If Automated Robots Took Your Job Today, What Would Your Next Move Be?

thefiscaltimes.com

(revised on 07.28.13 09:48 am)

Robots are slowly taking over the fast food restaurants and the other low paid labor places. ... We predicted that this trend of fast food eateries replacing their human workers 
with robots  in 2010.  

Do not be surprised if some of your favorite fast food eateries are preparing to use a conveyor belt type of machine to serve their products.  ... It was only a matter of time that the robots is going to play an important part of our economy.   ...

Cause and Effect
Protests and walkouts are taking place around the country where the fast food workers are "demanding" a "living wage" ($15/hr).  Some people have claimed that this action accelerated the adoption of this technology.  

The Perspective
Since the costs of health care and employees benefit are rising, the smart employers are beginning to think about the different ways to reduce costs. Implementing robotics and data automation are some of their current choices. Idealistically, it could begin by having a robot who can do the work of 10-20 employees, one employee to check on the performance of the robot's and a part time employee to maintain the operating standard of the robot.  

To be efficient, the smart employers are focused on being operationally efficient.

The negative side of most macro technological advances is that more jobs are being destroyed than the number of jobs that are created.  This is the after-effects of the zero-sum economy.

The robots and drones are also taking over other avenues of blue collar work. 

Automation Rules
According to Alibaba.com, going into 2013 78% of the 600 U.S. small business owners surveyed plan to automate to cut costs and streamline operations, 49% plan to create a new e-commerce website and 87% do not plan to hire additional employees. This tends to show that small business owners are seeking ways to operate within the difficult economic climate.

63% Expect the Economy to Remain Unchanged or Weaken Further
It would seem that with the majority of small business owners that were surveyed by Alibaba.com stating that they expect the economy to stay the same (33%) or worsen (30%) in 2013, that their optimism about their own business revenue for 2013 would suffer. But, that was not the case. Of the 600 small business owners that were surveyed, only 21% expect lower revenue, while 46% actually expect an increase in revenue (the remaining 33% are uncertain). This supports the reputation of small business owners and entrepreneurs being eternally optimistic and always looking for ways to make lemonade when given lemons.
Source: docstoc.com

Click here for more stats,  As mentioned before, this is the beginning of the end for the low end jobs. 

Before you decide to automate your business, spend some time assessing the configuration of your situation.  Identify the possible problems and the obstacles. Next, determine whether you have the resources to adjust to that specific situation. It would be a smart move on your part.

The After Effects
Think about it, when the utilization of machines becomes the operational norm of the working world, where would the "real" blue collar jobs be? ... Do you think that the economic value chain becomes shorter?

Connect this dot of information with this dot.  Continue the connection  process with this dot, this dot and this dot. Now, look at the Big Tangible Picture.

After identifying the specifics of your position, connect it to all of the above-mentioned dots. Finally, ask yourself, are you currently ahead or behind the "social-economic" curve?

Second Thoughts
What would happen to the non-English speaking immigrants who are seeking jobs?

The Compass Solution

To stay ahead of the "robotic and outsourcing" curve,  one focuses on becoming "innovative and inventive."  While being aware of one's own settings and beyond,  focus on one particular act of inefficiency and ask these two questions - can that task be optimized?  Based on the given data, what is the best approach for minimizing the timeline and the resources?

The other approach is to anticipate the inefficiency by others and to capitalize on it.

Stay centered, observe quietly and learn.  

Side Note

For specific strategic modeling, we utilized an exotic process model that integrates concepts and principles from Jiang Tai Gong, (the Father of Chinese Strategic Studies) Six Secret Teachings, Sunzi's AoW and other strategic essays. Jiang Tai Gong view of strategic development is quite different from Sunzi's Art of War.  It emphasizes that proper intelligence gathering enables the strategist to understand how the configuration of his strategic situation  operates from a top down perspective.

We will touch on that topic one day.

When the time comes, the successful strategists implement the hook, the line and the sinker.