The New Job Market
Peter Cappelli has an interesting view on the new job market.
Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself!
How is your job hunt going?
Loser.
All that education; for what? Another opportunity to be laid-off? Tell me! you had the stones to get fired! I would love to hear your story!
The economy has soured and this time, you get hurt. It may not be the first time you have been cut from the team and with the macro trends it surely will not be the last time you are asked to leave the “big show”.
What are you going to do about it?
Four Words Available to Anyone
Do work that matters!
Gone! are the days of mediocrity.
Gone! are the days of being a cog in the machine.
Gone! are the days of big bureaucracy.
Gone! are the days we celebrate the corporate bullshit artist.
Do work that matters!
Same job, but more work, less pay.
Same industry, but less growth, no challenges.
Same path, fewer options.
It’s entirely possible that you’ve trudged as far as you can go on this road, and that the slog is
just going to be more of the same.
-Seth Godin
Read the quote again!
Is this thought rolling through your mind with every paycheck that fails to keep pace with inflation? Does this thought roll though you mind every day more work, the same old work, hits your desk? The cog keeps spinning. What are you thinking?
Seth Godin, my best friend for the duration of this rant, has come out with a manifesto. Click Here! Get you copy. Seriously, don’t miss this stuff.
7 Ways to Reinvent Yourself
Do work that matters!
If you cannot figure out what matters now, leave a comment. I will tell you what matters now.
Risk-taker Myth
Malcolm Gladwell supports my claim that entrepreneurs as risk-takers is nothing more than a myth. I know you are independent in your thoughts, pride yourself in you analytical ability, and do not need an “authority” like me or Malcolm Gladwell to spell this out for you.
However, it is interesting to ponder the point. John Tozzi at BusinessWeek discusses the issue further. Click here to view the post.
After reading the post, I found Bruce Philip’s comment to be valuable.
The simplistic risk bad/risk good debate is something that could only be conducted between people who have never run a business. The truth is that risk is algorithmic. An entrepreneur takes the ones that are strategic, manageable and attach to disproportionately positive results. He avoids risks that are non-strategic, and/or unmanageable, and/or never going to produce results that justify them. My own business has enjoyed 14 healthy years, and this is partly owed not to risk taking or to risk avoidance, but to being conscientious about risk.
Does this support my position on “fail fast, fail cheap”?
Intrapreneurship
If you are not quite ready to stand on your own and change the world, you may want to take a shot within another corporation.
At this time there are 6.4 people per job opening!
Take a look at A Recruiters Guide to the Universe. Click Here! to pick up a little more information about the state of the job market.
Happy hunting!
Life is the Journey: The Process is the Goal
The Process is the Goal
To possess one million dollars sounds like a great goal and a one billion dollar goal often sounds one thousand times better.
These are two common goals fools choose before starting their own businesses. Click here
The path you choose can make all of the difference in the world. Choose wisely and you will not only have your million dollars but a fulfilling life (a life well lived).
Learning
I had a fabulous conversation today with one of my colleagues, who is also at peace with his lot in life, about our respective paths.
As the conversation found its way around to cleaning toilets he admonished that as much as we were enjoying our conversation, cleaning toilets may not be as simple as it seems.
He then referred to the conscious competency learning model. This is important to all would-be-entrepreneurs so I will try to expand upon it a bit for you. The example statements may represent something you would hear from a person progressing through each stage of learning. Follow example 1 through to the end (same goes for example 2).
Example 1: I’m going to clean this toilet.
Example 2: I’m going to write a blog with three hundred thousand readers.
Example 1: This water tastes funny. Maybe I will try a brush next time.
Example 2: Only 15 people are reading my blog. What is going on?
Example 1: I have my toilet brush and I am ready to go!
Example 2:Click Here!
Example 1: I hate cleaning toilets! Maybe I can hire someone else to do this part of the job.
Example 2: My daily average income is ten thousand dollars!
Dull? You Bet!
Start Something Dull
You have to see this!
Tom Peters wrote several books. He may be most famous for “In Search of Excellence” but I found Re-Imagine!: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age
The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE
Unintentional Entrepreneur: Getting Lucky
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.
