How to Avoid Being Made Obsolete like 1.6 Million American Truck Drivers
In 1959, at the ripe old age of 17 years old, the father of my close friend started working at the newly opened Chrysler plant in south St. Louis. He worked there for 49 years until the plant was closed in 2008. He decided to retire as a Chrysler lifer instead of working for a different company.
Forty-nine years with one company. That seems like forever. However, his story is not unique. During the industrial economy, working for one company for your whole career was normal.
Loyalty was a type of currency. It was something in which to be proud.
Plus, you just didn’t need to work for more than one company. If you worked hard and showed up on time, you could make enough money to support an entire family, receive great benefits, and strong job security.
Fast-forward a half century.
I’m 29, and I have been employed by eight companies thus far. If you are under 35, that number for you is probably slightly lower or higher. I hold loyalty only to the companies which share goals, interests, and a common vision of the future as myself. This is the new normal.
For much of the 20th century, nearly all companies had the same overall vision. Build stuff bigger and better than before. And do it in the name of making the USA the greatest and most advanced country the world had ever seen.
Things have changed quite a bit since the days of that mentality.
I couldn’t imagine working as an employee for one company during the next forty years. I have already switched career fields three times. It’s not because I don’t value comfort, stability, or that I’m above it.
It’s that I couldn’t fathom passing on the incredible opportunities that will undoubtedly arise over that same time.
These opportunities are directly tied to technology advancement, specifically software, and the currency used in the new creative economy — adaptability.
The creative economy is one where the hard skills you have, the things you build, and the people you know are more important than getting a piece of paper from a school that says you are qualified.
There are a few key differences between the new creative economy and the industrial economy of the last 150+ years. One is that the value you create is provided directly to the end user/customer, rather than your value being filtered through an institution and onto the customer.
In the industrial economy, a person, usually a manager, decides if you are qualified for a position. Then another person, who is not the customer, decides whether or not you create real value.
In the creative economy, you create value directly to the customer and you only get paid if you succeed.
The determining factor of whether or not you can perform a given job is now based upon your portfolio of work and examples of prior value creation. A diploma might say that you graduated with a degree in architecture, but that’s not as important as showing examples of your work.
Equally as unimportant is a CV riddled with buzzwords, fancy titles, and long chunks of time at different companies. You want to see a CV of the creative economy? Look no further.
Think about this — if you walked into a bar ten years ago, you wouldn’t see any smartphones. Not even one iPhone or Android. It’s pretty easy to figure out why, they didn’t exist! You’re thinking, “Holy cow, iPhones aren’t even 10 years old?” Ya, I was surprised too.
Ten years ago we were still rocking the old Nokia’s and PalmPilot’s that didn’t even support video, and checked most of our emails on PCs.
While today nearly every business in the world is trying to figure out how to transition their platforms to be mobile first so they can somehow/someway get just a few seconds of your already drawn and quartered attention.
Those pocket supercomputers and the software that accompanies them is a main driver of this new creative economy. (For a highly recommended read of how we have arrived to this current point, see Venkatesh Rao’s BreakingSmart.com, it’s free.)
However, these are also precursors to the technology that will take your traditional job from you.
It’s no secret that robots and software are going to revolutionize work in the coming years.
Researchers Frey and Osborne predicted in 2013 that 47% of US jobs were susceptible to automation by 2050.
Imagine that percentage for less developed countries.
Lots of people hate their job already, so it that really such a bad thing? Could it be time for something new and different?
Most sane people want to evolve professionally, as in making more money, receive more fulfillment from your work, and have more power and influence. But in this new economy that is blossoming before our eyes, how can we do that? Where do we start?
It doesn’t start with finding a new job or going back to university.
It starts with becoming adaptable.
Adaptability is defined as being able to adjust oneself readily to different conditions.
But it’s not just about going with the flow, it’s about being well informed and educated. It’s about being able to spot trends and position yourself to profit and benefit from market cycles and changes brought about through technology disruption.
And overlooked trait of an adaptable person, is that they are willing to take risks and make moves before the majority.
