Recently I heard a member of Congress bemoaning the fact that technological advances kill jobs. In fact, he pointed to the iPad as an example of a culprit. You know, he is right! Every day someone comes up with a better and cheaper way to do something, and often a job is lost. That may be true of automation, out-sourcing, or using an Excel spreadsheet or the Internet to do what used to be done by a person.
Since technology does kill jobs, the key is on which side do we want to align ourselves. Do we want to be on the side of creating ways to do things that serve the customers better and do it more efficiently? Or, do we want to sit on our hands and complain on how the jobs are drying up or going overseas?
Creative people and organizations figure ways to create new and different jobs as part of the evolutionary process. Yes, they understand that some jobs will go, but others will be created and the economy will move forward. After all, there aren't nearly as many people manufacturing buggy whips now that the automobile is around. It's our choice. Do we sit around and try and protect the buggy whip jobs, or do we embrace technology and join the creative culture? I know that I'm going for the creative way.
