The Robots are Coming! (A Work-Related Post)

The robots are coming. In a lot of cases, they are already here.

No, not a T-800 Model 101 Terminator here to kill us all, but I do mean job-eliminating technology.

I use the terms interchangeably within this exploration, but I mean anything that has made something easier, faster, cheaper, etc., etc., etc.

The printing press gave monks more free time, the Model-T gave meant far fewer horses were needed for transportation and the mobile app means I don't need to stand in line to place my order at Starbucks and can more quickly get to the line I need to stand in to pick up my beverage.

Whenever I hear someone say "a computer can't do my job," I'm a little sad - very rarely is this really true, and more often than not, it means that person will be surprised when their job is replaced by automation (either a computer program or a robot).

If you say this around technically minded people, their response will be "challenge accepted!"

The printing press did not eliminate all books created by hand, the automobile did not replace all horse-drawn modes of transportation and the Starbucks app didn't replace the cashier.  But it has changed their jobs, it has reduced some work, reduced the number needed, and for the bookmakers, baristas and horse-owners (because the horses didn't really get a say), the end result has changed:

• hand-crafted books are a luxurious gift - but we don't buy them in large numbers, so the field will only employ a small number of people
• baristas have more time to give individual service to those who want it - but Starbucks needs fewer baristas
• horse-drawn carriages offer you a magical memory, even if now most trips go from point A to point A - but we need far fewer horses and horse-driver-guys (Google says "coachmen")
• computers can examine X-Rays and MRIs in greater detail with amazing speed
• forklifts allow large amounts of things to be moved safely and quickly
• robotic assembly lines build and paint cars
• computers can digest news articles and make financial trades on the stock market in less than a second
• email has dramatically increased the communication opportunities for the hearing impaired
• self-driving cars reduce the number of injuries and deaths AND provide more mobility options to those who can't (or don't want) to drive

So... what does this mean?

Your job may be at risk. But it's not time to panic.

You have several options before you:

1. Be really great at what you do.

Be so good that when your industry shrinks, your role survives because your customers demand it.

This means you're the barista they keep when they lay off several others that are no longer needed.

That means you create magical vacation plans that someone can't (or doesn't want to) do with a visit to Expedia.com.

That means you are creating the trends that didn't exist before, whether it's fashion or design or architecture.  (Be forewarned, you'll face some competition here still. Computers are getting better at prediction, but their work so far in journalism, screenwriting and fashion design is still in its infancy.)

2. Figure out how to eliminate your own job.

If you truly understand your role and how it fits into the organization you work for, then you know where things are suboptimal.  You know where improvements would make your life easier, allow you to do more, allow the work to fall to a lower-paid employee because the complexity has been eliminated.

If you can find the repeatable elements in your job, the critical decisions that can be codified into an algorithm or framework, the needless complexity that needs to be streamlined - then you are in the perfect position to start the process of eliminating your own job.

And in doing so, you may become "the guy that runs the robots." And maybe not just at your company, but maybe for as many companies as you have time to support.

Rarely is it your job to "stay in your little box and do your job" (and if it is, it's time to find a new job!) - no, your job is to "leave things better than you found them." Better, faster, stronger, smarter, safer, cheaper, more profitable, less polluting, more efficient, more resilient, empowering, accessible to more of the world... to name a few. Take your pick. Or invent your own.

Grow - because if you're not growing, you're dying.  And if you're just staying in your box, then maybe a robot should do your job. (Or at least that's what I said back in 2011.)

Now if the Starbucks at the grocery store near me would just get connected to the app.

(Cross-posted to LinkedIn.)