On the destructive nomadic aspect of business

One thing I often hear when someone gets laid off is something to the effect that this person had a lot of valuable skills and had accomplished a lot and therefore it’s surprising that they were let go. I call this the old house theory of employees. Such employees are like old houses: fill with old antiques and some newer things. Those things do have a lot of value. However, it goes against the increasingly fast natured approach to business. Businesses are becomng less established and solid, I believe. They are becoming more like tribes of nomads. And like nomads, they have very transient like structures and they travel light. And employees who are nomadic in mindset will be the ones who will be the most successful.Hacked together on my blackberry. Thanks for reading this, and if you have
a comment, thanks even more
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Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld.

Posted via email from Bernie Michalik’s posterous site

9 thoughts on “On the destructive nomadic aspect of business”

    1. Alot of things. It’s like a pattern coming out of the instances of alot of recent experiences.

  4. This is a very interesting and thought provoking post (as usual from you).

    >> this person had a lot of valuable skills and had accomplished a lot and therefore isn’t surprising that they were let go.

    Good thing I don’t have a lot of valuable skills and have not accomplished anything at work so I won’t be let go then … whew 🙂

    I do agree that businesses and employees both have to be very nimble and flexible to be successful. Though, I am not sure you can be successful without value?

    1. Ha! That was a typo. I meant to say: this person had a lot of valuable skills and had accomplished a lot and therefore it’s surprising that they were let go. (That’s the problem with typing these things on a blackberry).

      This all ties in to the presentation Aaron, Sacha, Jen and I gave a Blue Horizon a few years ago. One of the things I talked about was swarm theory and how as organizations become more mobile, they will take on the behavoir of a swarm. That is being dynamic in the extreme, but I think it is the direction companies are going. An intermediate step is for organizations to be nomadic. People will have core skills, but they will have to learn about new terrain and how to survive and thrive constantly. In some ways, this is what we see in Services. But I see other people working for years at companies, and they don’t have that dynamic capability. However, the younger workers do. I think that capability will be essential.

  5. You describe the business as having a positive nature similar to a nomadic group .
    I think of nomadic as a people reliant on each other and thus ensuring each is taken care of. I once came across a comment by a military officer describing the American Indian tribes he encountered, ” you will not find a pauper among them.”
    On the other hand I see modern business philosophy as being more like a mongol horde. Ravage an area and move on.

    1. Good comments, Jeff. My reference to “nomads” was vague. I like your comments: they are clearer.

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