K.E.E.N. | The Fourth Revolution Blog

Transforming from Employee to Entrepreneur: better do it in two stages!

As I am currently transforming from ‘Employee’ to ‘Self-Employed’, which is not an easy moment, I now realize there is a further wide gap between ‘Freelancer’ and ‘Entrepreneur’! That’s quite a lot to overcome!

As Seth Godin clearly defines,

“A Freelancer is someone who gets paid for working.That means, the more you work, the more you get paid.

An Entrepreneur gets paid while they sleep. They build a business bigger than themselves, and she gets paid even if she is not there”

Right. That’s clear. I want to be an Entrepreneur. So how do I avoid, in effect, to be a Freelancer?

Now the difficulty is that when you start a consulting company like me, in a more or less bootleg fashion, you effectively start as a Freelancer. I am right now preparing to start my company, discussing some potential contracts: at the beginning, people hire you because they know you and what value you can bring to their organization. They would even like to get 100% of your time and attention! Yet, I definitely want to build a real consulting company with a brand, products, scalable activity, leveraging on the different talents of people working in an organization. So, at some stage I definitely want to transform as an Entrepreneur.

what's moving in there?

I have chosen to be an Entrepreneur. Yet, I now know I will need to go through the stage of the Freelancer and resist the temptation to stay in the relative comfort of the situation to move further.

That’s not going to be easy. It will require relentlessly working on the brand and on designing scalable products. Effective scalability will ultimately be the test of entrepreneurship.

There is a gap between Employee and Freelancer. It is mainly a psychological gap; I am right now going through it and it is not fun every day (see the post “Beyond Fear“). There is still another between Freelancer and Entrepreneur. It is a scalability gap. It will also not be easy.

I have decided that instead of dealing with everything at the same time, it is probably better to tackle these two gaps one after the other. That’s what I have decided to do – so I’ll look for Freelancer-type projects in the first six months, keeping them less than full-time – keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is that of an Entrepreneur.

What do you think? Is that the best strategy?

We can’t change against our identity. Change your identity first!

We can change. We should change. But we can’t change against our identity.

We can’t change against this identity which we have developed, voluntarily or involuntarily, over the years.

This identity, which currently defines ourselves in society. This identity, which we like or not, which sticks to us.

It is extremely hard to try to change against our identity. The effort is tremendous, because we not only fight against ourselves, we fight against our environment, which does not understand why suddenly we take actions that do not fit with our identity.

For successful, profound changes; for easier deep change, there is only one solution. Change your identity first. Change that reflection of yourself. Step out of the conventional identity associated with your career, evolve and create your new identity.

Then, only, change.

How can you do that? There is an extreme solution: travel 10,000km away in the middle of people who don’t know you, or engage yourself in the Foreign Legion, and create a new identity. That’s a bit extreme and time consuming. A softer solution is to start progressively shaping a new identity by engaging in some less conventional practices, and evolving the type of people you mingle with.

We all crave for change but not a lot of us succeed. Start by modifying your identity to prepare for your fundamental change. When do you start?

Stop misinterpreting the curves showing a relative decrease in salaries!

It does not happen too often to me, but right now I am upset that statistics are being misinterpreted.

In these times of crisis, of 99 percent movement, of demonstrations against the financial and corporate world, numerous charts are disseminated that show how the proportion of wages in percent of GDP is declining (and how the proportion of corporate profits is increasing). Here is an example from a recent post on the Daily Beast titled “the era of corporate profit”:

wages percentage of GDP historical curve — typical historical curves for wages and corporate profit

Now, what does that really show? Obviously, it shows that the proportion in the GDP of the wages and salary income of people employed traditionally by corporations is decreasing. Does it show that the average worker earns less? That’s quite a stretched interpretation even if most commentators just mean it!

As an avid reader of the Fourth Revolution blog, the fact that the share of salaries in the overall income should not surprise you: salaried employment by large corporations is a model of the Industrial Age, which is declining – BECAUSE THERE ARE LESS PEOPLE THAT ARE SALARIED (and not, because each of them gets less money!!). In fact, the diminution of the share of conventional salaries in the GDP is another precursor of the Fourth Revolution!

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis provides historical tables on the revenues in the USA. Here is a curve anyone can obtain with a little bit of patience:

income per category, pct of GDP — why wages and salaries are only a small part of people's income

So what? Yes, wages and salaries have a tendency to decrease, but the income from non corporate business, sole proprietorships, and non-profits organizations increase dramatically. These are organizations which certainly create value for only a few individuals (to obtain the curve we have reclassified their profits as income for the owners)! These are the organizations of the K.E.E.Ns…

Stop the fallacy of showing decreasing salary curves as an indication of the impoverishment of the average citizen. The future lies in other forms of organizations, and their importance increases dramatically.

