It doesn’t matter who you are! It doesn’t matter how old you are! It doesn’t matter where you live! It doesn’t matter who you work for! It doesn’t matter what business you’re in! It doesn’t matter how large or small your business is! It doesn’t matter what products and/or services you offer! It doesn’t matter how successful you’ve been in the past!

You’re about to experience more change in the next few years than you have in your entire lifetime. Constant change is the new dynamic of the global economy and makes agility even more necessary than at any point in business history.

Take a look at this video, and if you’re not shocked by the content, you’d better view it again. In fact, my guess is you’ll want to see it again regardless. This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence.

 
Boards, leadership, middle-managers, front-line staff, vendors, consultants, and parents had better take heed of the messages you’ll find here and begin to plan and prepare to deal with them!

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Apparently, the recession denied by Washington may have somewhat of a silver lining … at least for women. It appears that women are on the verge of out-numbering men in the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. This will occur due to the long-term changes in women’s roles at a time when men are suffering massive job losses from coast to coast.

Consider the following details provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• In mid-summer, there were 132 millions jobs in the U.S.
• At that time, in June, women held 49.83% of those jobs.
• Women are gaining the vast majority of jobs in the few sectors of the economy that are growing.
• The Bureau is predicting that women will become the majority in late October or early November.

Obviously, these facts are far from showing full equality.

• Women still work fewer hours than men.
• Women hold more part-time jobs than men.
• Men still dominate higher-paying executive ranks.
• And the fact I’ll never understand is that women currently earn 77% of what men make!

The scales have tipped considerably due to the major blow suffered by the construction and manufacturing industries. So far men have lost 74% of the 6.4 million jobs erased by the recession that we’re not having.

Men have lost more than 3 million jobs in construction and manufacturing alone.

The few areas of the economy that are still growing—health care, education, and government—have traditionally hired mostly women. Here’s another major influence in this gender transformation as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• The local governmental workforce of 14.6 million people (hard to believe that number, isn’t it?) have cut 86,000 men from the payrolls this year while adding 167,000 women.

This equality in workforce numbers has been coming for quite some time. It’s a long-term cultural change that’s been moving far too slowly. It’s going to be quite interesting to see what evolves during the coming months as Washington continues to fall short on their promise of an economic recovery in the near future.

While it’s nice to see more balance in the workforce as far as numbers, we still can’t rest until both men and women receive equal pay for equal work! It’s too bad it took a recession to get the wheels turning, but it often takes a Significant Emotion Event for us to SEE the error of our ways. Let’s hope we’ve learned a lesson!

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

It had to happen. We just didn’t think it would be so soon. Shortly after General Motors became “Government Motors,” the wheels began to turn. (Get it?)

Consider the myriad issues facing GM after the events of the past year. Who, in the midst of this chaos, took time out of his or her challenging agenda to ponder the possibility that the general public would be interested in an automotive fragrance? After all, how many people do you know who immediately think “cologne” when they hear the name of General Motors?

This is not a joke. Well, it may end up being a joke, but GM is dead serious about offering what it calls “Cadillac Fragrance” for men. It has licensed a company, Beauty Contact, Inc. (a Dubai-based cosmetic company), to create a cologne which is “at once bold and sporty, yet luxurious and refined.” I know that’s what I always look for.

This new Cadillac cologne is described as having a real “guy” smell, composed with top notes of grapefruit and chamomile; middle notes of geranium, tarragon and cinnamon, and a dry-out of ebony, sweet spice, vetiver and incense. Do you think that’s happy talk for “a whiff of gasoline or the aroma of burning rubber”? With that many ingredients it sounds as though they’re going to have to package it in a keg rather than a bottle!

This unique mixture is said to “pay tribute to the opulence and extravagance of past eras, as well as the luxury and ease of today.” The line includes a spray, aftershave lotion, deodorant stick, and hair and body wash. Some products will come in translucent glass bottles with sleek metal caps. The retail price for a 100 millilitre bottle of the eau de toilette fragrance will be $73. GM plans to launch the Cadillac line in stores this fall to mark the Cadillac’s 100th anniversary.

This certainly sounds like government thinking, doesn’t it? I wonder if GM will take trade-ins or if it will come with a 50,000 mile warranty?

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve heard it in various forms all our lives.

• There is nothing permanent except change.
• Change alone is unchanging.
• Change is the only constant.
• If you don’t create change, change will create you.
• When you’re finished changing, you’re finished!

If you were to take the time to sit down and create a list of the changes we witness on a regular basis, it would seem endless. To name a few, the list would include family, friends, health, career, finances, daily activities, business, products, services, trends, insights, politics, technology, and the weather. Obviously, that list would go on and on.

To many people this is a frightening and daunting phenomenon, as most of us crave stability. However, stability is an illusion as we face new paradigms almost daily. Sadly, there are more people today who are more frightened of failing than they are anxious to make the necessary changes required to survive and thrive in our current chaotic environment.

This new feature will bring you some of the more recent changes, large and small, occurring in today’s headlines … examples of people and organizations attempting to survive and thrive by using change as a strategy for success rather than an excuse for failure.

Let’s start with something we’re all familiar with—Coca-Cola.

I guess you can expect most anything today. The soft-drink king is apparently attempting to get into the milk business. Yes, MILK. COKE is currently test marketing a sweetened fizzy milk beverage called “VIO.”

It’s made with sparkling water, a hint of skimmed milk, fruit flavoring and cane sugar. While it may sound slightly nauseating to some, Coke assures us that the milk won’t curdle in its aluminum bottle. The 8 oz. bottle, selling for $2.49, is available in four flavors: Citrus Burst, Peach Mango, Very Berry, and Tropical Colada.

The new drink is currently being distributed to over 200 retailers in the New York City area. Although the fizzy milk may be new to the States, Coke has been successfully selling a similar product, called “Ooo” in Japan since the late 1990s.

Be daring, take a risk, move out of your comfort zone, give it a shot—then let me know how that goes!

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.