I’m seeing increasing evidence that skilled labor and the people who produce it are growing in value to business owners. So even in an economy with a nearly 10% unemployment rate, why are these key employees in short supply? The answer is simple, it’s because our idea that the value of labor is rooted in an industrial revolution era concept of the assembly line.We tend to view all labor as a mindless task reserved to those who don’t have the mental capacity to do something else. In a six sigma, just-in-time manufacturing world, labor has become anything but a mindless task.We are increasing the need for both thinking and doing.I predict that this phenomenon will eventually change our mindset about higher education. To advance in the new economy, we’ll need intelligent workers who can make informed decisions in the manufacturing process and the employers who are willing to pay a premium to get workers that can both think and do.
For the second year in a row, through the Retail Design Institute Sao Paulo Chapter, I was invited by the Brazilian Franchise Association’s to speak at their annual convention. George Homer, the Chapter President and gracious host, took me around to visit retailers and restaurants that catered to a higher level of design and clientele. I saw several concepts, but there was one furniture store that I thought put it all together.
Remember school. Remember what you loved about school. Remember what you hated!
It was brutally clear to me by the 4th grade that I had no ability to spell. I studied the words for painful hours with my mom the nights before a quiz. I made note cards, and memorized with my eyes closed. I spelled out loud, and basically went through hell trying to achieve because I was told I needed to. After the first two quizzes, and two subsequent D’s, I realized that the teacher was allowing us 15 minutes in quite time at our desk to “cram”. I began to transcribe the words from my list onto my table top, cover them with my paper, and brought my grade for that half a year to a nice acceptable B. In 5th grade they didn’t give us this chance and I pulled four F’s.
