Apple has one of the best company brands in America. The company is widely admired for its technological innovation, quality and style. So, why is it sending almost all of its manufacturing and a growing number of its professional jobs overseas?

The company’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, used to brag that Apple products were designed and manufactured here at home. The bragging stopped in the 1990s. Why?

According to a recent article in The New York Times, “…Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ is no longer a viable option for most Apple products.”

The emphasis in that quote is mine. The point of view is Apple’s … and that of a growing segment of the American business community. From their perspective, America’s workers are 3G; workers in China, India, Japan, Korea, Germany and Brazil are 4G and moving quickly toward 5G.

To put it bluntly, too many of us are out-of-date and out-of-step with the competitive forces we face in the global marketplace. We’ve been #1 so long, we’ve forgotten that there is a #2, a #3, a #4 and a host of others who want our spot.

But, that’s a national problem, not an individual one, right? I mean, what can any single person do about such a swing in economic momentum? What role could any one of us play in this battle for market supremacy?

I would respectfully suggest that there are two steps each of us can take.

First, we must recognize the danger. The scope of the threat.

This is not some theoretical issue that will matter only to economists and (maybe) politicians. It’s not an academic debate or a discussion of differing philosophies.

This is a fight that’s every bit as real and important as World War II or the Cold War. That‘s not hyperbole. It’s fact. The outcome of this battle for supremacy in the global marketplace will determine the American standard of living. The caliber of the American experience. And, the kind of America we leave to our kids.

Second, we must deal with the danger. Be equal to the threat.

Unlike in World War II or even the Cold War, this conflict has no distinction between the home front and the front lines. The battlefield is in every workplace, industry and profession, craft and trade right here at home.

The key to victory, therefore, is personal commitment. We have to stop going to work to do our job and start going to work to win the war. Each and every one of us must contribute our talent, our drive, our dedication, our insight and creativity to the war effort. We must take individual responsibility for helping the country to achieve victory.

Our call to arms is the same as that of our parents and grandparents. In World War II, it was the iconic poster of Uncle Sam pointing at each American and saying “I want you.” In the Cold War, it was President Kennedy saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Today, the battle has been joined again, and this time, we must heed the call and measure up.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

There was an article in this past Sunday’s New York Times that proclaimed we have entered the “Age of Sensors.” The ability of machines to tell exactly where we are, what we’re doing and what (the machines think) we need is – at least according to the author – ushering us into a world of “digital smarts.”

For example, there’s company in California that’s now developing a sensor-based system which will tell when you are in a certain room of your home and adjust the temperature there to your preference, but leave the rest of the house hotter or colder, as appropriate, to save energy.

It got me to thinking about how useful it would be to have such sensors in our careers. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell when your boos or mentor was going to be fired or your employer was going to be sold or liquidated or your career field was about to become obsolete? Having that kind of heads-up would certainly qualify for “digital smarts” in my book.

But, of course, that’s also a pipe dream. A machine may be able to determine our presence in a room, but it can’t make judgments about the course of human events. Only “human smarts” can do that. And, in today’s uncertain world, we need to use that ability.

Conducting regular environmental scans – assessing the health and prospects of our boss, our employer, our industry and our profession – is now a core activity of career activism. No one’s crystal ball is infallible, of course, but we can tell a lot from the trends that are visible and the questions that others are asking.

In a sense, we have to become the sensor in our career. And then, we have to act on what we sense is going to happen. Because when we do, we take control of the change in our career rather than being taken for a ride by it. We create the only real and lasting form of security you can have in today’s world of work – “common sensors.”

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

Stephen King has a new book out called 11/22/63. It’s a time travel story about the Kennedy assassination, but the underlying premise is much more interesting. In exploring the potentially redemptive effects of being able to prevent that awful event, King affirms the value of change.

We humans seem genetically predisposed to dislike change. There is, of course, a logical if not evolutionary reason for that. Change disrupts the familiar patterns in our life and forces us to confront risk. It’s just easier and more comfortable to coast along with what we know.

Unfortunately, however, coasting would be a dangerous mistake in the post-recession world of work. In this hyper-competitive global marketplace, there is no status quo. Employers need their employees to deliver a constant stream of fresh ideas and innovative strategies just to survive.

Hanging onto the job we have now, therefore, may provide the security of familiarity, but it also exposes us to the insecurity of stale habits and rigid thinking. That’s not to say, we can’t be creative and original in that position, but let’s be honest. The longer we’re there, the harder it is to stay out of a rut.

