Automatic Abundance

Katrina Could Dampen Automation Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 17:50:00 +0000

Hurricane Katrina, which opened America's eyes to unseen poverty, could motivate business and government to re-think the rapid shift to all-automatic solutions in the workplace. While increased productivity is an obvious plus, it's equally obvious that America as third-world country -- with millions of poor unemployed -- just won't work. Even if it could, few want to live in such a place.

Awareness: Key to Business, Job and Career Success in Hyper-Human Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 22:41:00 +0000

Who said this:

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."

Was it -

John Kennedy?
Pope Paul?
Martha Stewart?
James Thurber?
Clint Eastwood?

Any of them might have; James Thurber, the late great humorist, did. It's good advice ... one of the 10 key skills needed for success in an economy that is automating much of what we do with our heads.

Conscious awareness will be gained by technology very slowly if ever. If well-honed, observation makes any human more valuable. The more aware or perceptive we are, the better we can --

Notice problems and opportunities
Keep focused on what needs doing NOW
Keep ourselves and others safe and secure
Enjoy work and daily life
Generate the enthusiasm that makes others want to follow

As Thurber observed, looking back in anger robs one of present-moment energy; so does looking back in regret or even satisfaction (if overdone). A right-now focus is the key to success and fulfillment.

Living too much in the future also enervates the present -- whether the future focus is one of fear, resignation, or anticipation.

Three key practices help to concentrate the laser force of one's perception:

Stop drifting into the past or future. Of course it pays to examine the past and plan ahead; but excessive time spent in either domain tends to draim one's vitality. When you find yourself drifting, bring yourself back by the scruff of the neck.
Become physically more active. Move, talk, listen, try things out, accomplish. Engage all your senses; and use all your motor capabilities, large-muscle to small.
Engage your emotions and mind in healthy ways. Even entertain anger about the past and fear of the future, but do so pro-actively; get to the bottom of things, then get them behind you and move on.

The basic idea is to take conscious control of your perception and motor abilities. See, hear, feel, and move more aggressively. Be a vital part of "right now."

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:48:00 +0000

Your future can be global

- Photo courtesy of NASA

Make it so ... Read MIND OVER TECHNOLGY

MIND OVER TECHNOLOGY book now FREE in eBook form (through 4/30/05)

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 21:37:00 +0000

I've decided to offer my book on off-peopling FREE (in eBook form) from now througn end of April. Anyone can download it at www.eranova.com/ebook-free.htm ... or by clicking a link on the EraNova Institute home page: www.eranova.com.

My objective is to spread the word about off-peopling, and how to manage it, as quickly as possible. So feel free to forward the eBook to others once you download it.

Already the press has started to notice off-peopling. (Automation has been acknowledged for some time, but its human impact has been largely overlooked. Hence the need for a new term, "off-peopling.")

- CNET
- Christian Science Monitor
- Minneapolis Star Trubune
- Misc. coverage

Please download the eBook and spread it around virally. We need to get the off-peopling issue into more newspapers and onto more blogs ... and on Leno, Letterman, Charile Rose, Oprah ... and then into discussions in Washington, state houses, corporate board rooms ...

Once off-peopling is acknowledged as a problem, we can discuss creative solutions. Unseen, off-peopling is leading us in very bad directions. But that doesn't have to continue.

Good jobs don't need to keep on going away ... the world doens't have to keep moving in self-destructive directions. We can re-direct off-peopling for our common benefit ... and enjoy an unprecedented future of abundance, creativity, discovery, and joy in living.

The second half of the book gives the "hyper-human solution" to off-peopling, with practical, immediate steps that individuals and companies can take. There's a case history of one company that used hyper-human methods to multiply its size and profitability in short order, without layoffs. In fact, they delighted their employees by empowering them in exciting new ways ... and started hiring like crazy.

To Survive in the New Workplace, Be Ethical

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:29:00 +0000

See the timely article in the 3/30/05 Christian Science Monitor: "Only the ethical need apply." Highlighting the off-peopling trend, it suggests that ethical behavior is a key job requirement in the information-age -- something computers can't replace.

