They typed themselves out of a job
Once upon a time, there was a typing pool at a university. This group of women was accomplished, professional, and could be counted on to get the work done. Whatever needed to be typed in the course of the University’s business, they took care of it; correspondence, documentation, course work, administrative… you name it, they typed it. Fast, accurate, thorough.
There came a day when an official of the University came to tell the women of a new tool called a Word Processor. The school was planning to invest in a number of them and the women would all be trained in how to use them.
The women balked. What a silly idea – to foolishly invest in all that newfangled machinery when the women had it covered! They had their trusty typewriters, which they knew inside and out, and they were getting the work done. Fast, accurate, thorough. “We haven’t let you down, yet,” they said. “We’ll keep taking care of it.”
They successfully influenced the official to not move forward with the new technology.
It was only a temporary reprieve
But then the day came when the University couldn’t ignore the technological revolution any longer. Typed documents were no longer doing the job because there was speed lost in the “manual transmission.” Typed documents had to be mailed or carried or transferred from place to place and that took time. Word processed documents didn’t have to be actually printed. They could be transferred via disks and could be modified without having to be completely retyped.
The typing pool was fired. They were no longer relevant. They hadn’t wanted to learn how to use the “newfangled machinery” and worked themselves out of a job.
There were others who were naturally excited by the advancement and the new technology who were eager to learn and even creative in how the word processors could be used in new ways.
At some point in our lives – perhaps most often in our adult lives – this happens to all of us. We develop a skill, some expertise, we master a process or a piece of equipment. We establish ourselves as the “go-to person” for whatever it is… then something new comes along that will change the way that work gets done and we have a decision to make: Learn, grow, move forward. Or, dig our heels in and refuse to budge – insisting we’ve got it covered.
There’s no growth in the Comfort Zone and no comfort in the Growth Zone
What happened to the typing pool has happened to countless others in too many industries to name. Consider the automotive industry. A lot has been done with robotics and automation that has eliminated a lot of jobs that one or more people used to be needed to take care of.
And when the automation is being discussed, the Unions get all riled up and object – forcefully. “You can’t take those jobs away!” It’s true. Technology has changed how we work, and in some instances, has eliminated a number of specific jobs. It may no longer take 6 people to do what 1 can now handle, operating a machine.
Coal mining has experienced something similar. Where it used to take many men to trudge deep into a mountain with pickaxes to chip away at a vein of coal… dark, dirty, dangerous work (with well-known long-term health issues that nobody wants). Now, technology does more of that dangerous work, requiring fewer people deep in the mines. Jobs have been eliminated.
Business sustainability requires change
Yes, people are negatively impacted when jobs are eliminated. They lose their jobs, worry about how to pay bills, support their families, get access to health care and other services. It’s real and it can be scary.
Businesses, however, are also fighting for their livelihoods and longevity at the same time. They need to keep up with changing technology and ensure their products and services remain relevant and in demand. They have to be able to produce something people will buy and at a price they can afford.
It’s easy to see when you’re standing outside the process and can consider both sides of the story. Nearly impossible to do this when you’re on the inside, playing a key role in the story and it’s your job that’s about to be eliminated.
There are no promises or guarantees on either end. There are risks and uncertainties for everyone involved.
What we don’t lose in the process
When jobs are eliminated because that specific work is no longer necessary or it’s now handled by some kind of technology, what we haven’t lost in the process is the skill, knowledge, expertise, and experience held within the person. We don’t lose their natural brilliance and ability to adapt – if they choose to – and refocus what they know and can do on some other thing.
Specific jobs may go away. At the same time, new kinds of jobs – doing new things – are created.
We’re in this space right now
As I write this, we are in week 4, I believe, of the COVID-19 lockdown. Businesses have been shut down all over the world in an attempt to slow the spread of this pandemic. Many of those businesses will never reopen. The chasm between how things were pre-virus and whatever new paradigm unfolds will have been too great. The financial impact will be too devastating to recover from, for some.
Jobs will be eliminated as a result. And new ones will be created. That’s how it works.
As we go through – and grow through – this global experience, we are learning things, discovering things, creating new things… even if we aren’t consciously aware it’s happening in the moment.
“Business as usual” will no longer exist. It can’t. It was unsustainable in so many ways.
The exciting thing is: We get to create something new. We get to examine our old paradigms and come to understand what makes sense now. We get to create new belief systems. New ways of working together, new ways of creating. New ways of being, really.
Drawing on our core
At our core, we are brilliant, inherently creative, capable, and resilient. Yes, times are uncertain. It may be very unsettling right now. We don’t yet know how this is all going to unfold. But it will unfold; think of it as a time of rebirth.
Collectively, we have what it takes to make our way through this and emerge on the other side stronger, wiser, more connected, more creative, and perhaps even more satisfied with our lives. We will have come to know, in a very visceral way, what truly matters most and what we are willing to exchange our precious life energy for.
At the same time, it will require us to change, to grow, to be uncomfortable.