So, change has an upside. There’s a benefit to accepting a King-like revision of our personal history, whether it’s in a new assignment in the job we already have or in a new job with the employer we already work for or in a new employer with an entirely different set of challenges. In fact, there are several.

First, change frees us to tap new aspects of our talent and knowledge as we confront unfamiliar work issues and demands. Second, it enables us to start over with a blank slate by shedding our own and others’ assumptions about our limits and capabilities. And third, change prepares us for more change which is the new norm in the American world of work.

So, here’s a new guideline for career success. Manage your career the way you ride a bicycle. Never coast for long. And, keep peddling around those turns in the road, for they’ll change you into the person you have the capacity to be and the person you deserve to be.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

The technology folks just don’t get it. They’re crowing today because Facebook has changed the distance between people. The traditional metric, of course, has been that we are each separated from any other person on the planet by “six degrees.” (Only academics would use such terminology. Why not just say we are each six people apart … but hey, that’s another issue.)

Anyway, the scientists at Facebook and the University of Milan have now calculated that – thanks to social media and Facebook, in particular – we are now separated by just 4.74 degrees.

But wait, it gets even better. In the U.S., where Facebook penetration has reached epidemic proportions, we are just 4.37 degrees apart. We are, as they say, truly plugged into one another.

But, here’s the rub. Distance means absolutely nothing in the course of human events (to borrow a phrase). If you’re constructing a network to, say, find a lead for a new job or solve a problem at work, degrees of separation are irrelevant. What matters most is the quality of the connection.

For example, you can be separated from a person by a single degree, but if you think they’re mean spirited or unpleasant there’s probably little chance that you will assist them with a problem they’ve encountered on-the-job. Conversely, if they hold the same low opinion of you, it’s unlikely that they will recommend you to their employer as a prospective new hire no matter how strong your credentials.

What the technology guys don’t understand is that networks may be composed of bits and bytes, but their power is created by relationships. They are human connections, not machine contacts. Their value is not the proximity they afford us, but the potential for personal interaction that proximity creates.

So, here’s my modest suggestion to the deep thinkers at Facebook. Instead of calculating how far apart we are, why not try to figure out how to close the gap (in familiarity and trust) that exists between so many of us these days? That would be an accomplishment that we in the human species could really get excited about.

Work Strong,
Peter

P.S. To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

There’s a new book out called Good Enough Is the New Perfect. It’s a catchy title, but a terrible idea.

Yes, of course, we can overdo our quest for ever-better performance on-the-job. And certainly, many of us do forget to stop and enjoy what we have already achieved with our work. But those two misinterpretations of a commitment to self-improvement don’t negate the importance of searching for our best self. In fact, Realizing Our Own Greatness Is the Best Perfect in the modern American workplace.

Why is that?

Because there’s a new kind of energy driving global economic competition. The old source – labor – has been replaced by something far more powerful – genius. Our competitors in China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Germany and elsewhere are no longer trying to beat us with cheaper workers. They’re taking it to us with smarter ones.

Now, before you rise up in righteous indignation, let’s get a couple of things straight. First, I’m not saying American workers have been practicing “labor for dummies.” I am saying, however, that our competitors have upped their game. They are performing at a higher level of quality and productivity … and so must we.

And second, I’m not saying you have to be “book smart” to be competitive in today’s workplace. I am saying, however, that you have to work with your talent. To compete and win in today’s global marketplace, you must be more creative, imaginative, innovative and original than the other guys in your profession, craft or trade.

How do you accomplish that? First you have to know what your talent is. Those who’ve read my book The Career Activist Republic know that talent is an attribute of our species. It is a “capacity for excellence” which exists in every single one of us.

Unlike your personality, however, talent doesn’t appear on its own. You have to bring it into existence. And to do that, you must probe your heart and mind to pinpoint the intersection of what you love to do and what you do best. That’s your unique combination of passion and practicality.

Then, you have to make your talent work-ready. You must acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to apply it effectively on-the-job. And, here’s what’s new about our post-recession, 21st century workplace: that task is never done.

The competition is too good for us to coast. Just as a professional ball player or musician can never stop practicing – never stop honing their talent – we must continuously improve our ability to work with our talent. That’s why realizing our own greatness is the best perfect. It makes us the champions we were meant to be.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

Vernor Vinge, a science fiction writer, coined the term “singularity” to denote a technological passage. It was the moment in time when machines become smarter than humans. When that occurs, life will undoubtedly be different for every single one of us. It will be a transformative event that affects us forever. The same is true of the economic singularity, but it has already happened.