Moral: To be irreplaceable if not prosperous, be ethical. This behavior will become more critical as technology and society advance.

Cartoon by Scott Wallace

Knowledge Worker Wealth Gap Seems Wide -- Study Planned

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 18:53:00 +0000

Confirming an earlier reading of our straw poll, on 3/19, the latest reading suggests that knowledge workers may be falling into a wealth-gap trap: many getting either rich or poor, with fewer doing just okay. This will be explored in a study planned by EraNova Institute (www.eranova.com).

In the straw poll, knowledge workers were asked to rate themselves as currently POOR (not earning enough to pay the bills), MIDDLE (earning enough to get by), or RICH (earning enough to save and splurge).

With 170 people responding, the results as of this writing are --

27.1%: POOR
47.6%: MIDDLE
25.3%: RICH

More than one in four are telling us they're not making enough to live on. This makes me wonder if we're moving toward a rich-poor economy, in knowledge work as well as society as a whole. EraNova's formal study will investigate whether the wealth gap is increasing among the highly educated in the U.S., as it has been among the general population. If it is, then changes of many types will be indicated -- in social policy, education, business management, and career pursuit by individuals.

The prevaling assumption is that higher-level skills will fix our employment problems. If you've been laid off, just upgrade yourself at a community college or grad school. But what if that assumption's wrong? What if, as many high-tech people with PhD's are telling us, there's a wealth gap no matter what your skill level?

A widening knowledge-worker wealth gap, if confirmed by the EraNova study, may be one result of "off-peopling." Now gaining notice in the technical press, off-peopling is simply automation with a name that suggests the human impact. Automation (or off-peopling) affects employment much more strongly than offshoring or outsourcing. While a widening wealth gap has been viewed with alarm by many economists, highly-skilled knowledge workers have been considered relatively immune to the squeeze on the middle class.

The study will be managed by EraNova's research director, Anthony Spina. Holding a PhD in Human & Organizational Systems, Spina is a former research manager for AT&T, and lectures on business and social change. With an advisory panel drawn from universities, corporations, and professional associations, EraNova will also seek collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The straw poll is still active. CLICK HERE to take it and see the latest tallies.

Knowledge Worker: Are You Rich ... or Poor?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 21:55:00 +0000

CLICK HERE to take the poll and see the results.

California Knowledge Workers, Working Poor

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:46:00 +0000

A Northern California woman recently wrote us about the plight of "working poor" in her area. I have divided her comments by topic:

WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION?

I just finished balancing our family budget and it's sad to say that we are barely making it. We are $5.00 short, if we were to really tighten the belt. God forbid one of the cars goes out; well, we will have to ask the family for a loan.

ARE THERE LUXURIES YOU COULD DO WITHOUT?

We don't live extravagant lives. Our budget does not allow for such things as entertainment nor clothing. Just the basics (mortgage, car payment, utilities, etc.). We want to buy clothing? It's off to the Goodwill.

IF YOU HAD MORE EDUCATION, WOULD THAT HELP?

By what I have writen you may say that my husband and I are holding down jobs at McDonalds or Wal-Mart, but no. We are white-collar workers. My husband is in sales and I work for a university. We both have degrees. Our combined incomes come to less than $50,000. We live in Sacramento, California, and own our home. Our budget does not allow for things like vacations, new glasses, sports for our 10-year-old son, etc. We live modestly in a 1000 square-foot "cottage." We have a new Honda Civic (we know nothing of cars, so we went new and are good about maintaining it so that it lasts us) and a 20-year-old Volvo (still going strong due to good care). We pray that the Volvo does not give out or we will be SOL. Thankfully our only debt is a mattress, student loans, old tax debt, a car payment and a mattress (replacing an 18-year-old mattress that was killing our backs!)

WHAT'S YOUR THINKING ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF OTHERS?

