Malcolm Gladwell "Gets It"

In his book "The Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell talks extensively about the "stickness factor." This is, basically, the idea that the message being delivered has to be compelling -- in other words, it has to stick with you. He considers a range of research on very "sticky" messages, including those teaching messages delivered by Sesame Street and Blues Clues.

According to Gladwell, one important aspect of "stickiness" is the ability to engage the audience. In discussing Blues Clues he notes that "[t]he first was the idea that the more kids are engaged in watching something -- intellectually and physically -- the more memorable and meaningful it becomes." The developers of Blues Clues used this idea to engage the kids in the programming, by, for example, creating long pauses after questions in order to give the kids in the studio audience and, most important, at home, an opportunity to shout out the answers. As Gladwell points out "[i]f you watch Blue's Clues with a group of children, the success of this stratefgy is obvious. It's as if they're a group of diehard Yankees fans at a baseball game."

Clearly, even from a very young age kids are expecting to engage in the content they are provided. What implications does this have for when they are part of the workforce?