The economic singularity occurred when the workers in other countries became smarter than the workers in the U.S.. If a nation’s workforce is qualified by its academic preparation, we passed this milestone in 2010. That’s when international testing revealed just how far we had fallen. China’s students were #1 while those in the U.S. were a lowly 23rd out of 65 nations. In effect, the economic singularity signals that we’ve lost what it takes to compete.

But, here’s the problem with that view. Genius is not a prerequisite for operating successful businesses. If it was, colleges and universities would be significantly better run. What propels economies isn’t smarts; it’s talent. And, according to that criterion, the United States stands head and shoulders above the competition.

Why? Because the populations of China and our other principal competitors are homogeneous. By choice, they have only one kind of talent. We in the U.S., for all our disagreements and problems, are the only nation on the planet with a workforce composed of all the world’s talent. It is an unbeatable advantage … if we bring that talent to work with us.

The economic singularity isn’t about genius. It’s about talent. Smarter workers use more of it. And, today, the employees of our competitors are bringing more of their talent to work with them than are many – not all, to be sure – but way too many of our workers. That’s why we’re now struggling in the global marketplace, not because their kids score better on academic tests.

To survive and prosper in this new era, therefore, we’re going to have to unleash and apply more of our talent. Each and every one of us is going to have to up our game. We’re going to have to draw more out of what’s inside us and use it on-the-job.

What does that mean? America’s workers – Boomers, GenXers and Millennials alike – all of us have to tap into our inherent ability to create, innovate, and invent so we can perform at a higher level in our work. You see, that’s what talent is – the capacity for excellence. The ability to find and apply – over and over and over again – a better way of doing things. It alone is a meaningful measure of a nation’s economic strength, and the USA is rich with reserves of it.

So, the economic singularity isn’t a passageway to defeat at all. It is, instead, a wake-up call. It tells us that the time has come to reset the American standard of excellence. Doing so will not only preserve our position as the leader of the world’s economy, it will reaffirm the American Dream … for each of us and for kids and grandkids, as well.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

An extraordinary event occurred between February and April of 2010. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more Americans resigned from their jobs (2 million) than were laid off (1.7 million).

What was the deciding factor in their decision to quit? I can’t say. But, I can tell you what their decision should have turned on. I call it the Q Factor.

What’s the Q factor? It’s the level of support an employer provides for you to manage your own career. In other words, in addition to all of the resources – training, technology, policies and more – a company puts in place to support its success, what does it commit to yours?

I’m not talking about 1950’s style GE “we’ll do everything for you” support. That was what propped up the career ladder. And, while the career ladder may have provided some sense of certainty, it also limited your advancement to a single path – the one dictated by the company.

Happily, that kind of “our way or the highway” support came to an end in the 1990’s. Today, companies have neither the resources nor the will to take care of your career. However, they can and should provide you with the training and resources you need to take care of it on your own.

Aren’t other factors important? Shouldn’t you also consider benefits, compensation, the length of your commute? Sure. But those things are typically the result of how well you manage your career. They are not the cause, but the effect of your success.

You see, there is a body of knowledge and set of skills for effective career self-management. Those who acquire and then exercise that expertise will become the master of their career. Those that don’t are fated to become its victim.

What does a curriculum in career self-management look like? As I explain in Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System, it’s a program for continuous self-improvement that encompasses five key areas of learning:
• The guiding principles of effective career management in the post-recession, 21st Century world of work;
• The identification of your unique talent (which is not your occupational skill, career field or industry);
• The development of near and longer term goals and a bridging mechanism for accomplishing them;
• The effective use of the best practices for taking care of all seven aspects of a healthy career;
and
• The tools and techniques for measuring your progress and making midcourse adjustments as necessary to ensure your continuous advancement.

So, what should you do? Use two criteria to evaluate your employer. First, ask yourself if it’s helping you acquire the skills and knowledge you need to advance your career. Then, ask yourself if it’s providing the resources, policies and other support necessary for you to actually care for your career while still employed.

