Realisation and the Opportunity

Some more interesting thoughts and take-outs about the modern world from Seth Godin.  I'd like to think that here at InnOrbit we are taking some initiatives which don't follow the normal "industrial revolution" model!

The realization is now

• The industrial revolution is fading.
• For a while, politicians and organizations promised that things would get back to normal. Those promises aren't enough, though, and it's clear to many that this might be the new normal. In fact, it is the new normal.
• There's an idea that somehow, if we just do things with more effort or skill, we can go back to the Brady Bunch and mass markets and mediocre products that pay off for years. It's not an idea, though, it's a myth.
• The promise that you can get paid really well to do precisely what your boss instructs you to do is now a dream, no longer a reality.
• One by one, our industries are being turned upside down, and so quickly that it requires us to change faster than we'd like.
• The sooner we realize that the world has changed, the sooner we can accept it and make something of what we've got. Whining isn't a scalable solution.

The opportunity is here

• The mass market is being replaced by multiple micro markets and the long tail of choice.
• Google is connecting buyers and sellers over vaster distances, more efficiently and more cheaply than ever before.
• Manufacturing is more of a conceptual hurdle than a practical one.
• The exchange of information creates ever more value, while commodity products are ever cheaper. It takes fewer employees to generate more value, make more noise and impact more people.
• Most of all is this: every individual, self-employed or with a boss, is now more in charge of her destiny than ever before. The notion of a company town or a stagnant industry with little choice is fading fast.
• he opportunity, though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter). The opportunity is there for anyone (with or without a job) smart enough to take it--to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy real needs, to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything.
• ¡Note! Like all revolutions, this is an opportunity, not a solution, not a guarantee. It's an opportunity to poke and experiment and fail and discover dead ends on the way to making a difference. The old economy offered a guarantee--time plus education plus obedience = stability. The new one, not so much. The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact.
• ¡Note! If you're looking for 'how', if you're looking for a map, for a way to industrialize the new era, you've totally missed the point and you will end up disappointed. The nature of the last era was that repetition and management of results increased profits. The nature of this one is the opposite: if someone can tell you precisely what to do, it's too late. Art and novelty and innovation cannot be reliably and successfully industrialized.