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Careering

Everybody’s talking about jobs, and, of course, as we’re digging out of this recession, everybody should be; but what you don’t hear is people talking about careers.

Maybe that’s because the word “career” has turned into a noun instead of the active word it started out as. Or maybe it’s just because too many people have stopped thinking they have a career ahead of them and have settled for trying to land, or hold on to, something with a false sense of security called a job.

As a verb, “career” possesses a very times-appropriate attitude.

Career literally means moving swiftly in an uncontrolled way in a specific direction. Or as one dictionary defines it, to lurch rapidly onward. When you think of your career as a verb instead of a noun, it describes how you should proceed—always moving, never stopping, never settling in, and always defining your tasks at hand in terms of aiming for a moving target called the future. That’s what I call “careering.”

When you see a person careering, he or she is usually moving in full gear at full speed.

You can observe this type of individual in every age category, at every level of society, at every pay scale. For instance, you can spot a person careering when you walk into a McDonald’s. That energetic, motivated person taking your order with a smile, swiftly processing it, getting it right, then serving it efficiently back to you, well, she probably has her eyes on the manager’s job. And if he’s stopped careering, before he realizes it, she’ll have it.

Even in these times, low-level jobs are plentiful (if you want to work) and careers are hard to find...but they are out there, everywhere, in this new high-tech, high-challenge, and high-reward world.

Changing times have a way of leveling the playing field, and winning requires more imagination and grit than money, connections, relationships, or tenure—and this is my point—it takes career-minded will and determination, not jobs-minded tentativeness. It takes careering.

Even in a time when new worlds are destroying traditional jobs, where high-tech communication media is replacing buggy-whip industries such as newspapers and network TV, opportunity is not lacking; not if you’re careering.

That’s it, from the edge of the world,

Bob

Photo Source: Palomar.edu 

The Green Movement Is Branching Out

Ever since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden for misbehaving, or so the story goes, humans have been scratching out their existence at the expense of the earth. Exploitation didn’t take its toll until recently. If you ran out of something, you either moved on or paid someone to bring you more. Whoever thought there would ever be a shortage of timber? The rain forest was considered no different than the forest that covered what’s now known as New York City. Cut it down, bring in the cement trucks, progress will solve everything. And it still might. Or it might not.

The question of whether progress could or can solve our environmental problems became a giant concern when acid rain, the hole in the ozone, and global warming started to gain traction. The green movement started to move. It picked up momentum with Earth Day, angry protests, The Green Party, Ralph Nader, and now almost every Hollywood star and news outlet rushing to center stage to elbow their way into the green spotlight. 

In 2004 we saw a shift in how products were being sold and proposed a concept we called “GREEN HOT”: The Return to Nature by Force.

We saw tangible evidence that products would soon have to be positioned as being better for the planet, or at least capable of making a significantly smaller impact on the grid. We saw early evidence that the masses were starting to give a damn. And what we know is that when the masses start caring, they start voting for or against a product with their dollars. And at that point, companies take notice and either change or die.

We called it GREEN HOT while it was still only warm, but now everybody knows it’s about as hot as you can get. Just a few years ago, Al Gore or no Al Gore, a documentary on global warming would have struggled to draw even a small crowd; this year it got an academy award. 

There’s no real controversy about whether green is hot; the real question here is why—and what will the next evolution be?

Watch the CultureWaves™!

Each culture wave is the result of sifting through ever-changing patterns of life and linking them together in unexpected ways. Because it reflects the changing nature of life, a culture wave is never static. It lives, matures, or dies based on the cultural behavior it represents. That is why it is so important to watch how each wave changes over time.

We’ve been tracking our own take on what’s happening in the culture for almost three years now and currently are monitoring more than 34 different waves. It’s fascinating to me to see that some of what’s showing up as mainstream CultureWaves™ today surfaced back then as subtle shifts in cultural behavior. 

I thought you might like to take a peak at a sample of our mainstreaming, growing, and emerging CultureWaves. Each wave is accompanied by a quote illustrating the human truth that it represents. If these CultureWaves give you ideas, well, they should.  Mainstreaming and growing waves tell you what’s happening now; but the new ones, the emerging waves, have the potential of giving you a glimpse into the future. And that’s always worth a look.

These waves have tremendous societal impact on culture in the marketplace. If you see something that intrigues you, or want to know more, contact me. I’d love to hear which waves catch your attention.

1. CLOCKLESS

Hyper-life consumers find 24-hour solutions.

You respond when your body calls out, especially when it’s hungry, wants entertainment, or desires to buy. Our 24/7 society is subject to spur-of-the moment gratifications that can be satisfied instantly. And it’s made possible because of cell phones, pagers, computers, and other mobile devices that get us what we want even as we run to our next commitment.

“I want what I want when I want it!”

2. SENSORY APPEAL

Targeting the senses with new textures, colors, tastes, and sounds.

Activating the senses is becoming more and more ubiquitous. Our bodies create emotions based on reaction to sensory stimulus and seek enjoyment in the results. As a result, we are constantly looking for new ways to be stimulated.

“I’ll take the one that appeals to all my senses.”

3. BODY WARRANTY

Pushing our body beyond its limits.

Where’s a Fountain of Youth when you need one? If we can’t get it through magic, we get it through technology. When you connect the desire for immortality with the pervasive ability of technology to improve the body’s performance, you can see why people are demanding more out of their bodies.

“I want more out of my body than ever before.”

4. GREEN HOT

The return to nature by force.

Environmentalism isn’t just for tree huggers anymore. Large numbers of people are rallying to influence the good health of the planet. Their passion drives them to embrace perceptual concepts such as Healthy, Organic, Whole, and Sourced. This “green is good” ethos is shifting how companies are acting and investing.

“I’m not asking you to go green; I’m telling you.”

Deluded? Or Just What We Need.

Can Yankelovich be right about the 16- to 25-year-old “Echo Generation”?  Are they really more ready than previous generations to be the business owners they say they want to be? Or are they just fooling themselves with self-gratifying daydreams of being rich someday?

In my early 20s when I decided to start my own business, the rap on young people was that we were all draft-dodging, antigovernment hippies protesting the war and running around high on drugs. Well, not all of us were…and some wound up converting into entrepreneurs and solid business leaders. A couple of the party animals named Clinton and Bush wound up running the country. I’m part of the “Baby Boomers,” that big bulge in the demographic boa constrictor, the kids that grew up in the ’50s on peacetime and happily-ever-after television.