Gray Southon wrote:
> I sense in this discussion a tendency to equate "service" jobs with
> MacDonalds and Taco making. The implication being that "real" jobs are
> about technology and production.
>
> There seems to be a reluctance for many not to consider the whole area of
> professional service, information management industries which are now
> starting to dominate industry. These have special demands such as a high
> levels of specialisation, life-time committment to careers, some intrinsic
> problems with team processes, professional conservatism, external
> definition of standards, and great difficulty in establishing performance
> measures.
I agree with Gray. I work in the service industry, as a Network Engineer.
While there are repetitive aspects to my job, most of the time I'm
learning new stuff, and working to solve problems I've never seen before.
It is intense, intellectual work that keeps me so active I don't have time
to be bored.
And there are huge challenges -- and opportunities -- in my work for group
learning. I have yet to figure out an effective way of moving toward a
Learning Org. in my specific situation, but I keep at it.
I have never worked at a fast food joint, but after High School and into
college I worked as a Janitor -- another service industry. My job was to
strip & wax floors. Needless to say, even in that environment, there were
many wonderful learning opportunities. Anyone can strip & wax a floor; but
can they make it really shine? I worked very hard to be the best in the
business, and that meant I had to learn to do a better job than other
people. Learning, of a different sort, was as much a part of that job as
my current one.
As far as I'm concerned a real job is anything that requires effort, and
which pays money in for services rendered. I'd rather see a million people
working for a fast food joint than on welfare rolls.
I remember when I was in High School my neighbor, a single Mom, lost her
job. If I remember correctly it paid her $7.00 an hour. She was unemployed
for four or five months. She would turn down any job that was under $7.00
an hour. She felt she was worth more. She wanted a "real" job. . . when I
lost a business, and was unemployed for half a year, I did pick up work
for building contractors, and janitorial work in the evening so I could at
least pay my bills. I finally found the job I wanted, but all the work I
did in between was "real" work and a "real" job. . . and all of it
required learning.
As a society, I believe, we owe gratitude for every able person who is
willing to work. . .no matter what their salary, no matter what their job.
I have close friends who are lawyers, dentists, othrodontists, plastic
surgens, computer scientists, physicists, chemists, biologists,
geologists, disc jockeys, and sales clerks at Sears. I see no difference
between them; they're all my friends; they all have real jobs; and for any
one of them to succeed, they have to learn.
-- Ben Compton "Friends are the ornaments of life." E-Mail: bcompton@geocities.com Phone: (801) 222-6178 Fax: (801) 222-6993 Web: http://www.e-ad.com/ben/BEN.HTMLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>