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Ode to the Boll
Weevil
by Jean Houston Shore, CSP, CPA,
MBA
Copyright 2007
"Research what other
"career crops" might grow in the soil of your skills, talents, and
experiences."
I have never liked bugs, spiders,
or other creepy crawly things. So when the group of financial services
professionals with whom I recently shared a banquet table told me that their
hometown had built a marble statue honoring a vermin, I was shocked. Why, I
thought, would anyone want to honor the boll weevil? After
all, in many sections of the country, especially in those areas where cotton is
a major source of income, the boll weevil larvae has destroyed fortunes year
after year.
A LADY WITH A WEEVIL ON HER HEAD
In Enterprise, Alabama, however,
they look at things differently. You see, prior to 1915, Enterprise was a town
that cotton built. Each year, families throughout the community borrowed money,
bought seed, tilled the ground, prayed for rain and hoped for a good healthy
harvest at the end of their efforts. But the summer of 1915 was not a good one
for Enterprise. Infected seed and a resurgence of the boll weevil devastated
the tiny community. Everyone was touched in some way. The next year, the close
knit town began to rebuild. But instead of simply wondering, "How will we keep
next year's cotton crop from being eaten by the weevils?", or "How will we
afford the new pesticides?", or "What about my farm equipment loan?", the
townspeople and farmers were proactive. They asked instead, "What else could we
grow besides cotton?" Their research helped them see that indeed, soybeans,
corn, and especially peanuts were likely to thrive in the humid climate. So in
the years following, the area farmers diversified. They took all of their eggs
out of a single basket (cotton) and hedged their bets with other crops not
subject to boll weevil evil. And they prospered!
Members of the city council wanted
to remember the lesson they had learned about risk. So they commemorated the
town's agricultural revolution by erecting a monument to the boll weevil, a
"statue of liberty" type lady with a larger-than-life weevil on her head. What
a lesson and what a sight!
When it comes to managing your
career in this volatile economy, we do well to watch out for weevils. For us,
weevils come in the form of new technological breakthroughs that make
our old skill set obsolete. Has anyone worked with keypunched cards or WordStar
lately? Maybe a new competitor moves into your area and threatens your
organization's comfort zone. In the healthcare industry, this is happening all
over the United States. The mergers and acquisitions weevil might also
strike, and the requisite consolidation and downsizing sequence inevitably
follows.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT WEEVILS
When weevils come, we have two
choices. One choice is status quo. We can keep trying to grow the same career
crop (stay in a similar job function) but invest in career pesticides designed
to combat future weevils.( I am not sure what "pesticide" can keep technology
from changing, can stop your competitors, or can eliminate mergers and
acquisitions!)
THE ENTERPRISE APPROACH
The other choice is to take the
Enterprise, Alabama, approach. Here are some things you can do right now if you
want to follow their lead:
- Proactively research what other
"career crops" might grow in the soil of your skills, talents, and experiences.
- Talk to others who have made
successful career changes and find out their secrets, long before you are faced
with weevils of your own.
- Make a list of your
"transferable skill blocks." These are building block skills and experiences
that can be used outside your current industry.
- Network. Network. Network. The
successful person is the one who knows where to find the answers to their
questions.
- Put your resume together then
switch roles and critically assess whether you would hire you!
- Make a list of the technologies
you believe will most affect your industry in the future. Then, honestly rate
your own competence on each technology.
- Learn how to recognize career
weevils. Don't let yourself be taken by surprise.
- Invest time in yourself and your
career monthly (at least). Don't forget - you are your product! Make sure you
stay marketable.
- Adopt a positive attitude about
change. Let your sense of adventure conquer your sense of fear.
If you put these ideas in place and
continue to monitor the health of your career crop, you will have implemented
an effective weevil management program. With a little luck and some help from
your friends, you will find that when the weevils come you may wobble but you
won't fall down!
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