I am advocating for a dynamic, engaged, productive, and compensated workforce in the United States of America. Albert Einstein, a definitive outside-the-box kind of observer, noted that “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” When it comes to current economic circumstances in the USA, “the same kind of thinking” is driving the punditry and noise-disguised-as-insight about that we don’t make things and that global trade is inevitable and that working people somehow created this condition. All of this distracts from producing relevant and useful options or scenarios that would inspire action.

We, the workforce of the 21st century United States, are a generally educated, intelligent, and dynamic bunch. We get – at a visceral level – the forces that affect a global economy, consequently, ourselves and the companies and organizations where we work (or don’t as the case may be). Yet I get the sense that there remains a19th century mind-set of “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” still being practiced about work and the workplace. Our capacity to trust or count on leadership, be it of business, politics (NOT a dirty word, in fact, the word denotes ‘citizen’,) or virtually any of our traditional institutions, is irreparable. There isn’t enough duct tape and baling wire in FEMA to rescue it.

That is where the opportunity is exposed. Respect and dignity of people need to be foundational attributes of the workplace in order to participate in a still-taking-shape economy of this century. Working people need to be partners in the decisions that affect us and we need to get smart and assertive about this.

This is not an effort to seek and lay blame. That is not to say that identifying practices and perceptions that don’t work and are ineffective and counter-productive will be avoided. To the contrary, it is acknowledgement that working people can no longer afford to look to or wait for individuals in traditional leadership positions to figure it out without our participation.

I don’t have THE answer. In the words of Douglas Adams’ omniscient computer Deep Thought: “I think the problem, to be quite honest with you is that you’ve never actually known what the question was.” This is one person’s attempt to formulate compelling and meaningful questions, less about how to create jobs than to address how to create workplaces that are consistent with the economy that exists – and is likely to exist throughout the next 25-50 years.

Please stay tuned.