Living in More Than One World

Although it was written for a journalism-related readership, I think any knowledge worker can gain valuable insights from a guest column I wrote this week for the website 21st News, Lessons Learned from Peter Drucker: A Guide For the Future. It’s partly a personal look at how I have been living and applying some of the principles in my forthcoming book, Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, before and after my layoff last December from USA TODAY. But it is mainly a short guide to how people can apply some of the principles in their own lives, based around five areas: teaching, continuous learning, mentoring, volunteering and reflecting. I pointed out Drucker’s stellar journalism credentials: besides his many books, he contributed for many years to such publications as The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic Monthly, Forbes, Harvard Business Review and many others. He embodied high-minded achievement, delivered with integrity. He was the kind of role model that knowledge workers can emulate if they are working or not working, looking for a new job or thinking of changing professions. 21st News describes itself as  “a comprehensive Web site about the future of journalism and the news business.” The guest column was for Grant’s Angle, the blog by the site’s founder and editor, Grant Perry. Judging from his bio, he is a great example of being multidimensional and living in more than one world. I’m grateful for the opportunity he provided me to contribute to his site.

Tony Dobrowolski of The Berkshire Eagle reports in his article Workshop addresses job-loss stress on an intriguing three day program in June at the Kripalu center for yoga & health, in Stockbridge, Mass. It’s called Transformation: From Surviving Job Loss to Thriving, and will be focused on the kinds of thinking and mind-body awareness skills that are crucial to dealing properly with the loss of a job. These skills are also important for the transition into the unknown territory of deciding what to do with the rest of your life. And of course the latter represents only one step, as big and important as it is, as this decision will have to be balanced against reality. It will be interesting to see if the blend of yoga, meditation, life coaching and other techniques can be a model for others who are on, or will soon be on, this difficult life journey.

More people, especially those of us who have recently been laid off, may have freelance contracting for knowledge work in our future, according to Sarah E. Needleman’s article Negotiating the Freelance Economy, in today’s Wall Street Journal. It points out the sobering fact that not just full time, but temporary work opportunities are also less available than a year ago. Hence the increased popularity of sites such as elance.com, odesk.com, guru.com and sologig.com. Needleman also does a good job of pointing out some of the practicalities and possible pitfalls of working this way. In a similar vein, see the May 4 report by Jessica Dickler in CNNMoney.com, Freelance is the new full-time.
From the employer’s perspective, check out Ryan Underwood’s article in the May Inc. magazine, Technology: Finding Freelance Programmers, and the sidebar Coding Made to Order.

To those of us in the challenging position of being laid off (and for others who might have a similar fate in the near future), the ongoing Wall Street Journal blog Laid Off And Looking makes for interesting reading. It contains valuable insight into the personal aspects of the job search and interview processes. Even though it follows a group of M.B.A.s who have been laid off recently, you don’t have to be an M.B.A. (employed or otherwise) to benefit from this blog. Today’s post, Coping with Isolation While at Home, is about the contrast between being alone at home during a layoff, versus the social interaction you previously experienced in the workplace. The first person accounts have some success stories too, of people who have found jobs.

CNBC has an interesting feature on rethinking the work you do, balancing the possible benefits of change with practicalities.

One of the main concepts articulated by Peter Drucker to me in an interview in 2005 is that by maintaining diverse activities, interests and personal relationships, you have a cushion when life deals you a setback. As I was completing my book, that’s just what happened to me, when I was laid off by USA TODAY in December, after working there for 21 years. Had I not been working on the book, and preparing for its publication this coming August, the setback could have been a lot worse.

Many more of us will be in a similar position in the next couple of years, and job-hunting and resume writing is only part of what’s going to be needed to maintain a sense of self, purpose, mission and goals. Whether or not a new, desirable job is around the corner, some activities may help people in these situations. Among them are personal reinvention, volunteering, tutoring, looking into becoming a social entrepreneur (or working with existing social entrepreneurs) and sharing your talents (such as a lawyer doing pro bono work). One of the things underpinning this is the ability and willingness to engage in regular, honest self-reflection.

Many religious institutions need volunteers, especially in teaching, and you don’t have to be an experienced teacher to qualify. Another area in the book discusses parallel careers, which in my case, for the past 13 years, has been teaching. It’s been another lifesaver for me. What can you offer to the world, whether or not you have a fulltime job? Can you help other people who are in the same situation? One of the things I learned from Drucker is that you should focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t do. This is important as we try to maintain a sense of self-respect, self-esteem and personal/professional identity. And it’s not easy; I still tend to refer to USA TODAY in conversation as “We…” Not many people have 100% job security. What may be required of all of us is to rethink our lives to reimagine what is possible, inside and outside of the work world. How many worlds are you living in, and how many more could you enter?