Book Review: Career Fear (and how to beat it)
Authored by Somi Arian
When I say, “Trust me, resistance is futile!” I really mean it. And Arian does too. She’s talking about the kind of resistance that might alleviate workplace fear of not having a job after the computers take over. When Ned Ludd became the poster child of resistance against industrialization, there was an entire segment of society named after him. But would we benefit as well? Probably not.
Jobs and careers end when industrialization, technology, and change refits the concept and take away the need for repetitive workers. Those jobs can be done by less intellectual beings, and often are. Thus, the concern for losing your job. If you’re in one of those replaceable jobs, you’re likely aware that you may need to move up, change competencies, or learn new skills. The chance of having the same job for forty years this day and age are unlikely. That plan went out with the last century, and businesses are only just now catching up with the trend.
When Henry Ford went from rags to riches on the backs of hard-working employees, there were no machines in his building. Just hard-working and skilled labor. Then along came the mechanization of mass production.
Skilled labor moved on to the next phase. Learning new skills. Some remained to operate the machinery. And then along came computers.
In today’s job market, there’s a whole new level of concern for career security.
I found some humor in the book. It was a pleasant read, particularly the part about left-brain vs. right-brain work. There’s this technical advantage when you’re right-brained (because you think more creatively, as opposed to the left brain analytical views), so entrepreneurs have an advantage. I have to agree with this. And she did explain it really well, even though I thought it was hilarious.
Arian touches on the influencer culture, the good parts, and the ugly parts. Her visual offers insight as to how these are projected into the jobs market and how they actually do influence the workplace. In her view, she recognizes corporate culture, startup culture, and move culture as a similar set of factors. Fame and celebrity have impacted our world, but I don’t know that they have a greater influence on the workplace, as she implies.
Even though the book was well-cited and there were long lists of resources at the end of each chapter, I believe a lot of her information is personal opinion. I saw this as a plus because it allows readers to get into the meat of the matter and actually seek their own responses to the solutions she offered. There’s some serious general discussion within the dynamics of the book. Those details offer solid foundational facts and breathe life into the opportunities that are visible once you begin to look for alternatives to closing down jobs. There are many options.
Even when the mechanical, or computerized technologies take over a good portion of jobs in any given market, there are plenty of options left. As with any concept sharing process, there are many unknowns. I would recommend reading this book because it offers many sides of the issues and encourages you to think about them.
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4 Stars.