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10:12:00 PM EST
Feeling Hopeful
It's not your Father's world
My constant refrain in 2004: It’s not your Father’s world! A new, foreign-owned factory goes on line in China every … 26 minutes! A new, foreign-owned R & D lab goes on line in China every … 43 hours! No wonder Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was moved to say, early in 2004, “There is no job that is America’s God-given right anymore.” Nope, it’s sure not your father’s world!
The genie of change cannot be stuffed back into the bottle in 2005, or ever for that matter. In fact the spread of Globalization and the Technology Revolution will only accelerate in decades to come.
Dan Pink, who watches all these trends, coined the term “free-agent nation.” My contribution, over 5 years ago, was to similarly declare, “It’s a Brand You world.” That is, each of us must stand out … become a “brand” … Brand You … or perish, professionally.
Michael Goldhaber, writing in Wired, issued the ultimate adult tough-love statement: “If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.” I guess all this explains why I took such a shine to Mark Sanborn’s new book, The Fred Factor. Fred is not a fictional character in one of those endless management parables. (Fred doesn’t even eat cheese, let alone move it.) Nope, Fred is author Mark Sanborn’s mailman—and Fred gives a whole new meaning to “going postal.” That is, Fred always goes the extra mile, worries when Mark’s mail accumulates while he’s traveling, thereby signaling “come on in” to any wandering burglar. And so on. Here’s my favorite line from The Fred Factor: “Nobody can prevent you from being exceptional
Wow!
Life deals out its share of woes, but it’s ultimately up to us—postman or programmer—to adopt our own attitude and make our own way. In fact Mark Sanborn’s line reminded me of the ideas of psychologist Victor Frankl. Frankl survived the Holocaust, and wrote about survivors. He said that man can inflict the worst of indignities on his fellow man, but he can never strip you of your ability to bring your own attitude to a given situation; in the camps, those who managed, inside their heads, to retain a positive self-concept dramatically upped the odds of surviving another day.
On a far more mundane note, a friend passed along an apparent Chinese proverb, “Man who not smile should not open shop.”
Yup! The horror-laden camps of World War II, Free Agent Nation, Brand You World, the life of a Postman or Shopkeeper … the secret is the same: taking charge of your Attitude & thence your Future. Frankly, most don’t make that choice. The ever-quotable Oscar Wilde nailed it long ago, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
I’m older than most of you, and I sometimes worry about what my tombstone will read. But I recently figured it out. I do not want it to go, “Thomas Peters, He Would Have Done Great Things, But His Boss Wouldn’t Let Him.” Hey, it’s not my boss’ world—or tombstone. It’s mine! As to what I’d choose, though I’m in no hurry, I came up with this, “Thomas Peters, He Was a Player.” Not that “he” (me!) got it “right” or got “rich”—but that I did Fully & Energetically participate in the crazy, rich-with-opportunity times in which we live. Hey, I’m clear: I want to be one of those ones who “live,” not just “exist.” How about you?
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What's this crack about cheese, Tom? Has anybody told Kenneth and Spencer you're ragging on them? You're just kidding, right? Because I like that book, Who Moved My Cheese. A great idea expressed in a very interesting story with very few words. I like your book, too. In Search of Excellence has been my comfort and my hope through all the bad times. It pinpointed what wasn't right and described the better way that could be. But now that we all know that you know what you're talking about and you don't have to prove it anymore, maybe you could come out with a new version that just has the stories in it. Because they were all that you ever needed!
Marianne Powers
Albuquerque, New Mexico
www.mariannepowers.com
a website-blog-book about
people who work in offices and why we fight -
Hi Tom,
The trouble with Brand You is that it requires all of us to spend a TON of non-productive time MARKETING ourselves instead of DOING what we do best. Overall as I see it, it's a net loss to society because of all the time spent in trying to stand out from everyone else. By definition, the average worker has nothing special about his work, so Brand You just requires a lot of marketing struggle to go nowhere--at least for the average worker... and that means MOST of us.
Modern Americans work three times as many hours a year as hunter-gatherers did in the Stone Age. There's something basically wrong with a system that despite all our technological advances requires this level of effort to survive. I think it's for two basic reasons: population growth and "labor-saving" technology.
With population growth in a limited environment there's a greater and greater struggle to keep agricultural productivity high enough to sustain us. (Some say that with 10 million people starving to death every year we are not keeping up.) With labor-saving technology, the rest of the needs of society .... cars, TV's, etc., can be made with fewer and fewer people.... so there's intense competition for these jobs, which drives down the wages of workers, and leaves huge populations unemployed.
There ARE solutions to these problems, but they are not politically palatable.... But I don't think Brand You, or Me, Incorporated are going to be much help in the long run.
Regards,
Jack Rudson -
I want to be one of those ones who are "remembered" not just someone who lived. How about you?
I need help, I feel like I'm trapped, and VERY restricted. Every one who meets me, tells me im success looking for a place to happen, but truth be told, I'm terrified of failure! I always have so many ideas that I just let slip by, because I'm afraid of being tossed a side.
What's a way to get my name out there? How do I start to make a mark for my self, I never did well just blinding in to the crowd, I want to stand out, I want to be a success.... I just need to be put in the right direction!! HELP ME!!
9/20/08 11:05 PM