"Your job is not your security; your ability to produce is your security." - Stephen Covey
Powerful hurricanes have swept the East and Gulf coasts this year, killing dozens, displacing millions, and destroying billions of dollars of property and lost business, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the people affected by hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike. There is also a perhaps less obvious trail of destruction being left by the business and financial storms sweeping the country. Regardless of where you live, you are affected; literally no one is untouched by the energy, housing, and financial turmoil of 2008.
Engineers and designers are under pressure, feeling the need to react, to take steps to protect themselves, their families and their businesses. They are being forced to change, a scary prospect for most, yet also an opportunity to look for a silver lining in the gathering storm clouds and reevaluate their options.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently announced that the unemployment rate had jumped from 5.7 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August. Even worse, the manufacturing sector shed 61,000 positions, the most in five years. The sector has lost 20 percent of its jobs — one job of every five — during the past seven years.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and more important than what happened is how one reacts and adapts to their new reality. Adversity can actually be quite liberating. After the shock wears off, one realizes that certain commitments and restrictions have suddenly disappeared and you now have the freedom to choose a new path.
Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, was equally famous for his leadership skills and philosophy. Here are Jack’s Six Rules for Success:
1. Control your own destiny or someone else will.
2. Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it was.
3. Be candid with everyone.
4. Don’t manage, lead.
5. Change before you have to.
6. If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.
It is certainly a tragedy to lose your home, your job, or your business, regardless of which storm caused it. And if it happens to you, you simply have to move forward the best way you can. Most of us have probably not had anything so drastic happen, even in the current environment. Regardless, we all still have the opportunity to control our own destiny.
Even though manufacturing engineers and designers are suffering greater job losses than many other employment sectors, I am convinced that they have a huge competitive advantage over most other workers. “What would that be,” you ask? It is their ability to combine innovative ideas with accessible and affordable design and manufacturing tools to create new products, businesses, and success. This innovation process is a key driver of the world economy, and engineers, designers, inventors, and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of this process. With this process, we build our shelters to protect us from future storms.
Engineers and designers are already engaged in the business of turning concepts into reality, taking ideas, creating virtual prototypes in CAD/CAM/FEA software, and then cutting them from metal or using rapid prototyping to produce physical prototypes or manufactured components.
And recent economic trends can actually work to the advantage of engineers, designers, and small manufacturing businesses. Unlike the globalization trends of earlier in the decade, the combination of a weak U.S. dollar, sinking labor costs and the steep cost of fuel are tilting the equation in favor of local manufacturers. When quality issues about overseas production are factored in, small manufacturers are well-positioned for growth.
Outsourcing may seem like a threat if you work for a large manufacturer, but as an individual engineer or designer, it may actually be your best opportunity to become independent and start your own business. New technology, the ubiquity of the internet, inexpensive laptop computers and inexpensive design software make it possible for you to work from home or any convenient location. Economies of scale that were once only available to large businesses are now available to all. Even though the pie could shrink in a recession, small companies have the opportunity to make their slice larger. And many employees who were cut loose can now work for their old companies and clients as a contractor.
There is a new model of work unfolding in the world and by 2020 the largest US employer could very well be “SELF.” More and more people are becoming entrepreneurs and creating their own work paths by going into business for themselves. Self-employed engineers and designers can choose which area and which companies and concepts they work on and maximize the flexibility of their personal lives by scheduling their work to fit their personal needs.
So, are you a victim or a survivor? It is a cliché that “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, but clichés exist because they are true, and the future belongs to people who can adapt. Just like companies, individuals must be open to change and adapt to fast-changing circumstances to survive.
One of the great things about working for Alibre is that we talk to hundreds of customers every day about how they are using Alibre software to turn their ideas into products, creating great businesses, gaining meaningful employment, and perhaps even changing the world a little bit for the better. We have dozens of case studies and testimonials on the Alibre website and a very active user forum, where you can see for yourself how people just like you took control of their destiny, and created their own competitive advantage.
Fundamentally, Alibre is in the business of empowering engineers and designers by providing affordable, accessible software, giving them the ability to design, analyze, and manufacture any product that they can envision. If you have new circumstances you need to adapt to, or you have a vision for an innovative new product or business, Alibre empowers you in ways that other CAD software vendors can’t.
I will close with a favorite quote, often attributed to Wolfgang Von Goethe, but actually written by William H. Murray.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! “
Something to think about.
Paul Grayson
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