Are You Untouchable

In January 2003 The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran thisFor Greer, the old process was eight steps. The new
headline - "Ohio lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs". Theyprocess is three steps.This concept of creating ideas
blamed competition from India and China.In a recentmoved him into a whole new business. No longer just
article, Business Week discussed how Call Centersanother friggin artist, his clients now buy his ideas.Bill
are being sent off shore, sending 10s of thousands ofGreer is an untouchable. He is adaptable. He continues
jobs overseas. Dell, Citigroup, Microsoft, Generalto retool his skills. He creates new forms of value for
Electric and others major corporations now havehis clients.What are you doing to be an
oversea call centers.Microsoft and GE have one ofuntouchable?We have been though this before. It
the world's most productive research andhappened when we moved from the agricultural age
development centers in IndiaCompanies such are Ford,to the industrial age to the electronic age. On the farm
GM and Mercedes have built or off-shored entireyou could get by with a third grade education and no
plants to China.Tata India has one of the world'sone cared. During the industrial age you needed a high
largest and highly trained programmingschool diploma. Hundreds of thousands of people
staffs.Accountants are next to feel the heat from offmigrated from farms to cities during the industrial
shore competition. A clerk in the accountant's officerevolution and retooled their skills to find work.In the
can scan a company's financial data to an Internet1950's, in Akron Ohio, rubber companies would rent
server. An accountant in India will access thisbuses and send them into the mountains of
information over a secure link and process thePennsylvania and West Virginia to bring worker to
financials overnight. The results are waiting at theAkron to work in the Rubber factories. That's how I
accountant desk when he comes in the nextcame to live in Akron. My father left the coal mines of
morning.How do you fight this?Outsourcing andPennsylvania to find a better life here. Little did he
off-shoring are here to stay.Outsourcing is defined asknow that working in the rubber factory was no
taking a specific task and having another companydifferent that working in a coal mine.People who left
perform this service and then reintegrating the resultsthe farms adapted, learned new skills and became
back into the original company.Off-shoring is taking anuntouchable in their generation. Men who left the
entire plant and moving it to another country.In themountains and came to Akron to find employment
following example Boeing is building a new plane.learned new skills as well.In both of these cases
Boeing has Russian designers designing the wings.education played a key role in this transformation.In the
Boeing also outsourced the electronics of this plane totechnology age America is being pushed by two very
a Japanese company. This Japanese company outmotivated competitors: India and China. After years of
sourced certain electronic components to the samerepression they now see that they can have what
company in Russia that Boeing is outsourcing the wingAmericans have enjoyed for so many years.Our
design to.Boeing can employ five engineers in Russiagrandparents came from the old country to create a
for the price of one engineer in the United States.Arebetter life.Our parents learned new skills and found
you untouchable?Let me define untouchable. Beingways to compete in their generation.Technology allows
untouchable is the ongoing learning process that aIndia and China to do the same thing; all without leaving
person must go through to move to the next level ofhome.What is America doing to compete? More
professional and personal development.For example, inimportantly - what are you doing to do to compete - to
his book the World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, hebecome an untouchable? As I see it there are three
discusses the outsourcing impact on his friend Billthings we must do:1. Stop being complacent and
Greer.Bill is 48 years old and he has 26 yearswaiting for the government to do something.
experience as a free lance artist and graphicsGovernment is about boundaries: political, commercial
designer. His clients include such notable names asand geographical. They don't understand that with
New York Times and McDonalds.In the past a clienttechnology the world is flat and traditional boundaries
requests a finished piece of art. Greer would sketch it,cease to exist. Politicians are lawyers not engineers.
color it, mount it on illustration board, cover it with tissue,They don't understand technology.
package it, and have it delivered. The process I just2. Take responsibility for your job situation. Treat your
describes is known as the creation of camera readyjob as your business. You can't change something
artIn the new process Greer's client would requests aunless you assume responsibility for the results. Our
design, Greer would create the product using digitalparent and grandparents took responsibility when they
software and email the product back to theleft the farm or migrated to a new country.
client.Programs like Quark Express turned graphic3. Finally, never stop learning. When you stop learning
design into a commodity. Software gives everyoneis when you die. Your death my not physical but it is an
the same tools and allowed almost anyone the abilityemotional and intellectual death all the same.As Satchel
to create acceptable art work. I use a program callPage once said - don't look back they might be gaining
GIMP and it is free.Greer pushed himself up theon you.The untouchables never look back - they are
knowledge ladder and retooled his skill sets. Healways looking for the next way to provide greater
became the idea man. He would create the idea, drawvalue. If you are always providing value there is no
it out and email it to his clients and they would finish it.need to look back.