Henry Ford started production on his Model T. The assembly line had been perfected using interchangeable parts. Now instead of taking four hours to build a car, Ford could do it in 93 minutes.
By increasing production, he could sell more cars.
Although the modern assembly line looks nothing like that of Ford's in 1913, there is one significant contribution.
Parts needed to be standardized.
Seems simple enough.
But the business world took this idea one step further over the next one hundred years.
Parts included people.
People needed to be standardized and interchangeable.
Ford started a revolution that was responsible for mass production, mass pollution and mass emotional abuse. Emotional abuse wasn't defined by our early 20th century ancestors. It's effects were only dissected as the civilization looked for more humanity in work and life.
The saying "Anyone can be replaced", puts a low value on people in business. People are cogs. They fill a need until someone else comes along filling that same need who is younger, cheaper or prettier.
Unions protect cogs. And in a cog filled world, we need unions.
The industrial revolution gave us this thinking.
But what if people weren't replaceable.
What if we valued the contribution of the employee to the point that they weren't interchangeable?
What's the value of a union when companies treat people like we're supposed to be treated?
To not be a cog is difficult.
It's hard for us who grew up being told to listen.
It's hard for us who were taught to respect authority.
It's hard for us who were taught to go to school, get good grades and get a good job.
It's not as hard for our children.
The information age is upon us. The ability to think, the ability to bring immense value is now the new irreplaceable employee.
Interchangeable employees will be used, abused and eventually tossed out, just like that inanimate nut that you can buy at the local hardware store.
Interchangeable employees were taught to listen, obey and to not be disruptive.
There will always be a need for cogs. Cogs can be bought anywhere. Cogs can be found offshore. Cogs will get cheaper and cheaper.
The future of cogs is bleak. There's no future in it.
The time for the irreplaceable employee is upon us. And our kids will benefit greatly from it.
With a background in finance and marketing, Rick Nicholson owned two highly successful restaurants before selling them to start a consulting business. His current company The Restaurant Ninjas provides tools to the foodservice industry to become more profitable. His book, "The Art of Restaurant Theft" can be downloaded for free at www.therestaurantninjas.com
You can subscribe to Rick's weekly email newsletter and his thoughts on business, life and everything in between at:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/
No comments:
Post a Comment