential for growth. Consequently, you should consider each of these factors prior to submitting your resume.

Now, if you are worried about making your next house payment or feeding your family, then all bets are off. You should probably apply for any and every job that you think you qualify for in order to feed your family and pay your bills. That doesn't mean you should give up looking for your dream job. You can certainly continue that search while you are working somewhere else.

It really depends on the urgency factor. If you are currently employed and just looking to enhance your career by finding a better position at another company, then you have all the time in the world to job hunt. On the other hand, if you need a job this week, then you will most likely take the first one that comes along.

Before screening potential employers, you should spend some time reflecting on what is important to you? Your priorities should dictate the type of company to solicit. Some people put more emphasis on the company's potential growth and available stock options. Others believe that it is more important to find a company that offers long term security without that much advancement. And some want to go to work for a company with a social conscience or a company that is known for its environmental efforts. And by the way, a successful socially responsible company is not an oxymoron.

Regardless of your other priorities, corporate culture should be a key factor in your search. Despite how good a particular job offer might sound, you aren't going to last long in a company if you can't assimilate easily and comfortably into their corporate culture.  Some of you might want to work for a company that is a market leader in an emerging technology field. There are others who are set on working at a company that ranks in the "Top 10 best companies to work for" category.

According to a recent survey of 100,000 people in 34 countries by global workforce solutions leader, Kelly Services, about 90% of the survey respondents were more likely to work for an organization that was considered ethically and socially responsible.  Of that group, Baby Boomers were more discerning than their Gen Y or Gen X counterparts, but not by that much. Almost 80% of those surveyed were more likely to work for a company that was considered environmentally responsible. And about 46% of those surveyed were willing to forego pay or promotion to work for a company with a good reputation.

Employees appear to be more fulfilled when working for organizations that focus not only on the bottom line, but also on community involvement and service. During my own career,I have met and worked with a lot of people who place a higher priority on their compensation and benefits, than on their organization's philanthropy and social consciousness.  That said, I do believe American worker's views are changing. At least, I hope they are.

Just keep in mind, that high pay and great benefits won't satisfy most people's need for fulfillment if the company that employs them is not ethical, responsible or doesn't act in their community's best interests. And as I like to say, "Karma will ultimately find you...and paybacks are hell". There are thousands of reputable, socially and environmentally responsible companies in America. A good many of the companies in emerging or leading edge technology fields are progressive enough to understand the value of social and environmental responsibility.  Remember Google's mantra, "Do no harm". Yes, I am sure that some of you who might argue that they are not fulfilling their promise now they are a multi billion dollar company.

So what is your take on this topic? In your job search, do you search for companies first and jobs second? Are factors such as compensation and benefits your first priority or do you place more emphasis on the company's reputation, social conscience or growth potential?

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if we recruit enough of you, we can positively impact business and political policies around the country.

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