We are required to leave our comfort zones
Prior to COVID-19, we were all living our lives, such as they were. We got up each day to do whatever it was we were doing, and would go to bed at night, so we could get up the next day and do it all over, again. Millions – billions – of people on autopilot, just getting through the days. Not really “alive” but functioning.
We have been awakened by this event. Things will never be the same. We aren’t going to “get back to normal.” That life no longer exists.
But we do have a future and we have the ability to author what happens next in our futures. Ask yourself these questions: Was I truly happy with how I was living? Was I getting out of bed each morning excited about what the day would bring? Or was I dreading the alarm clock because it meant I had to go to work and do a job I hate?
If you are in the “dreading the alarm” space, now’s the time to write a plot twist in your story. Now’s the time to get out of your comfort zone. Now’s the time to become a new version of you.
Retooling is your responsibility
You’ve heard it said, “The only constant is change.” Trite – annoying, even – yet true. Regardless of how we might like to think it’s just all the same, change is happening all the time, all around us.
We have a decision to make: Will we change, too? Or, will we dig our heels in and turn out like the typing pool, irrelevant… left behind in a world that changed while we stood by watching, our mouths hanging open in disbelief?
What I’ve experienced and observed, after nearly 30 years in business, is that it’s important to be in the process of learning and growing throughout our lives. To remain relevant in our jobs or the companies we build, we have to continuously grow our skills, expand our thinking, be willing to learn something new.
When jobs are eliminated due to advances in technology, new processes, whatever the case may be, new jobs are also created. And if we don’t want to be left behind, we need to be proactive in growing, as well.
That might mean studying for a new degree. It might mean taking a night class. It might mean a series of weekend workshops. It will vary for each of us… but it will require an investment of time, energy, and sometimes money. It will likely mean we sacrifice something along the way – for a while – while we are in that learning process.
Becoming a “gap filler”
Don’t misunderstand me. I do believe companies also have responsibility to invest in the growth of their people, as well. But it’s not entirely up to them. And if you leave your growth – your future up to your employer, then you subject yourself to growing in whatever way suits their purposes best… not necessarily in line with your desires.
For example, prior to starting my own business as an Executive Coach and Leadership Teacher, I worked in corporate communication. In one company, my manager decided I should be responsible for the company website – every single piece of it! I was already responsible for content – writing, editing, etc. I worked closely with the graphics team on design, but they did the actual design work. I worked closely with the IT folks on functionality, but they did the actual work to make it happen. It made sense, divvying up the work this way based on our expertise.
My manager didn’t really get that. She thought I should be responsible for content, design, and technical functionality. She decided I needed to learn programming. She pushed me to sign up for an online programming course. She implied that keeping my job depended on my compliance.
I remember spending – wasting – countless hours over about six months attempting to get through that class. No, it shouldn’t have taken that long, but I dreaded doing it. I didn’t learn it well; made lots of mistakes and did a lot of the projects over and over and over… It wasn’t within my natural strengths, it wasn’t of interest to me, and I resisted every step of the way.
In the end, it was a waste of a lot of time, energy, and money. The IT and Graphics managers were able to convince my manager that they weren’t going to let go of their pieces of the website, so I would never be fully responsible for all of it, regardless of what she wanted.
But, for a while there, I was in real danger of being forced into a gap she thought she saw and wanted to fill. I realized that if I didn’t take full responsibility for my growth and design of my career path, I would be at the mercy of whomever I worked for in the future.
And you will be, too.
What’s calling to you?
As we find ourselves in this current state of unexpected, forced down time… I wonder what you will do with it?
I’m curious to know if you so love your work that you long to get back to it, or if you dread going back, even though you feel you need to because you need the money.
I’m curious to know what’s been calling to you from the depths of your spirit. What you are curious to learn more about or explore? I’m curious to know if you will listen and follow that voice. I’m curious to know if you will become the author of your story and write the next chapters aligned with what matters most to you.
Retooling will take time, attention, energy, and some form of investment. It may not be easy or fun in the process, but it will allow you to remain relevant in an ever-changing global economy. It will allow you to be the driver and not put you at the mercy of what someone else thinks you should be doing. It can allow you to get up each morning excited about what your day will bring, rather than dreading the alarm.
The future IS emerging
While we are still in the midst of this pandemic, the future is already unfolding even though we can’t see clearly what it is becoming. As it has after other significant events – tsunami’s, hurricanes, tornadoes, epidemics… life will go on, business will move forward.
But it won’t be just like it was and neither will we.
I think this is a time for a re-set. We get to imagine what we’d like to see, be, do, and have. We have opportunity to create something new. We have the opportunity to come together to collaborate and really connect with others. We get to influence what emerges as this unfolds.
Yes, it is scary. There’s a lot of fear and anxiety floating around. We don’t know everything. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t know how long it will last. And yet, every day we wake up is an opportunity to create, to actively think new thoughts, to imagine something different, to connect, collaborate, to release the things that no longer serve us…
It’s a choice. What will you choose?
©Laura Prisc, The Most Trusted Authority on Conscious Leadership for High Performing Organizations; Conscious Leadership Partners; all rights reserved. April 2020. Laura can be reached at laura@lauraprisc.com.