How does the average American family with multiple children do it? Does everyone carry credit card debt to make ends meet? Will people go to their graves owing and never seeing their lives without debt? It is a very sad statement for our society. I wish I could stay home and tend to my family, but that would not put food on the table. Businesses are greedy and they are not paying their fair share to the workers! Why was it that when I was growing up with four other siblings my mom could stay home and my dad (working a blue-collar job) could keep us at a modest existance? Why can't this be done now?

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE SOLUTION IS?

I've started "simplifying" my life, but there is nothing more to cut out of our lives. Again, we live a modest life and we don't shop for a sport. The middle class is slowly being done away with by the wealthy businesses and slowly shuffled into the masses of the working poor. It's a new group and no one wants to admit it. People have got to open their eyes and say "what the hell is going on!"

What's your experience? I invite personal stories about (a) the difficulty of "making it" on what you earn in your area, or (b) how you ARE getting by, and what it takes in dollars in your area. Since this information is personal, please select "anonymous" when submitting your story, after clicking "comments," below.

See related article: "Knowledge Workers -- The New Working Poor?"

Off-Peopling Continues as Silicon Valley Recovers

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 17:11:00 +0000

Profits rise in California's Silicon Valley. And company formation is brisk. But computer-industry jobs keep on declining. How Come?

It's not just cost squeezing through outsourcing and offshoring. It's also a seizmic shift how tech industries are getting stuff done -- with fewer and fewer people. The Valley could be a bellwether for other industries. See this CNET article.

Are we moving toward a world that almost runs on automatic? See The Unheard Talk About "Off-Peopling".

Opening the Global Money Tap

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:53:00 +0000

If you're newly independent or seeking a sideline income, you'll need a mechanism for getting paid. Invoicing and waiting is one way. Another is instant collection via credit card. Here's an audio-visual tour of how to set it up, immediately and without upfront cost.

JobSearch: Finding Who Needs You Now & Will Pay

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:27:00 +0000

EraNova Institute is testing a new service, JobSearch, to help people make the transition to new ways of earning a living consistent with the new ever-restructuring economy.

As business moves more and more tasks off people and onto automatic systems, everyone including knowledge workers will need to move up to less routine forms of employment. Our straw poll on knowledge-worker wealth indicates that 25% or more of us are now "in transition" in terms of the amount and stability of our incomes.

JobSearch is a place to seek opportunities to connect your considerable talents with the elusive-seeming, but real, needs out there. As business shifts gears faster, individuals need to shift their money-making focus faster.

CLICK HERE to give JobSearch a try. It's just another blog with some pre-tested search links, plus editorial guidance and the opportunity to dialog. But it could provide added body english for easing on over to the next new thing.

Please let us know if you find JobSearch useful. Any suggestions for improving or extending it would also be welcome.

The 10 Key Business Survival Skills for Today

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:54:00 +0000

Technology is now assuming mental tasks, just as it assumed manual tasks during the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Back then, people who were displaced could move up to knowhow work. But what's left to move up to when knowhow-savvy systems encroach on our turf?

What's left is a subset of mental functions, those that people inherently do better than machines and that aren't likely to be automated any time soon. Success in a world that "runs on automatic" will hinge on getting really good at --

Symbolism (agile word and number manipulation)
Observation (seeing what's there; perception, with motor control)
Creativity (innovation, dreaming up new things)
Decision making (choosing rationally between possibilities)
Planning (determining what is to happen and when, and anticipating problems)
Action (having the guts to "just do it," come what may)
Emotional adjustment (managing emotions; venting bad ones and facilitating good ones)
Discovery (analyzing to find why things went wrong, or why they are as they are)
Social skills (getting along, managing, leading, following, collaborating)
Responsibility (assuming stewardship for self, family, company, community, county, world)

These 10 things are very hard to automate because they all hinge on being self-consciously alive. That is, with these "hyper-human" traits, you must not only be conscious but know you're conscious. It is this meta-consciousness that gives us the power to be in charge. We can then do things on purpose, based on values -- a uniquely human capability.

