It’s Natural Evolution, Not Disaster!

Today’s news is carefully following the potential failure of the American automobile industry. Automakers are faced with the challenge of major rethinking, redesign, restructuring and reinventing their business or facing a slow death. I am empathetic to the thousands of workers who may become innocent victims of a major industry change, but there are always new opportunities presented during times of upheaval.

The 20th Century has already undergone hundreds of major changes in various industries, businesses and occupations. Change is how we evolve and we must adapt to changing times, conditions and circumstances continually. There are a lot of reasons for hope and optimism.

Consider some of the major changes that occurred during the second half of the past century. The era of the small farm disappeared and the mega-farm and reorganized livestock operations emerged. The one-room schoolhouses that dotted the rural landscape grew into larger, more comprehensive schools in larger centers. Small town doctors, dentists and ministers became a vanishing breed. They did not disappear; they just adapted to the changing circumstances and survived in other settings

Many occupations succeeded in new ways. The services of the door-to-door milkman and ice-deliveryman have relocated to small convenience stores or large supermarkets. Mail delivery and the newspaper may soon be a thing of the past but they will reappear in the form of online computer services. The drive-in movie theater has disappeared but the movie business continues to thrive via the take home DVD. Old jobs or industries adapt and evolve. Only if the challenge to change is not accepted will an industry die.

These opportunities are without a doubt very challenging and stressful. There are no guarantees and no clear blueprints anymore. The most difficult aspect will be developing a new way of thinking or exploring potential prospects. We must break out of some of our traditional ways of thinking and doing things, and become far more creative and inventive.

Two things are certain. The automobile industry will not disappear but it will emerge with a different face and a different structure. The kinds of cars, the size of cars, the operating system of the car and the marketing of cars will all be different in the future. It is a form of natural evolution, not an automatic disaster!