Markets change, customer needs change, technology brings about new tools that make old tools, and even people that use those tools, obsolete.
Don’t believe me? Look around, it’s already happening.
Let’s start at a skill that most able-bodied humans can perform well. Driving a car or truck has a short learning curve. Learning the rules or laws of the road would probably require more time than the actual skill acquisition and the development of the appropriate hand-eye coordination.
No, I’m not talking about Uber. This is potentially much bigger.
Take a look at this map, which job pops out at you? Truck driver. That is a grouping of everyone from FedEx delivery people and 18-wheel truckers.
Visit this link for more info. The article states the reason why truck driver is the most common job in so many states is because it is immune to two main trends — automation and globalization.
It states, “A worker in China can’t drive a truck in Ohio, and machines can’t drive cars (yet).”
But they get it. See that 3-letter word between the parenthesis? Yet.
A quick google search reveals that just last month, a convoy of self-driving trucks recently drove across a small section of Europe and safely arrived at their destination.
It’s estimated that 1.6 million people in the US are big rig truck drivers. I don’t have the statistics of delivery people, but I would bet it’s just as high of a number.
What are all of these people going to do when the technology is ready to be deployed at scale? How are they going to replace their existing income?
The smart move would be to learn new skills in upcoming markets in the creative economy. You cannot simply automate away human creativity.
Spew all the buzzwords you want about neural networks and AI, human-level creativity will be incredibly difficult to achieve, if ever. And if it happens, then, well, we have a different set of problems to discuss.
The good news is that not automation of trucks nor hyper-creative AI’s are going to happen overnight. For the truck drivers, there is still time to maneuver and learn new skills that will allow them to continue supporting their families.
But again, it starts with them becoming adaptable. I’m sure most of these people know it’s coming. They might not believe it will actually happen. But it’s hard to argue against a 400% price-performance improvement in ground transportation networks.
There are many more examples of markets that are at different stages of disruption. But the point is it’s coming, quickly.
Don’t confuse this as a negative thing. Did you catch the part about a 400% price-performance improvement in ground shipping? Do you know where a large portion of those savings are going to go? That’s right, your wallet.
Almost all of us are going to have to learn new skills or eventually be made obsolete.
The core of adaptability is derived from one specific skill. It’s a skill you probably think you know well and have mastered, but I would bet you are mistaken.
The skill is learning how to learn.
It’s more than just reading books and acquiring new skills. It’s knowing which are the right books to read and right skills to acquire.
It’s more than talking to people. It’s knowing the right people who can introduce you to more of the right people.
It’s more than following the standard path that “school” sets. It’s knowing the fundamentals and creating your own path that is lead by your desire to build and create.
The future belongs to those who can sift through the oceans of noise, recognize and spot trends, find the right information, consume it effectively, and then hack together prototypes and examples to reinforce your learning, in addition to showing that you, “get it.”
Here is some good news — there are companies that specialize in doing much of the heavy lifting for you. They spot trends, they have the right networks in upcoming markets, and they do the research on how to best enter into these opportunities.
They even package it all into an intensive, but consumable, 2-month programs in fields such as bio-hacking, design & UX, Ethereum & smart contracts, and programming.
Exosphere Academy is one program that specializes in the creative economy, and has over 1,000 alumni from 40+ countries attend one of their programs.
The program is collaborative and fosters cross-pollination of ideas and theories in each of the fields. In addition, participants can learn practical business skills and helpful life philosophies such as anti-fragility, social intelligence, and self-reliance.
I invite you to get more information on the next program that starts July 11, 2016 at the Exosphere Academy website.
The final deadline to apply to the program is June 10th, so hurry and check it out!
At the end of the day, anyone with enough drive and commitment can accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves. I truly believe that. But for many people, including myself, we need a push and incentive to get started.
A new economy is here. Take advantage of it and position yourself to profit and grow in the coming years. You can do it yourself or with a group of open-minded people from around the world looking to grow, learn, and start a new path together.
Whatever you decide, make a choice and commit to it. Become adaptable and you will never have to worry about being made obsolete again.
Good things to come,
Luke Blackburn