– George Bernard Shaw
Hard Work and Luck
Financial security and stability are accomplished through hard work and luck. Don’t be fooled by what you may read in the magazines.
Profiles of success are stories about hard work and luck shrouded in public relations and ego. The funny thing about these stories is how luck gets downplayed and replaced with brilliance.
Do not let a story of impossible super-human accomplishments mislead you or discourage you from taking action. If you do not act, you will not eat.
You can work hard at anything to which you set your mind. The hard part may be standing on your own, persevere when challenged, and outlast your failures.
The hard part about standing on you own or leading the way:
- It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
- It’s uncomfortable to stand before your critics.
- It’s uncomforable to propose an idea that might fail.
- It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
- It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.
These behaviors are not often found in Corporate America. You may have to learn about them and then how to do them
You have enough time on your hands to do all of the hardwork but what about luck?
Fail to Succeed
You need to burn through a lot of bad ideas before you get to the good ones. Don’t fear a bad idea. Don’t fear failure.
The trick: fail fast, fail often, and failcheap. Failure is a great teacher. You will develop all of the skills you need for success through failure. The trick is not to lose all of your money or energy in the process (fail fast, fail cheap). You will get lucky.
If you are lucky enough, you will be the founder of the next Standard Oil or Microsoft.
After all, “Fortune assists the bold!” -Virgil
If you need some direction or a little help getting started, I put together a list of books I’ve found helpful.
RE:Invention
This is an interesting video that was brought to my attention. It addresses my point from a slightly different perspective.
What Matters Now?
You wake up every day to face limitless opportunities. You have the opportunity to become a cellist but it will cost you in money, time, and sweat. You may need to sacrifice your source of income and security to reach your goal. The trouble with each opportunity is its cost. Maybe you’ll forgo being a cellist and select another opportunity. After all, you can force cello lessons upon your child and live vicariously through them.
You need to select your opportunities carefully with regard to your resources. In careful consideration of your opportunities it’s important to know “what matters now”.
Seth Godin compiled an e-book where he asked some “big thinkers” this very question, “What matters now?”
Your brand of science does not matter as much as it once did. It is a good idea to see what these other people think is important now. Pick up your free e-book now.
Seventy pages of big ideas is too much to process in one sitting. Find a page you like, ponder it a bit, move on. Select your next opportunity.
An excerpt:
Nobody has the answers.
Nobody is listening to you.
Nobody is looking out for your interests.
Nobody will lower your taxes.
Nobody will fix the education system.
Nobody knows what he is doing in Washington.
Nobody will make us energy independent.
Nobody will cut government waste.
Nobody will clean up the environment.
Nobody will protect us against terrorist threats.
Nobody will tell the truth.
Nobody will avoid conflicts of interest.
Nobody will restore ethical behavior to the White House.
Nobody will get us out of Afghanistan.
Nobody understands farm subsidies.
Nobody will spend your tax dollars wisely.
Nobody feels your pain.
Nobody wants to give peace a chance.
Nobody predicted the Iraq War would be a disaster.
Nobody expected the levees to fail.
Nobody warned that the housing bubble would collapse.
Nobody will reform Wall Street.
Nobody will stand up for what’s right.
Nobody will be your voice.
Nobody will tell you what the others won’t.
Nobody has a handle on this.
Nobody, but you, that is.
Never forget, a small group of people can change the
world.
No one else ever has.
Dare to be Different
Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be a part of unanimity.
-Christopher Morley
“Read, every day, something no one else is reading.”
Simply read and you have accomplished something. It is sad but true. Few people read anymore. Simply read. Try a book.
“Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.”
You’re weird. You’re a scientist. It should be easy to think something no one else in thinking. Right?
The problem is that your peers (your competition for jobs) are scientists too. You may be weird. You may think weird things. But so do they. (Well, the interesting ones do.) So you will have to think about something new; something different from what they are thinking.
“Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.”
Do this and you risk everything. You risk being a fool. You risk being isolated. You risk the very person you were when you woke up this morning. It may be the best decision you ever make.
“It is bad for the mind to continually be a part of unanimity.”
Dare to be different.
