The Birds and The Bees
The average professional is at risk of underemployment. Why? According to Cal Newport's book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, there are three categories of professionals with undoubted advantages in employment: those who can work well with increasingly advanced and complex machines (the bees), those who are the absolute best at what they do (the birds), and those with access to capital (the sharks).
Of course, let's address the elephant in the room: what about machines? Ever-evolving technology allows employers to choose more efficient, lower-cost machines to replace the average worker. What happens when only a human can complete the job? Thanks to advancing communications technologies, companies can also remotely outsource the most vital roles to top professionals, rather than relying on local talent. Let's face it: most of us aren't sitting on a pile of cash and there isn't a simple formula to provide us with the amount of capital it would take to become the money sharks of the world.
"Hearing a succession of mediocre singers does not add up to a single outstanding performance."
-Sherwin Rosen
Bees are extremely collaborative and adapt well to working in their environments. These are the high-skilled workers of our economy: the people who not only work well with advancing technologies but also create highly-valued results from these machines. How does the average professional become more proficient with advancing technologies? The worker bees of our economy also started as the average professional but developed the ability to quickly master hard things, such as adapting to changing technology. The bees must continuously evolve with technology to remain the valuable high-skilled workers they are.
Birds, though often underestimated in terms of intelligence, are actually shown to be rather smart. The birds of our economy are the stars of their fields and are the best at what they do. Due to advancements in communications technologies, companies have the opportunity to employ the best professionals over their local talent pool. Newport offers an example in his book: in a market where performers are ranked by the value of their skills, the consumer will always choose the best. Even when the second-best performers are only slightly less skilled than the top performers, consumers will vie for the very best.
Much like the bees, the birds also earned their keep by learning to quickly and repeatedly master hard concepts. However, simply understanding these concepts isn't sufficient and this knowledge must be molded into tangible, highly-valuable results. Newport phrases it best, "If you don't produce, you won't thrive - no matter how skilled or talented you are." Birds are incredibly intelligent. Bees are resourceful and work well in their environment. Which are you?