While I was cutting the grass, I was listening to a spirited debate about policy, jobs and where we are headed as a country. One person was saying we needed to go back to the way we were and another was saying we must adapt and move forward. I have some distinct opinions on this topic because it has been a huge part of my professional life for the past 15 years. So what are they? For the record, I’d love for things to back to the way they were in my life. I worked on a dynamic news team in a building full of smart and talented people. An all I had to do was draw one cartoon a day. But all that changed. The internet came along and my industry was radically affected by it. Readers had more choices, eyeballs went elsewhere and gaining revenue off of digital did not compensate for the loss of print readers. Debt and fixed costs (people and paper) put strains on the budget. Layoffs took place in mass.
I has been tough to watch. And you know what? My industry wasn’t the only one punched in the throat.
Sociologists and historians will look back this time the way they have at the industrial revolution. While it is easy for some politicians to blame others for our woes, automation is a much bigger culprit. Thanks to the internet, the world has shrunk to where we are now competing against everyone in it — not just the person across town. Change has been dropped in our laps and it (at times) isn’t pretty.
We live in an era of disruption.
It would be easy for me to say right here, “WE HAVE TO CHANGE.” Well no sh*t Sherlock. Of course we have to change. But it is scary if you think of it as some giant paradigm shift in our lives. Instead think of it another way: What can we do to make ourselves completely indispensable as an employee? How can we become so valuable we are the last to be cut and if we are, the community knows us already? How can we shift from living in fear to living in a world where we attack problems and turn them into opportunities?
How do we rise up this challenge?
For me, it is avoiding the temptation of pining for the good ol’ days. I loved my old job — but it’s not coming back. I love my new job — and it’s time for me to make it shine! It’s foolish to drive while looking in the rearview mirror the whole time. I am going to be brainstorming this week to come up with a list of 10 little things I can do differently.
I had a commenter once post on a post like this saying, “What if I don’t want to change?” My pithy answer would have been, “Good luck.” Honestly, though, I don’t blame him. So instead I say this, “what can I do to help motivate you and encourage you?”
We are all in this together.
And one final thought: While it is is tempting to be afraid, fear is exhausting. We need all the energy we can get. It’s time to reject it and all the merchants who peddle it.
Heck, I need to energy to cut my grass.