Those evaluations determine your Q factor. If your answers to both questions are yes, don’t quit. You’re working for a supportive employer. If your answer is yes to one and no to the other, start looking for a new opportunity now and quit within the next twelve months. You’re not getting the support you deserve. And, if your answers to both questions are no, quit as soon as you can. You’re working for a toxic employer.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

A recent study has found that Twitter provides a window into our moods.

Using the choice of words in our tweets, Cornell University researchers have discovered that we are most positive or what they describe as “happiest” after a full night’s sleep. They speculate that it’s the rejuvenating power of rest which enables us to feel our inner bliss.

But wait, the study also found that we are also very happy on weekends. Now, most of us do sleep a bit on those two days off, but certainly there’s a lot more going on. So, rejuvenation, by itself at least, seems not to be the source of our contentment.

What is?

Well, what the study actually found was that our happiness peaks early in the morning and then begins a long, steady decline as we labor through the day. In other words, sleep doesn’t cause our happiness. Happiness is our natural state; it is the way we wake up. And, it’s our work that steals it away from us.

Does that mean we’re fated to be unhappy? Of course not.

The whole premise of Career Activism is that the conventional notion of the work/life balance is backwards. Historically, the phrase has been interpreted to mean that we deserve enough life to balance out the time we spend at work. That view only makes sense, however, if work is, by its very nature, unpleasant, demeaning and demoralizing.

That’s hardly a pleasant prospect given that we spend one-third or more of our life on-the-job. So, Career Activists take exactly the opposite view of the work/life balance. We think we deserve a work experience that is every bit as good as the rest of our lives. Because when it is, we not only go off to our jobs feeling happy, we come home from them that way.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

A recent news report made this observation about the Greek financial situation: “… something frighteningly concrete is underway in Greece: the dismantling of a middle-class welfare state in real time – with nothing to replace it.” It is a situation that is both similar to and very different from that in the U.S. today.

What’s the similarity? The American middle class labor economy has come to an end. Global competition has destroyed the ability of manufacturing, textile, transportation and other workers to build respectable middle class lives on the strength of strong backs, hard work and grit.

No one – least of all me – takes any joy in making such a statement. But, better to utter the truth than to let wishful thinking mislead and ultimately harm people.

Unlike in Greece, however, there is something to replace that defunct middle class labor economy. That’s what different about the U.S. of A.. We have the opportunity to establish a middle class talent economy.

How? We have to replace strong back with strong minds; we have to substitute innovation and creativity for hard work and grit.

That’s no small adjustment, I admit, but I’m optimistic. Why? Because, unlike what our school system teaches kids, I believe every human being is gifted and talented. We have all been endowed with the capacity for excellence.

If we apply that capacity on the manufacturing line and in the delivery of services, we will beat our rivals in China, Korea, India and Germany. Not with lower labor costs but with more ingenuity and better ideas. Not with more sweat, but with keener thinking.

What’s going on in Greece today is a tragedy. What’s unfolding in this country is a dream, the American Dream. All we need do is realize it.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

Look for my new book, A Multitude of Hope: A Novel About Rediscovering the American Dream, due out next spring.

There’s been a new entry in the Journal of Well Intentioned But Dumb Ideas. Assura Group of NY Ltd has just introduced a supplemental unemployment insurance policy.

The company claims that, when combined with government unemployment insurance, you can receive up to half of your lost wages for about six months.

Why is that a dumb idea?

While premiums for this new job loss insurance will depend on where you’re employed, your salary and the industry in which you work, they are expected to range from 0.5 to 2 percent of your pay.

For someone making $50,000 a year, for example, that could run $1,000. For someone at $75,000 a year, the premiums could be as much as $1,500. Oh, and you have to wait for six months after you’re laid off before any payments kick in.

What’s a better idea?

Don’t waste your money on unemployment insurance; that’s trying to pick up the pieces after disaster has struck. Instead, invest in career insurance and prevent the disaster from happening in the first place.

How does career insurance work?

It’s a fund you set up to subsidize your own self-improvement. It’s money you set aside to spend on educational programs, training courses, professional conference attendance and other activities that will enrich your skill set, expand your network of contacts and deepen your contribution on-the-job.

Think of it as your own personal Fund for the Future – a way to ensure that you’re too valuable for any employer to overlook or lose.

Work Strong,
Peter

Note: To read more about Career Fitness and Career Activism, get my books, Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System and The Career Activist Republic. Both are available at Amazon.com, in many bookstores and on Weddles.com.

Look for my new book, A Multitude of Hope: A Novel About Rediscovering the American Dream, due out next spring.