Surface Ripples

"I Don’t Do Clocks…"

A contact who invigilates exams for school-age children told me that, during an exam, a student who needed to know how much time was left said “I don’t do clocks,” when the clock on the wall of the exam hall was pointed out to them.

The “boomers” are coming up to retirement or have already retired.   I’m guessing that the student in question was doing at least their GCSEs and would therefore have been from the end of the “Gen. Z” era or perhaps even “Alpha” generation.

What fascinated me was that this student is clearly of “that generation” that grew up with more exposure to digital timekeeping and, possibly, don’t wear a watch as their smart phone has a clock!  This tells us more about how we ‘re developing as humans rather than that the younger generation are somehow “deficient” because they can’t read a 12-hour clock.

Is this a typically “first world problem”?  How many students of the same age in what are called the “developing” countries of the world are lucky enough to have a smart device in their home, let alone own an analogue (12-hour) watch?

I see plenty of jokes about how to confuse this age’s children by putting them in a room with a rotary dial phone and provide instructions how to use it in cursive writing.  Yes, there’s a degree of fun or irony in such humour, but it nonetheless illustrates that society has moved on.  How many of my generation would know what a “mangle” is (for those interested, it’s a device that was used to squeeze water out of clothes that had just been washed before the invention of the tumble dryer)?

Equally who knows what a “dumb waiter” is?  The answer: a miniature lift that communicated between the basement kitchen and the dining room of wealthier houses “back in the day”.

Society will continue to develop with time.  If it didn’t, we’d still probably be living in caves and wearing animal skins.

Yes, it’s sad to see that young people these days may not know how to use a 12-hour watch or clock, but I bet they could ring run rings round many of us on social media and ChatGPT usage!

Conclusion: understand (even if you don’t like it) that they’re different and that they have skills that “our generation” will never fully master.

Much has been said, written and discussed about the “generation gaps” present in our society. We have the “Silent Generation” (those who survived WWII), the “Baby Boomers” (those born between 1946 - 1964).  After them came “Gen. X” (1965 - 1979), “Gen. Y” (1980 - 1994), “Gen. Z” (1995 - 2009), “Alpha” (2010 - 2024) and last, but not least, “Beta” (2025 - 2039). Each has its own characteristics which were the subject of two articles in February and March 2024. 

I deliver change in markets ranging from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. 

Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Social

posted by William Martin @ 14:48