That Used to Be Us_ How America Fell Behind in thted and How We Can Come Back - Friedman, Thomas L. & Mandelbaum, Michael [85]
If Carlson’s Law is correct and more and better innovation is going to be coming from the bottom up and less from the top down, then a leader or teacher or principal cannot be effective without being able to inspire workers or students.
“You cannot command collaboration and creativity,” says Dov Seidman of LRN. “You have to inspire it and create a context and an environment and a culture where it can happen—and where people [who feel] united by a shared vision will then work collectively and collaboratively to make it happen.”
“Extra” also has to be inspired because, as we’ve said, for many people the extra they have to add will not be a software breakthrough or a rocket design or even the drive to exceed a sales target. It will be something simpler but all too rare these days: the ability to connect with other human beings in a way that no machine ever can—whether you are a doctor, nurse, salesclerk, or teacher. Seidman maintains that “this distinctly human ability to be humane, hopeful, and helpful” cannot simply be taught to people; it, too, has to be inspired in people.
“I Kill Jobs”
For all these reasons, the merger of globalization and the IT revolution has made average a dangerous place to be on the workplace spectrum, and one way or another everyone needs to find his or her “extra.”
No one has more bluntly summed up why average is over, and what it means for education, than John Jazwiec, who has headed a variety of technology start-ups, including RedPrairie and FiveCubits. Blogging on his website, JohnJazwiec.com, he confessed:
I am in the business of killing jobs. I kill jobs in three ways. I kill jobs when I sell, I kill jobs by killing competitors, and I kill jobs by focusing on internal productivity. All of the companies I have been a CEO of, through best-in-practice services and software, eliminate jobs. They eliminate jobs by automation, outsourcing, and efficiencies of process. The marketing is clear—less workers, more consistent output. I reckon in the last decade I have eliminated over 100,000 jobs in the worldwide economy from the software and services my companies sell. I know the number, because … my revenues … are based on the number of jobs I kill. I have killed many competitors. Again, I reckon I have eliminated over 100,000 jobs in the last decade. I know the number, because I know I have been in large markets, and have ended up being one of two companies left standing, where there were many more when I took over. Finally, I have killed many internal employees. When I acquire a company, some of the “synergies” [involve] eliminating duplicate jobs. When I buy productivity software or outsource for lower labor costs, I kill internal jobs. Finally, companies that grow demand internal people to grow. They attract better job candidates. Growing companies kill internal jobs by economic darwinism.So there, I have said it, I am a serial job killer.
He explained: “Any job that can be eliminated though technology or cheaper labor is by definition not coming back. The worker can come back. They most often come back by being underemployed. Others upgrade their skills and return to previous levels of compensation. But as a whole, the productivity gains over the last twenty years have changed the landscape of what is a sustainable job.
What, then, is a sustainable job? Jazwiec asks.
The best way I can articulate what is a sustainable job is to tell you, as a job killer, [sustainable jobs are] jobs I can’t kill. I can’t kill creative people. There is no productivity solution or outsourcing [strategy] that I can sell to eliminate a creative person. I can’t kill unique value creators. A unique value creator is, well, unique. They might be someone with a relationship with a client. They might be someone who is a great salesman. They might be someone who has