
Reality
Check
December
2010
I
am going to take a minute, here at the outset, to have a quick
conversation with you, which I am told by many that America
does not want to hear. No political
animal will say this out loud. Earlier I called it a sea-change.
A
LOT of mid-range middle management jobs are not returning. Period.
More
to the point I think this is about how people will become employed
in the future. Once again the Boomers and GenX will get the blunt
end of this large spear pointed at the economy, because the big
companies will be doing business very differently in the future.
That translates to more hours, less pay, and younger workers.
Employers have figured out how to do more with less, from written
reports to customer service. Employers who offer good healthcare
are able to pay their workers less because workers want the healthcare.
Positions are not being filled as existing workers take on more
work for fear of being fired. It is a fat payday for corporations
who watch their bottom lines swell as their overhead decreases.
So
while you are sending out resumes, networking to the best
of your ability,
and
proceeding to reestablish your old life, I want you to put down
a parallel track. I want you to ACTIVELY have conversations with
those who are part
of
your day to day life about what ELSE you can to do make a living.
I
want you to imagine an alternative future.
Most
of us grew up in the 50's, 60's or 70's. It was a time when anything
felt possible, when the future was ours to make, and the opportunities
were there if we just walked through the door. While law and medicine
were still bastions of male control, some women went through that
door. Of course, that has entirely changed now, but it changed
because some women said COW DUNG when they were told it was too
hard a career choice. Some geeky guys disappeared into garages
and came out the other side as millionaires, making geeky pretty
sexy.
My
point is that you have to REMEMBER what it felt like to really
believe in yourself, and your ability to make up a life out of
whole cloth. You have to
grab
onto that feeling, remember how it felt, and not let the panic
of this moment numb you into irrational behavior.
In
allowing my mind to wander over this problem, I was struck by
the notion that we are about to not only reinvent ourselves, we
are also about to reinvent the way we live as a culture. I think
it is probably somewhat safe to say that everyone will be a lot
more wary of big companies and their big promises. I suspect that
folks will be more likely to set up their own retirement accounts,
to monitor them with a lot more attention to detail, and NEVER
to assume that their experience will guarantee a job. In other
words, even as employees, folks will behave as if they are independent
contractors, and in the end I suspect it will save a lot of grief.
So
the second track of your NEW master plan not only involves creating
a business you can do, a dream you can turn into a business, or
an ability you can polish into a business, it also includes a
reality check on your lifestyle. One of the best parts of being
young was that we didn't need much to get on with it. With a family
this equation becomes more complicated, but the essential structure
is
still
the same, and you have to ask yourself “what do I/we NEED to keep
a roof up and food on the table, gas in the car, and enough healthcare
to meet our needs.
Ditch
Aruba ,
Tuscany ,
a BMW and Yale. Look at success for the moment as
a
roof, food, gas and healthcare. Look at what you needed when you
were 23.”
When
you answer THAT question, minus all the gadgets you have that
hook-up to the internet except one for the house, cheap cell for
family communications,
and
anything else you can combine into a sensible overhead, you have
a starting number. That is your NUT. You will work everything
to that number as you
build
your business, and finally a website to support that business.
Plan
for Track 2 as if your life depended on it.
Because,
as I said, you may find that the target has moved so far that
you no longer have the arrows to hit it, but you will have a NEW
PLAN already
in
the works.
Two-track
planning is NOW the new reality, even if you still have a job.
Two-track
planning is what you do if you have just been hired, as you all
know last hired is first laid-off unless you have a really high-functioning
skill that
makes
you head-hunter material. If you don't PAY ATTENTION.
TWO
TRACKS!
TWO
TRACKS!
TWO
TRACKS!
The
culture that will survive all of this is a culture set-up much
like a good neighborhood, with small shops and businesses that
offer either services or products. Services are local, and goods
are both local and national. You are becoming part of a neighborhood,
and if you do it right you will not need the fixed overhead of
a brick and mortar presence to succeed.
But
first you have to get off your intellectual ARSE, chuck that bucket
of denial you are totting around, and get off the fence, before
you are pushed from behind.
e-mail
me at TheOldBroadSpeaks@gmail.com
I
will be adding more material relatively soon.
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