Rocky Horror Picture Show

*/By /**/Rick Nason, PhD, CFA/*
*/Partner, RSD Solutions Inc./*

*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]

Some of you of a certain age will remember going to see the Rocky Horror
Picture Show while you were in college.  I certainly do.  We dressed up,
packed up our newspapers, water squirters, burnt toast, confetti and of
course our outfits.  Those who know me, and are familiar with Rocky Horror
can probably guess quite easily which character I always went as.

Our daughters grew up in a household with a well worn and frequently watched
VHS of the movie.  As this past week was Halloween, there was of course a
midnight showing at the University.  My daughter in preparation for the show
asked me to sit with her and watch the show so she could get a refresher
course on all of the audience lines and antics.  After an upgrade of her
Rocky Horror education she was excited about going to the show.

However, it turned out there was a problem – none of her peers, and few in
the audience knew the audience participation protocols.  The audience was
too young.  They did not have the "institutional knowledge" of Rocky
Horror.  The experience was a bit of a letdown for my daughter.  Too bad
– Rocky Horror is great fun to see.

With the demographics being what they are in the corporate world, there is a
generational shift of a different kind occurring.  Lots of people talk about
demographic risk – namely that there is a huge roll-off of seasoned workers
who are baby-boomers who are starting to retire and the trend is going to
accelerate in the next few years.  Many corporations are trying to get
bodies into place to replace the retiring workers.  But what about making
sure the institutional knowledge gets transferred?  How many corporations
are going to become the equivalent of watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show
in a theatre where not enough of the audience knows the participation parts?

Rocky Horror Picture Show is a fun show to watch even without audience
participation – however it is a whole lot more fun with it.   How aware
is your organization of the various implications of demographic risk?


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