These 10 skills form the foundation of the emerging very human economy. (See my article in the Sept/Oct, 2004, issue of The Futurist: "How to Succeed in the Hyper-Human Economy." See also "Top 10 Forecasts from Outlook 2005" from the World Future Society.)

Many Knowledge Workers Say They're Rich, or Poor

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 19:00:00 +0000

* * CLICK HERE * *
... to take the straw poll
and see the latest results.

In the first two days, 75 people have already taken our straw poll, Are You Among the Knowledge-Working Poor, Middle, or Rich? The tally so far:

28% - RICH
44% - MIDDLE
28% - POOR

A surprise, to me, is the large size of both the rich and poor categories. I would have expected a larger middle. Are we moving toward a rich-poor economy, in knowledge work as well as society as a whole? (I'm concerned that the wealth gap appears to be widening in the U.S. and globally.)

Take the poll if you haven't already. We'd like to hear from a larger number before reading the tea leaves. (Feel free to invite folks on your mailing list to take the poll. Or send this post to an associate by clicking the email icon at bottom right.) Also, add your comments, below. They're more valuable than the percentages, which are suggestive only. So far I find the comments quite varied and eye-opening.

See my earlier article, Knowledge Workers -- The New Working Poor?

Should EraNova spearhead a nationwide study on this? The idea is to investigate a possible shift in knowledge-worker incomes, and to identify course corrections that might be indicated. We're starting to scope out a survey and methodology. Your input would be welcome.

Why Crime Has Become a "Career Choice" for Many Young People

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 15:26:00 +0000

This NRP interview, with Tavis Smiley, explores the effect of off-peopling on many American children as they come of working age.

Knowledge Workers -- The New Working Poor?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 22:46:00 +0000

There may be hundreds of thousands of them out there, perhaps millions –- people imbued with the work ethic, employed full time, often holding down multiple jobs, and still not earning enough to live and get ahead.

TAKE THE STRAW POLL:

Are You Among the Knowledge-Working Poor, Middle, or Rich?

I’m not talking about displaced factory employees working simultaneously at Wal-Mart and Burger King, yet earning too little to pay the mortgage. I’m talking about the prime workers of the information age, the ones pursuing the "jobs of tomorrow." Robert Reich has dubbed them "symbolic analysts," and Peter Drucker, "knowledge workers."

Many of these darlings of progress -- manipulators of words, numbers, computer bytes, ideas, relationships, and plans -- may be the new working poor (the "knowledge-working poor"). That’s what I’m starting to conclude.

According to a report on the working poor issued in 2002 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, college graduates account for only about 1.4% of the 30-plus million Americans below the poverty line. That’s “only” about half a million people. But I suspect the actual number is much higher, because in my experience low-earning college grads don’t readily self-identify.

As a consultant and director of think tank EraNova Institute, I talk to a lot of knowledge workers, from executives and entrepreneurs to high-tech developers and creative people such as writers, designers, and marketing professionals. For quite a while, I've been sensing a disconnect between how people say they're doing financially and how they're really doing.

When asked, "How's it going," they almost always answer, "fine," and talk of the great things they're working on, their clients, and so forth. But it's often a front. When they're alone with me, with their hair down, and trust that I won't pass on what I hear, many tell a much different story. The greatest disconnect is with people who have recently left a big company thanks to offshoring or off-peopling. Here are two examples of the type of thing I'm hearing (with details altered to protect privacy):

A woman from the South, who used to work for a federal agency in Washington, lamented the other day, "I've taken in less than $2,000 since the first of the year." She writes articles, part-time, for a magazine, runs seminars, and develops ad copy for service organizations. She's busy more than 60 hours a week, but might as well be working for minimum wage.

