I am so enjoying this weekend.
Not only did some of my grandchildren have a sleep over, help build a wooden
gate, and get the garden ready for autumn, but BBC 4 allowed 72 year old Keith
Richard to curate their entire weekend programmes – something that’s been called,
Keith Richards Lost Weekend. Now for all you younger readers of this blog,
Keith Richards is a founding member of the internationally renowned rock group the
Rolling Stones. Along with Mick Jagger he wrote some of the best known rock
songs of all time. The band still play.
He is a former heroin addict and still
chain smokes to this day. But he has an irascible sense of humour, is extremely
well-read and erudite. His style of presentation was beautifully captured by Chrissie
H on Twitter who pondered;
'you know that caterpillar smoking on the mushroom
in Alice in Wonderland…' And it's has been a wonderful experience to sit and
listen to his memories, and views on the world. These are often straightforward
and yet simultaneously complex. Only Keith Richards could want to be famously anonymous.
He doesn't own a computer or phone (but did admit to employing others who do), although
he does own over 3000 guitars.
For someone of my age the sound
track for both nights has been amazing. It has been a fascinating reminder of the challenging social history that has evolved during my life time. Listening to this and his life story brought
back so many personal memories. Keith Richards was born just over 10 years
before I was and although a great deal can happen in 10 years his account of
his early life experiences very much reflected mine, with everything from Saturday
morning pictures (cinema), the Readers Digest, to Sunday School, and then later, the discovery
of guitars, rock music, smoking, drinking and of course, girls. Hedonism was all.
Keith Richards was born in 1943
so technically he was a Pre-Baby Boomer. Baby Boomers like myself, were those
born between 1946 and 1964. Of course the 1960s were said to be a period of great
cultural change, which in some ways they were. Whilst generational culture
shifts do occur, every generation has basically the same set of aims;
living a fulfilling life, earning a living, pursuing a vocation, living in
relationships with family, friends and the communities where these relationships are to be found. Arguably these basics
of life don’t change much from generation to generation.
However, whilst these ambitions might be the same, the way different generations strive to achieve these goals
can shift radically and rapidly. Technology is now all. The different
generations (the boundaries of which are rather arbitrary) are usually understood
as being the Baby Boomers -those born between 1946 and 1964; Generation X –
those born 1965 and 1980; Generation Y (or the so called millennials) who were born
between 1981 and 1997; and the latest kids on the block, Generation Z (or the
so called iGen or centennials), all of whom were born between 1998 and today. Of
note for baby boomers like me is that by 2020, Generation Y and Generation Z
will make up nearly 60% of the global workforce.
This fact featured twice
for me last week. Monday I was at an annual strategic planning day with
colleagues from the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. Tuesday
was the regular VC Executive Team meeting at which our Campus Framework was
presented, which included discussions around our plans for a digitally enabled
University. In both these meetings the possible expectations of Generation Z (the
first true digital natives) formed a central plank of our discussions.
Why, you might ask… Well
the majority of the Generation Z would rather lose their sense of smell than their
connected devices. They would rather do without good plumbing than good Wi-Fi,
over 40% of them spend more time interacting with their smart phone than
anything else (which includes their family) and if you think that currently
children and young people get their first smartphones at age 10 and the
smartphone population usage in developed economies is now above 90%, it's clear we need to find a different way of connecting. They care less about the getting their hands
on the latest fashion than getting a good deal. Experiences rather than accumulating
more stuff is what turns them on. Critically, for us baby boomers and the generations yet to come, is that connectivity and social integration is all.
As educationalists and
service providers we need to carefully consider what Keith Richard once said so well when we think about our students and colleagues:
'When I’m driving in my car
And a man comes on the radio
He’s telling me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can’t get no satisfaction
Hey, hey that what I say,
I can’t get no satisfaction'
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