Comments on: Ghosts of the Economy-Quiet Casualties of this Silent War

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:23:06 +0000

Rick, thanks for the encouragement. You are absolutely right…this is a time to understand and leverage the forces at play. I’ll stand behind my opening comment, in spite of the discomfort of the broader circumstances, I am a glass is half full person and believe that your “adult responses” are within our grasp. Thanks for jumping in. -Art

By: Rick Pennington

Rick Pennington — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:14:44 +0000

This post, perhaps better than any other I’ve read recently, captures the essence of what I am seeing. Your statement – “After the ability to make is gone, the ability to create begins to fade.” I believe it rings eerily true and is what worries me the most. Change is inevitable and constant. We collectively must figure out how to embrace changes and work them to our advantage. I believe “ghosting” forces are in play and they will require some real adult responses to exorcise.

Art – I enjoy your thoughtful posts. Keep them coming.

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:48:39 +0000

Monica, thanks for adding in the “beyond the U.S.” flavor to this important topic. I wish you were experiencing something different, but I believe this is a world issue. You and the many other comments have spurred me on to follow up with my optimistic side…”How to Avoid Becoming a Ghost.” -Art

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:35:48 +0000

I get that chill up my spine, Art, every time I think that having so many professional, capable ghosts is a social problem we have never faced before. Here in Mexico things are not much different as you express in this article. The coffeshops just as full, the ghosts all around. But these are not the unemployed of the past, these are the very people that our society looked up to and labeled as successful a year or two ago. What will it do to a country, to a world to have its more able minds idle? Not to mention what it is doing to the corporate world to have no experienced staff on board. I, too, am an incurable optimist…but the chill down my spine still haunts me at times. Thanks for your always thoughtful posts, especially for this one.

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:47:17 +0000

Greg, I recall your post well and I encourage readers to check it out as well as your other great content. My occasional lapse into Randian philosophy gets me in hot water with a few readers…and that is a good thing as well. Too much nice nice on this site and we’ll all go home. Thanks for the encouragement and for your link! I agree on the movement. -Art

By: Greg Strouse

Greg Strouse — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:41:08 +0000

I’m not unhappy to see the darker Art Petty. I am feeling a movement under foot and I hope it gains proper momentum and doesn’t just fade away from frustration and apathy.

Your Atlas Shrugged reference is an important one and needs to be the catalyst for movement.

I used AS as a springboard last year in a post. http://executiveondemand.blogspot.com/2008/08/greg-shrugged.html

Keep up the good (and important) work.

Greg

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:38:17 +0000

Mike, always great to hear from you! I love your wording…”ideas in this process no longer belong to your company, but end up in the minds & hands of the outsourced firm.”

This situation reminds me that if something seems too good to be true…it probably is.

Thanks for jumping in! -Art

By: Mike O'Brien

Mike O'Brien — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:34:34 +0000

Great topic today…and one that strikes home. I’ve seen firsthand the pressure of managing product lines that are getting blitzed by competitors who are attacking on price. The competitive squeeze quickly softens the corporate view on off shore mfg and eventually development to embrace the opportunity to restore the once robust, now quickly eroding margins. One of the byproducts as pointed out is the loss of innovation through the “hands on” aspect of building and assembly. It can greatly reduce the ideas to improve or reduce cost by engineering design improvement for your company, and push it more to finding ways to lower material or labor costs. The point is, ideas in this process no longer belong to your company but end up in the minds & hands of the outsourced firm.

It is easy to get caught up in your own micro environment and see the quick value of pushing projects overseas. Taking a step back and seeing the sobering effects of a mass exodus of labor & production really changes the outlook. What is good for today, is not necessarily good for tomorrow!

By: Art Petty

Art Petty — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:57:49 +0000

Fred, thanks for kicking off what I hope will be a lively and beneficial discussion. You’ve clearly observed the impact of the “commons” issue first-hand and have seen that it is real, not mythical. The question is can the variables in this “economics experiment” that you very eloquently describe, be impacted and the trend changed?

Thanks for your thoughtful observations! -Art

By: Fred H Schlegel

Fred H Schlegel — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:50:43 +0000

We’ve been running one of the highest stake experiments in the history of economics and the end-point hasn’t been reached yet. The ‘commons’ idea is a strong warning signal, one that I wish had been noted before. As smaller companies I work with have outsourced mfg overseas, first the ‘making’ jobs went but quickly many of the ‘design’ jobs went as well. The small company’s transformation from manufacturer to import marketing firm reduces it’s ability to drive innovation (becomes a game of hiring and requesting designs from others). Your suggestions are interesting and I particularly believe in the issue of basic and applied research. New technologies offer a more likely road to building a new mfg. infrastructure than trying to reclaim past golden ages.