A West-Coast PhD who used to make big dollars with a network-service provider now earns a little over $12,000 a year as an adjunct professor. To supplement this Spartan income, he applied the other day for a sales job in an electronics store, at $10 an hour. They told him that he would perform janitorial duties at the end of each shift. "I didn't walk out, I don’t mind cleaning up," he says, "but with that money, plus the teaching money, I still couldn't cover my expenses. And they didn't even offer me the job; there were other applicants."

I could recite many similar stories, but these make the point. Many knowledge workers are not making it financially at the moment.

The term "working poor" may no longer apply only to displaced low-skill workers. In knowledge work, many minimal incomes may be hidden behind pride or the need to seem in demand in order to seem desirable. Unlike blue-collar workers who may declare themselves "unemployed," the knowledge workers I know shun that appellation. They're never "unemployed." They're "contractors" seeking gigs, or "business owners" seeking clients. If a job comes their way, great, but in the meantime, they're "working." In a real sense, they are working, because they're trying to provide a service in exchange for money; but they're "working poor" trying to survive, just like displaced factory workers.

How prevalent are the knowledge-working poor, versus the knowledge-working rich or middle? TAKE THIS STRAW POLL

I've noticed a story gap also with those employed in “good” traditional jobs versus working independently. For example, a young designer, between situations for several months, just got a job with a major retail organization, for $130,000 a year. Sounds great, and many people envy him, but in private he says he's worried about moving to New York City with its sky-high living expenses. He and his wife will have to give up one of their two cars and take an apartment one-third the size of their present one. With a child on the way, "I'm not sure we can do more than just squeak by," he told me. He can extend his income by earning a performance bonus, but that will take Herculean effort. He expects to put in 70 to 80 hours a week.

Add your comments below. War stories are welcome. Also, email this article to friends and associates by clicking the email image below, right.

How can the knowledge-working poor be helped to make it? We’re aggregating recommendations and approaches.

Get Rich to Get Happy -- Will It Work?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:24:00 +0000

Take a look at this mug shot and read the full article.

As we transition to the "hyper-human economy" (#1 of the top trends selected by the World Future Society in "Outlook 2005") beware of being one of the losers who take the money and run (even legally).

Money never did buy happiness, though lack of it invites misery. By leveraging 10 "hyper-human skills" (look for coming article on traits automation can't replace), we can earn enough for a decent, rewarding life. And just by calling forth our human qualities, we instantly make ourselves happier, because being our best selves is the very definition of fulfillment.

See this mug shot of a world expert on how to be happy.

Bernie Ebbers and Goldie Hawn occupy opposite ends of the happiness continuum. Who wouldn't want to feel as good as Goldie looks?

Why 3M, Ebay, and Umpqua Bank Have "Hyper-Human" Characteristics

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 18:03:00 +0000

Bizdriven asked for an explanation of why three organizations were singled out for "hyper-human" characteristics in my 3/14/05 piece, Make Money on "People Companies".

3M: Innovation is their middle name. They strongly support the creativity of their people, helping them come up with endless streams of new products and methods.

Ebay: They treat their employees well, but their key strength is empowering two key constituencies: hundreds of thousands of small business owners and individuals with stuff to sell; and millions of consumers looking for good stuff at a good price. Ebay delivers power to the little guy, a badly needed service as big guys threaten the middle class by extending the wealth gap.

Umpqua Bank: They became the biggest community bank in Oregon by liberating the initiative and responsibility of their employees. Now called "universal associates," all Umpqua personnel have been empowered to represent the bank in all ways: sales, customer service, you name it.

The stocks of these three companies have zoomed compared to stocks of more traditional companies. In my earlier article, I might have mentioned the likes of Enron -- outfits that have battered employees and the public. Instead, I compared the three to very good traditional companies, like IBM and GE -- outfits that have generally done well by their people and the public. These "good" companies could do even better if they consciously pushed "hyper-human" approaches.

Stay tuned for descriptions of the 10 hyper-human approaches and the bottom-line difference they can make.

