The Emperor's New Clothes--Insight into the "New Economy"

The media says that there are many current signs of economic progress, low inflation, more jobs being created, people spending, the DOW Jones moving to over 11,000.  At the same time nation-wide unemployment remains at about 9.7%. (This is an artificial figure because it represents people actually claiming unemployment benefits.  When people exhaust their benefits or, after a year or more of not finding jobs, apply for Social Security or take a lower-paying job, they drop off the rolls of the unemployed.)

Recently I have encountered many people hired to work on the Census 2010.  Almost all of them are looking (and have been looking) for work and have been unable to find it.  It is good that the census gives them a temporary ("intermittent") job--similar to a substitute teacher, working when there is work to be done.

Hans Christian Andersen created a story about The Emperor's New Clothes.  A child looked at the emperor and said, ". . . but he isn't wearing anything."  The "new economy" (and economics in general and the current economic recovery in particular) is a lot like "the emperor's new clothes."  There is a lot of trust involved and everyone needs to see and believe in the same way for it to continue to operate.

There are a lot of reality checks that act like the child.  The FDIC is anticipating more bank failures this year.  Homes are still being foreclosed.  Many people are looking for work to replace incomes they used to have when, for whatever reason, they were laid off.  States are hurting for income because people haven't made enough money to pay what they used to pay in taxes.

Is this a pessimistic post?  I believe in seeing the glass "half full" rather than "half empty."  At the same time, if the glass is half full, it's important not to claim that the glass (or gas tank) entirely full and to expect to "go the distance" a full glass (or gas tank) would allow.

Income Taxes--New Economy--American Middle Class?

The "American Middle Class" usually pay their taxes.  Their donations are not high compared to income and much of the tax base used by the Federal government comes from funds paid by members of the American Middle Class.

Who has been laid off in the new economy?  President Barack Obama has spoken about generating new jobs, though those jobs seem focused at what is called the "lower middle class" (skilled craftsmen and craftswomen).  If income has fallen, there will not be as much income to pay taxes on and the income expected will not be showing up.

Change--Learning--Training--Innovation and the "New Economy"

Change requires learning and learning requires change.  It's one of the cycles that are intimately intertwined.  In "the new economy" many organizations (large and small) are not funding professional support for the changes and the learning they need to make to survive.

One of the approaches I have taken to support organizations with this problem is to create a series of business tools supporting change and making them available on eBay.  These tools can be self-help tools or can be the focus for a DrM-Resources Service.

Contract recruiters have been approaching me for support in utilizing social networking services as a support for both collaboration and knowledge management.  There are many ways to use these services to support sharing and knowledge management for organizations with all levels of numbers of employees and large and small budgets.

What characteristics of the "new economy" signal that most organizations need to learn and to change?  For starters, we have close to 10% unemployment across the USA.  Millions of jobs have been lost and President Obama, in speaking about job creation, has not focused on high end jobs which have been sacrificed when organizations have had to cut back on their employees.

As in previous times, companies need to do more with less.  What is not like previous times is that the customers and providers that companies have relied on are no longer there--or are no longer there with the same resources they once were.  How many companies do you know who are living on their reserves and waiting for the economy to "recover."  We have heard that we are experiencing a "jobless recovery" in our economy.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean.

Organizations and individuals and families need income to cover their expenses--now and for the future and the past (debt).  Jobs were the way most families generated the income.  Unemployment insurance and lower-paying jobs don't generate the income needed for expenses.  While social security payments did not go up this year, expenses have continued to climb.

Organizations, families, and individuals now need to "reinvent" themselves to succeed in the "new economy."  Reinvention requires learning and change.  We are back to the beginning of this post.  It is a cycle and organizations, families, and individuals can benefit from support while going through this cycle of learning and change.

(See the follow-up posts about Learning and Change from February 20, 2010, and February 21, 2010.)

Business Improvement Survey--a New Product

I just created a Business Improvement Survey using Adobe Acrobat.  It was a challenge to create, though it seems to have good functionality.  Working from a variety of client experiences dealing with organizational development and change, I developed a six-part survey to focus on core questions that need to be resolved for change to be successful and supported.

I decided to market this survey via an eBay auction to get people to try the survey.  The cost will be small and it can be used as a self-help survey by most organizations needing to deal with change.

Of course DrM-Resources will provide support for those people trying out the survey if they should wish extra support.  The survey will get clients preferred pricing on any of the other services offered by DrM-Resources.

This blog entry is more than a promotion for the survey (though that would be a good use of the entry, anyway).  This marks one of the first times DrM-Resources has partnered with eBay to help consumers get access to affordable tools they can use to help their businesses improve.  Not only can they get the tools on eBay, they will soon get preferred pricing on the other DrM-Resources services soon to be made available on eBay. 

DrM-Resources and Joelmonty.net already use PayPal for invoicing and payments, and Skype for webinars and other interactive events.  It is only natural to add eBay to the mix.

Management Consulting for Small Businesses in the New Economy

The Saint Charles Learning Community had its annual Holiday Gathering this evening at the Social Club located on the grounds of the Q-Center in St Charles, IL.  Most of the professionals attending the gathering had been employed by Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, Accenture, or Andersen Worldwide while those organizations were at the peak of their success.  Of these, only Accenture remains intact and still growing.

All were involved in developing, delivering, or supporting learning programs and events for the Andersen organizations.  I was with Andersen Worldwide and Andersen Consulting for a little over five years.  I left Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) eleven years ago to pursue other consulting interests at Origin Technology in Business (now AtosOrigin).

It was wonderful to reconnect with people I enjoyed working with and had not seen for many years.  It is amazing that, out of my 40-year career to date, my time with the Andersen organizations reflects my best experience of working with top quality professionals sharing many of the same values.

Some people who left an Andersen organization were fully involved in leadership development, talent management and training at such organizations as Sears Holding, MacDonalds, and Office Max.  Others were independent consultants and coaches.  Very few had completely changed careers.

The conversation moved to the new economy and the unemployment challenge.  In this recession, many white-collar jobs were eliminated.  Families who relied on incomes in the 60 to 100 thousand dollar range may not find new jobs paying those wages.  Other workers employed in well-salaried professionals (such as auto workers) may also not have any new jobs in that profession to go back to.

In the consulting arena, there are fewer "Big Four" firms for consultants to work for.  The key to success for the new economy--in terms of reducing unemployment--is the explosive growth of small businesses.  These small businesses will need small business consultants to help them organize, grow, and expand.  There are a few self-help books for small businesses such as The e-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. 

Large consulting firms created content-specialized consultants focusing on information technology, enterprise resource planning, business process re-engineering (and other focus areas).  Small businesses will need contextual consulants who can diagnose the challenges to the small business, help the decision-makers develop a change strategy, and help develop the change plan and training to allow the employees to implement the changes to help the business to grow.