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Lunch hour econ talk
The title of this blog itself may scare or bring out not the best feelings about the economy, but inevitably talking about rough or tough subjects can bring light into the darkest corners. Sayings have been thrown around such as, “It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” or “We haven’t even hit rock bottom yet.” These of coarse are issues that should be addressed but why encourage more negativity than already being displayed on the Wall Street highlight boards running across the bottom of the TV.
I believe another issue that should be addressed is employment. The work force in this nation is crumbling and winding up on the streets. Why? Who really knows, but some explanations can be that companies are not creating enough revenue to pay their employees, or budget cuts need to be made to afford executive retreat sessions, or a lonely accountant added too many zeros. From my perspective I believe one of the issue is something that affects every single one of us, laziness. Laziness? But why Jonathan? Well I’ll tell you why.
Let us start with an analogy. Why cook dinner when you could just go down the street to buy McDonalds. This may be very simply and you’re wondering how this relates to business. Well, many large companies actually get their projects, or business from larger companies and have been for so long that the thought of not receiving those projects anymore have never crossed the minds of those in charge. So, what happens if you have been eating out every night for the last 25 years and then all of sudden McDonalds runs out of food? Hopefully you remember how to cook, and hopefully you still have cooking utensils, and hopefully you have something in your fridge that you can cook. But, seeing as you eat out every night it would be silly to keep food in your fridge because it will just spoil and stink up the house.
Has the connection been made yet? Let’s review. If a company looses all its contracts and projects from the larger company from which all their business was coming from for the last 20 years, it is most likely they don’t have any “groceries” in the fridge. With no other clients the company is unable to secure a constant revenue and thus in order to survive the attempt to downsize or cut costs which inevitably equals job loss.
What’s the lesson here? No matter how secure you feel or success your company is, always be prepared for the worst, and do not put all your “eggs” in one basket.
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re: lunch hour econ talk
Focusing on the whole idea of our nation being lazy... how are we ever going to step outside of it? We're constantly inventing/creating new things that make life and work even easier for the every day man (or woman, you know what I mean). So doesn't that just dig us into a deeper whole of laziness which in turn does nothing to better the economy?
I'm definetly a product of this problem myself, always looking for an easier solution rather than putting in the extra effort and working my hardest to achieve it. I spend more time trying to motivate myself to be motivated rather than putting all that energy into the work itself.
So how do we motivate such a vast group of people to stand up and make things happen for themselves when most people can't even motivate themselves?!
In my opinion this country seems to be stuck, and what's the funny part? Isn't it obvious? It's a never ending circle because guess what?! We're all sitting around waiting for someone else to fix it for us.
amanda
lunch hour econ talk
Wow Amanda! What great insight! I mean that seriously.
You are right. How do we "...step outside of it?" But it's not just about the efforts we expend on making new things that feed our laziness. In my opinion it's about our attitude towards our expectations of life in this civilization (ie the American one) - we all think we deserve this or that, so we end up expecting someone to "...fix it for us" as you so accurately called it.
So I guess if we can at least get to the point of recognizing the point you make, then maybe we can get around to figuring a new approach to motivating people to get up and support a fundamental change. Let's take ownership of our lives and help our neighbors a bit more. But still, how do we go about motivating people to motivate themselves?
re: lunch hour econ talk
What you're saying is that business leaders need to know and have a 6th sense for their income streams, right? Which ones are strong, which weak, and why in both cases? What is the source of income, and what dependencies exist that can make or break it?
The laziness you talk about I think is absolutely in the right direction. Things are not always going to be the same - situations and conditions change, and the lazy manager might fail to recognize this. It can be the end of the road for them. So I think you're right Jonathan: when you're in business, you can never AFFORD to be lazy. It's an expense that can ruin you.
I just read that anyone who wakes up at dawn every day of the year and works hard can't help but bring fortune home. Thank you Jonathan for this post - I look forward to your next.