Automatic Abundance Possible, Not Certain

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 16:00:00 +0000

As we move to an economy where more and more of the "mind work," not just manufacturing or routine white-collar work, is done by technology, we could all enjoy the fruits of a world that "runs on automatic." But that's far from assured. If the transition is too traumatic for too many, we could end up as a mere automated banana republic. Or we could self-implode.

In the 1960's futurist and geodesic-dome inventor Buckminster Fuller wrote a book called UTOPIA OR OBLIVION. In it he said we had the technological means to create universal abundance, but could easily do ourselves in through greed and stupidity.

A principle he put forth was "more-with-lessing." That's productivity with a new name that I like. Produce more with less time, material, or money; just make sure the "more" is something of real value.

Fuller's term could help keep our eye on productivity that's worth pursuing versus productivity that's an illusion. When a company lets people go and pressures remaining staff to cover for them, that's often called "productivity improvement." And it could end up being the real thing; for example, overloaded employees could respond by inventing ways to be more efficient.

But if the employees just sweat harder and longer, there is no actual "more-with-lessing," just the same output with the same overall input, from fewer people. Or not even the same output. The overall shift could be negative: lower quality of life for overstressed workers; reduced morale and eventual decline for the company; reduced income for the displaced; and increased social costs associated with unemployment.

Fuller's book, very relevant today, is available from the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

Good People at Wal-Mart

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:35:00 +0000

A Pennsylvania friend of mine, Renton Bond, says he at first resisted the self-checkout lines at Wal-Mart, "thinking like a Luddite." Then, frustrated by long waits, he gave it a try.

He ran into problems, such as clicking the Spanish button by mistake, but "There was always a clerk standing by, supervising about four or so self-checkouts, who does a good job of helping and educating how to avoid the problem next time."

As technology takes over routine tasks, smart employees will hyper-humanize their jobs -- put much more emphasis on helping customers, informing them, or just making them feel welcome.

Reminder: Please add comments to this and other pieces. I read all comments; many others do too. You can never tell the difference your idea, experience, or view might make!

Make Money on "People Companies"

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 19:19:00 +0000

If you wanted to make the most money, and didn't care about social good, which would you invest in --

Technogreedy off-peopling outfits that seek to maximize the bottom line at all costs, or

Socially-conscious companies that empower their employees and keep them on board at all costs?

Last summer I was interviewed on CNN by Ali Velshi (The Money Gang}. Discussing my new book, "MIND OVER TECHNOLOGY", I said that our best companies would increasingly strengthen the "hyper-human" qualities of their employees, attributes that cannot easily be automated. Velshi asked me to name companies that had applied this hyper-human principle. I said the concept was new, and that no company to my knowledge had applied it consciously and comprehensively.

After the show, he invited me for a return appearance a few days later. In the interim, I identified three companies -- 3M, Ebay, and Umpqua Bank of Oregon -- that had applied at least some of the hyper-human principles in the natural course of intelligent, humane management. I checked their stock prices and found they had far outperformed large outfits that operated in more traditional ways. For the period 9/11/01 (the day before 9/11) through 9/13/04, three years later --

- 3m (MMM) was up 65%
- Umpqua Bank (UMPQ) was up 90%
- Ebay (EBAY) was up 220%

By comparison, IBM, GE, Microsoft, Disney, Halliburton, and Wal-Mart were up only marginally, flat, or down slightly. The biggest surprise, to me, was Halliburton, the object of Iraq-war federal favor.

Moral: It can pay off big time when companies nurture the creativity, social skills, and other highly-human traits of their employees. (I believe that robust, full support of the hyper-human skills, 10 in all, would bring spectacular bottom-line results.)

Caution: Investors beware. Many things have to go right for a company to do well. Employee empowerment alone is not enough. But it makes sense, doesn't it, that people do better when they're not constantly squeezed?

Reminder: You can email this piece, or any other, by clicking the envelope icon, below right.

