NAIS - Transforming Our World Through the Lens of Gen Z

Suman Mulumudi was a freshman at Lakeside School (and had just graduated from The Evergreen School), when he began thinking about the importance of data to the practice of medicine. Observing his doctor parents, he began imagining potential benefits if one combined a stethoscope with an iPhone to capture and visualize heart data. Working with his father, Mulmudi created a prototype that will soon be available to the medical community.

While a graduate student at Stanford, Ashley Moulton conceived a master’s project about teaching kids how to eat healthier. Called Nomster Chef, this digital library of illustrated step-by-step recipes helps kids to cook with grown-ups. Thanks to Kickstarter, she is on the brink of making her dream a reality. With 29 days left to reach her goal, she has raised 90 percent of the funds she needs for launch.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. When only 11 years old, she used the power of social media to call attention to the plight of girls under Taliban rule. To spread her work, she co-founded the Malala Fund with her father, hoping to empower girls to achieve their potential and become confident, strong leaders in their own countries.

These three stories demonstrate the power of Generation Z and those who embrace Gen Z thinking.

What is Gen Z? According to Wikipedia, “Generation Z, also known as the iGeneration or Post-Millennials, is the demographic cohort after the Millennials. Demographers and researchers typically use the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s as starting birth years for this group, and, as of yet there is little consensus regarding ending birth years. A significant aspect of this generation is the widespread usage of the Internet from a young age; members of Generation Z are typically thought of as being comfortable with technology, and interacting on social media for a significant portion of their socializing.”

Like the Millennials before them, there is much speculation about this generation and the changes they will bring to the world. I have read widely about Gen Z to better understand their impact on education. One book that really captured my interest is The Gen Z Effect: The Six Forces Shaping the Future of Business by Thomas Koulopoulos and Dan Keldsen. The authors argue that a series of forces will bring about a post-generational world in which what unites us will be stronger than what divides us, and that people of all generations will begin to adopt the practices of Gen Z.

Six Forces Shaping Society

The six forces outlined in the book present many opportunities for independent schools. Below, I summarize the forces and pose generative questions for school leadership teams to explore so that they may leverage the power of this emerging generation. I believe these forces provide hope for us all.

1. Breaking Generations. Due primarily to advances in technology and a near equivalent number of people in all age bands, age will no longer be a major shaper of attitudes and behaviors. Rather, people will be defined by their connections in communities. In addition, as people embrace lifelong learning, education will not be seen as occurring only at specific times in a person’s life.

Strategic Questions for Schools

What opportunity does a world of intergenerational learners present for schools?
How can students of all ages partake of our services at different stages of their lives?
How can we enrich the learning environment by thinking about grouping learners differently?

2. Hyperconnecting. The internet has vastly increased our ability to connect, but the Internet of Things has pushed that even further by creating a world in which machine to machine connections are now possible. As devices that were never meant to work together do, they open the road to new possibilities, as exemplified by Suman Mulumudi’s efforts to create a smarter device by pairing a stethoscope with an iPhone. In addition, the lines between online and offline are blurring, changing the ways we live, work, and play.

Navigating this new hyperconnected world can be daunting, particularly for those who were not born digital. This has given rise to a new form of mentoring — reverse mentoring — in which a digital native can guide learning and using new technologies.

Strategic Questions for Schools

Could launching both mentoring and reverse mentoring programs in schools promote creativity and teamwork among five generations learning and working together?
Are there opportunities to connect two different offerings or ways of doing something that, when paired together, create a breakthrough?
How can we use the principles of hyperconnecting to enhance learning?

3. Slingshotting. Luddite is a term that is often used to refer to people who refuse to adapt to changing technologies. But have we misperceived their behavior? Have some people turned away from emerging technologies because they were too hard to use or did not improve their ability to do something? Slingshotting refers to tech users, who had been left behind previously, slingshotting forward, skipping multiple generations of technology and arriving at the same place as those who suffered through technology’s evolution. As more members of the Silent Generation adopt technology, forecasters predict that there will be full internet penetration between 2020 and 2025.

Strategic Questions for Schools

What opportunities are there for using technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency across the workforce, now that user-friendly technologies are further driving technology acceptance across generations?
How can we leverage this force with our parent communities as well as for fundraising and friend-raising purposes?

4. Shift from Affluence to Influence. One of the most profound changes in the marketplace today is the effect that social media has on influencing behavior. Just think of how the music world has changed through the explosion of social technologies. No longer is capital needed to launch a musician — communities of influence can drive fame and fortune. Social networks can also drive movements, as evidenced by Malala Yousafzai opening up educational opportunities for women worldwide through her blogs.

The shift from affluence to influence has also changed the way advertisers market. They’ve moved from paid media (ads, billboards, etc.) to owned media (creation of a community-owned, yet company-branded experience: think Apple stores) to earned media (influencers taking on your cause in social media).

Strategic Questions for Schools

How can schools make use of social communities to drive influence?
What if schools created owned spaces on campus for families and the surrounding community?
How can schools make use of influencers to create awareness of their unique value propositions?

5. Adopting the World as My Classroom. Educators are already keenly aware of this force in education, with technology driving the concept of anytime, anywhere education. The adoption of competency-based education on the college level continues to grow, and some speculate that Gen Z may be the first generation that looks to alternative educational paths post high school. Gamification is also unlocking new ways to excite learners and challenge them.

Strategic Questions for Schools

What would school look like if we considered educating people at any age?
What opportunities would this open up?
How might we think about school beyond the classroom?
How essential will a brick-and-mortar school be in the future?

6. Lifehacking. Gen Z has a propensity to work around or “hack” systems. Today, three types of hacking are changing the marketplace: crowdfunding, 3D printing, and new attitudes about intellectual property. The essence of hacking is about breaking through barriers and connecting people, mobilizing communities, and driving outcomes that otherwise would not be possible.

Strategic Questions for Schools

How can we use new processes and/or emerging technology to do things more efficiently and effectively?
How can we apply lean start-up principles to the school context?
How can we leverage this innate ability of Gen Zers to drive the learning process?

Keep the Conversation Going

I invite you to join the dialogue on how Gen Z can transform our society. Pose some of your own questions or suggest responses to the questions I have raised. As Peter Drucker said, “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” Let’s seize the day.