I sent the link to the New York Times article below out via Twitter early last Friday morning in between two seemingly unrelated conversations, one on Thursday and the other on Friday:
For a New Generation, an Elusive American Dream- http://nyti.ms/bqIQUl - Create a New Dream by Training #Employees to be #Entrepreneurs #CEO
Apparently, 140 characters is not enough space for me to weigh in on this subject, hence this foray into more than just micro-blogging.
On Thursday evening over wine and Saratoga Water at Creo, I mentioned to John Stahl how much the article struck me: that the young man in the article hadn't been able to find a career job since graduating in 2008, and that unlike his father and grandfather who both secured career-long jobs after some brief initial networking and job-search, this third-generation son's road to employment would be much more challenging due to the current economy. Instead of wringing my hands about the recession in harmony with that article (my 5th recession, I think, since my childhood), I was energized by the opportunity to shake the employee paradigm a bit.
"Clearly, we need to train our current and future workforce to be both employees and entrepreneurs, to build ultimate resiliency and creativity no matter what the economy serves up," I asserted. "I've been on both sides of the layoff table during several visits to the Recession Rodeo, and I'm grateful that I've learned not only to earn a living as a consultant and an HR Director, but more importantly, that I'm the source of the money, whether I'm working as an employee or a vendor." I also asserted to John, in the spirit of full disclosure, how difficult it was at times to detox from the employee Kool-Aid to authentically support that assertion, which for me was especially compounded by my chosen profession upholding and investing in the organizational employment structure as a double-dip in the stuff. Nonetheless, the journey and the learning have been invaluable in both arenas.
"Of course," John agreed. "But remember: the whole employee paradigm is a product of the industrial revolution. 100 years ago or so, our ancestors all worked for themselves: farming, running a store, etc. We just need to remember our roots."
The second conversation was with my dad, up from Florida on his annual visit to see my son Noah, his only grandchild. As we usually do, talk turned to family history as we waited for what thankfully turned into a pleasant dinner at The Barnsider after a rocky start. "Do you know what your grandmother's name was?" (Dad's grandfather's name was Davis, according to the scant paperwork we possess, including a colorful Last Will and Testament leaving only $5 each to his two daughters, "for reasons that they know full well.") "No, I don't," Dad replied, "She died long before I was born."
Curiosity piqued, I started Googling on Saturday morning, with no results. I then broke down and opted for a trial membership on Ancestry.com. Jackpot in both the 1900 and 1910 census records: Davis and Katie (interesting name for a nice Jewish girl from Russia) had 6 children including my grandfather Joseph, whom I had never met.
More fascinating still was connecting the dots on their immigration and entrepreneurial journey - here's how the two conversations dovetailed, not without coincidence. Davis arrived first in 1891 to find safer haven from the Russian pogroms. Katie and their older 4 children (including the later outcast daughters Sarah and Lena) followed in 1896. The 1900 census documents them all speaking English as their main language a few short years later (Where in contrast, even after 6 years of studying French, I have retained none of it), and that Davis sold clothing. The 1910 census clearly documents the progression of Davis' entrepreneurial success: "Operator of Clothing Store." What great nuggets to uncover!
I was thrilled to discover yet another family entrepreneur. After losing her husband in the 1918 swine flu epidemic, my great-grandmother Rose opened up a sewing and knitting notions shop to support her two young sons. Her older son, my granddaddy Nat, started his career at the age of 11, learning his trade as an electrician, which was interrupted by the 1929 economic crash. He and my grandma Betty (with my infant Aunt Marilyn in tow) had to go live with their respective mothers for a time to wait out the economic storm. He subsequently retired after 53 years of service from the same company, and saved and invested more than enough to keep my grandma Betty well-supported for more than 20 years after he passed, until her own death.
I've read recently that through natural selection, we are the descendants of the most resilient prehistoric humans who survived near-extinction-level events - earthquakes, floods, ice ages, disease, famines, you name it. Yet here we are. A bit distant however, and too cold a comfort to reassure me.
But Davis, Rose and Nat, and we who are blessed to be their children and grandchildren, are a warmer and more recent touchstone of the true potential of our own creativity: documentary proof of how infinitely and resiliently, that we are the source of our own wealth -- financially, physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
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