"End of Work" Clarified

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Sun, 13 Mar 2005 20:18:00 +0000

Economics gurus such as Jeremy Rifkin (see his breakthrough book "THE END OF WORK") and I are not saying that work itself is an endangered phenomenon, just work as we know it. People will keep on doing productive things, but increasingly they will function as free, self-actualized agents. (If the future unfolds as it should, that is.)

In today's jobs, people typically work for someone else doing something they probably woundn't do if they didn't need the money. That's what's going away, as most large companies seek the leanest staffs possible.

Most of the in-transition people I talk to, freed up by downsizers such as AT&T, do not see large corporations as the sources of their future incomes. They are looking instead at small, nimble companies; new firms of their own (often just one person); and non-profits in education and government. Many haven't connected with their new money source yet, but most seem determined to find some way to get paid for doing what they do best and enjoy doing.

Tomorrow's new, better jobs won't be "jobs" so much as passion-driven activities associated with today's research scientists, volunteers, writers, actors, and entrepreneurs. Smart machines will do the dull, routine stuff -- and good riddance to it. We will do the fun, rewarding stuff.

The tricky part is getting from here to there -- to the positive state of automatic abundance. Today's rampant technogreed is widening the wealth gap as many in high places take the money and run. Change is in the wind, though. I'll be reporting on companies that are paving the way to self-empowered abundance for their employees while also taking full advantage of productivity-boosting technology.

Robotic Postal Clerk -- What's Next?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 22:46:00 +0000

In Juneau, Alaska, Ruth Vincent, a manager at Mendenhall Valley Post Office, demonstrates one of the new automated postal centers. They allow customers to serve themselves.

Not shown: Clerks who will need to find new, less-robotic functions -- inside or outside the U.S. Postal Service.

Prediction: Within 10 to 20 years, more than half of all low-skill, repetitive U.S. jobs will go out of human hands.

The Unheard Talk About "Off-Peopling"

noreply@blogger.com (Richard W. Samson) — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 11:27:00 +0000

Away from media spotlight, a strange conversation is going on. It's about the end of work as we know it. That's right, no more jobs at all (in their present recognizable form) ... Not just offshoring, outsourcing, and the big-company layoffs that keep coming though we hope the latest will be the last ... but no more jobs, period. (Okay, that may be extreme; maybe 10% of us will have traditional employment once the off-peopling trend runs its course about mid-century ... according to the talk.)

The conversation has been going on for more than a decade. In 1995, Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, published "THE END OF WORK: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era." It's full of facts on how jobs are being squeezed in all areas including knowledge work, yet hardly anyone has heard of it. A revised version was published in 2004. I just checked it on Amazon.com. It is now #95,326 in their sales ranking.

"THE JOBLESS FUTURE: Sci-Tech and the Dogma of Work" appeared in 1994, written by Stanley Aronowitz and William Difazio. It gaind little popularity and is now #851,552 on Amazon.com.

There have been a few articles on the issue, in low-circulation publications mostly. For example, "Embrace the End of Work," by James Hughes, appeared in the February 24, 2004 issue of Better Humans, an online newsletter. "Offshoring is Only the First Wave of a Major Change in Business as Usual," by Kathleen Goolsby, appeared in the March, 2004, issue of Outsourcing Journal.

As a result of my recent efforts, the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a piece on January 27, 2005, "It'll be a new world, brave -- and scary," by H.J. Cummins. And my book "MIND OVER TECHNOLOGY: Coming Out On Top as a Wired World Starts to Run On Automatic" came out in 2004. In addition, a scattering of other publications, including The Futurist, have reported on the off-peopling trend and positive adjustments that might be made. Tempest in a teapot so far, but the major press keeps collecting the information I send, and the issue could come to wider attention soon.

Perhaps the most noted alarm was sounded by Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, in the April, 2000, issue of Wired Magazine, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us." Joy registered his concern about proposals for extreme automation based on micro and nano science. Though controversial and thought-provioking, it didn't get much attention beyond Internet gurus.

But the sub-rosa conversation continues.... Those who listen in will avoid huge mistakes and ride the trend to opportunities others will miss. Stay tuned.