One of the real assets that the T-Ball Generation brings to the workplace is their 100% comfort level with technology. That should hardly be a surprise. Many view 1982 as the year in which the T-Ball Generation first arrived on the scene. And it was, of course, during the 1982 Super Bowl that Apple broadcast its’ award winning commercial. You remember the one. The ad showed an unnamed and unknown heroine, dressed in red shorts, a white top and running shoes, run through an Orwellian world and then toss a sledgehammer at a televised image of Big Brother. The ad’s message: “On January 24^th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.”

 

Their comfort with the latest and greatest electronic gadgets sometimes means that the T-Ball Generation is completely uncomfortable and unfamiliar with older technology. Recently, upon visiting the career services office of a nationally ranked law firm, I was amused to hear stories about students who had no idea how to use the automatic feed feature of a Xerox machine—throughout their lives, whenever they’ve needed multiple copies, they’ve simply increased the number to be created as part of their computer’s “Print” function. And I still laugh about the tour I received in one San Francisco firm. Upon turning a corner and being shown a Selectra typewriter, I was asked, “Do you know what that is?” When I nodded yes, I was told that all of the associates at the firm referred to it as “the fossil.”

 

As comfortable as they are with the most modern technology, T-Ball Generation members would be well advised to learn how to use older technologies too. Inevitably, a young professional will end up at some location that presents technological challenges. Maybe cell reception is non-existent. Maybe the electricity goes out. Maybe no printers are available.

 

The member of the T-Ball Generation who knows how to use the latest and greatest technology AND who knows how to improvise in the absence of technology will be among the most valuable employee around.