Are You Just Another Cog In The Machine?

By Ange Fonce

The cornerstone of the industrial revolution was the simple idea that management could dramatically increase productivity by buying machines that did what they were told... were cheap... cost effective and efficient.

Although I do question the "efficient" bit... many a time I have been left a quivering... frustrated wreck dealing with a machine that was supposed to make life easier... and if I had used simple "old fashioned" technology... i.e... pen and paper would have got the job done in half the time. 

And as we have moved more to service based economies... machines cannot handle much of that kind work... yet ... people still do... that is of course when you ACTUALLY get to meet them... interactive virtual technology is already here!

Your options are... "bugger"

Please enter your code... "help MEEEEEEE!"

You may now select from the following options... "let me hear a "HUMAN voice... pleeeease!!!"

Sorry I did not understand that... please re-enter you information.... "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!... f69king machine!"

"Please... please let me talk to one of those squishy things called a Human Being?" 

As you go round and around... stuck in a loop in an automated virtual telephone service or put on "hold" some where out there in cyber space?

I am sure there are many of you who can "relate" to that short tate a tate... and I dread to think what it is going to be like "talking" to a "virtual receptionist?"

I am sure in the not to distant future there is going to be a lot of dead virtual people... you kinda like think twice with the REAL thing... virtual... hmmmm... your dead you bitch... it will be an irony that virtual people will have REAL HUMAN BEING security! 

And the worst thing is you are paying "premium rate" for the privilege of talking to a machine... it is almost a relief when you get to talk to an ill mannered adolescent with an "attitude" problem... and if they are nice and polite... HELPFUL... HUMAN... you want to make love with them... as you sob with unabashed gratitude.

I thought of this the other day as I got yet another telemarketing call... this one from the local Yellow Pages... the caller, when pressed, admitted he was calling me from India... where a few years back it would have been from a call centre here in the UK.

I spoke to him for a while and then his supervisor... they were both risking their job though... because everything they did was ruled by the script... follow the script or lose your job... follow the script or see your pay docked... follow the script or you do not get a good commission.

What so many people in the UK... USA and Europe do not realize is that their jobs are being scripted... relentlessly... and once they are scripted... why exactly should the boss keep paying you? 

There is someone cheaper... in a beautiful country with a low cost of living and cheap labour who can follow your script instead of you.

This is the unwritten headline of our post industrial service economies... if your job is not "creative... interactive" or local... it is probably going to go away to another land where it can be done at a cheaper rate. 

And now there is the DIGITAL WORLD ... offshore software programmers charge by the line... and the boss does not have to meet them or give them benefits... like pension funds and insurance. 

Just because you can code...call... file... process or type does not mean you are secure. 

The internet is making the world a GLOBAL MARKET PLACE and you are now competing with the worker from India... China... Africa... Russia... as well as the competition closer to home.

The winners are going to be the bosses so quick become a boss... specially your own boss... and the "confident"... risk taking "creative" individual types... who can adapt and change fast... and of course the builders and engineers... that and the man with a jack hammer on your local street corner... roads will always need digging up... some forms of manual labour will always be in fashion.

This is great news for people willing to work... especially those with talent and a local economy with a low cost of living... and of course... they are not safe either... because there is always someone willing to take their place once they become too expensive... and that will eventually become a machine.

I think the Internet is a fine thing... it makes the world a smaller... better and more prosperous place and gives you access to a world wide market... and also more competition!

Although when you woke up this morning... that probably was not the first thing on your mind. 

You were worried about your favourite person... YOU!

So... what should you do now... before it is too late. 

Realize one basic truth... 

Safe is Risky.

Safe no longer exists in the DIGITAL WORLD.

And being a Cog means you do not take risks. 

And general purpose cogs that have no "value" and only serve a useful "purpose" to anothers machine... are the first ones to go.

You can be replaced by a "cheaper" general purpose cog in another part of the world.

So ensure you become a "valuable... indispensable... multi functioning... multi talented" cog that serves a "purpose" and is off "great value" to others.

The days of being a "one trick" wonder are numbered... unless you are a highly skilled and very talented "craftsmen" or "expert"... that "produces great value."

The MACHINE is now World Wide!

And the Intelligent Machine is on its way... NOW!

Thank you and may you enjoy a Prosperous and Dynamic day!

Yours Sincerely


Ange is an  Author... Speaker... and Dynamic Peak Performance Personal Development Consultant... and Humanistic Counselling Psychologist and Sexologist... who works with men and women who desire to "personally develop" themselves and their "relationships" to become Dynamic Lifers... "creators" of their own "life" and "wealth!" 

To CONTACT Ange CLICK HERE



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