Welcome to the Fourth Revolution. The future and the Value is elsewhere than salaried employment. When do you jump to other forms of organization?

The incredibly far reaching Industrial Age imprisonment, crushing our dreams

Why is there so much frustration and so many people that don’t really do what they long to do, what they dream to do?

Ever since I have written a book, every time I present it, I get more questions on how I managed to write and publish it, than on the book itself! So many people dream to write a book, or have written a book already!

Ever since I have announced to the world that I was leaving the comfortable corporate environment to be an entrepreneur, I get more questions on how I manage to do it than on my actual project itself! So many people dream to start their business, so many people have a truly good business idea ready for application!

The answer is obvious, of course: fear, which often hides behind busy-ness (being busy on actions with little impact, spending one’s time). All of this entertained by Industrial Age institutions, which repeat endlessly how inappropriate it is to be weird, to have initiative, and lock us into a system from which it is difficult to escape.

Of course these institutions look like they provide us with a stable, safe environment. That was maybe true in the past, but today we know that’s really overrated. No job is really safe today in any corporation. Still, we cling to that mindset for lack of another safe haven. And the Industrial Age system also cleverly provided barriers to our dreams: large mortgages that limit drastically our financial freedom; tax, professional and immigration legislation that limit our freedom of movement or of choosing our activity.

parachute tandem jump — do you need a buddy for tandem jump?

There are ways to minimize risk when starting a venture. Have good advice and support from people who have gone through the transition (like you stay safe during your first free fall jump by having an experienced person jumping in tandem with you). Have a parachute already open that slows down your scary dynamics (a signed contract, savings…) and gives you more time. Have encouragement and support from your family and friends.

You know what? It is rare to find someone who has jumped out of the Industrial Age system and has really, deeply failed. Of course people go through temporary failures until they find their way; they might not seek and get those shiny things that Industrial Age ego would crave (a larger car, a larger house, etc); still, overall I find that people who jumped are more happy. And above all their contribution to the world is just tremendous.

I can barely imagine how the world will be when a significant portion of people will have jumped outside the Industrial Age, when the number of K.E.E.Ns will have increased dramatically, and when all these people will share their talents and contributions with all of us, creating a very different place to live.

Let’s go and do it. Overcome your fear. Become a real K.E.E.N.. Come on, jump!

I’ve left the Industrial Age and jumped into the Collaborative Age. Right now!

I just resigned.

I quit my cosy position as an executive in a large international organization to go down the path of the Fourth Revolution entrepreneur.

In my book I have described how the Fourth Revolution K.E.E.Ns (Knowledge Exchanging Enhancing Networkers) drive their career by being more of free agents than conventional Industrial Age employees of a Corporation. That they drive their career, moving from project to project, over the world.

Although I am involved on a day-to-day basis with project management, my professional life was not just quite according to this model. Now, I just did jump into it. I just completed my transformation.

Yes, that’s right, I am leaving the comfortable corporate world for the adventure of the entrepreneur. I have incorporated Fourth Revolution Private Limited as a company in Singapore. Fourth Revolution Pte Ltd will be the vehicle for my publishing, speaking and entrepreneurial activities.

My first entrepreneurial venture will be in a company setup with some partners, that we have called Project Value Delivery Pte Ltd (see Project Value Delivery Pte Ltd website here), a consulting company to support organizations in setting up and executing projects, and in particular, large infrastructure projects. I hope ultimately to help organizations become effectively the open, fluid organizations of the Collaborative Age, learn firsthand the obstacles on that road, and the solutions to overcome them. And see the organizations we will support unleash the unprecedented Fourth Revolution value, at the same time developing irresistible competitive advantage, and changing the world!

I’m both scared and excited by the prospects and the infinite potential of the future.

Follow me on my blog in the next few months as I go through this transformation from the conventional corporate executive to the Fourth Revolution entrepreneur! I’ll start this new life early 2012!

Open leadership – giving up control is inevitable

As the Fourth Revolution grows and spreads, giving up control is inevitable.

Leaders cannot any more control everything that is being done in the organization. Organizations cannot control any more their market as they used to do (for example, spending millions on advertising and measuring a constant return on investment)…

Charlene Li mentions the 3 levers of change – the 3 levers of the Fourth Revolution, pushing unavoidable change:

there are more and more people online
social networking sites usage is becoming extremely widespread
sharing is a rising habit

To that we need to add that with mobile technologies, employees stay connected to their own virtual world even when they are in office.

Do you want your organization to create more value? So, give up control! Stop barring access to social networks in the office! Real valuable work is anyway today not any more just dumb repetitive production, it is Creative, Emotional Work. Just allow it.

Open leadership – practical leadership of the Fourth Revolution

I highly recommend ‘Open Leadership’ by Charlene Li. The book is about how social technology transforms leadership in organizations.

She tackles many issues we have already discussed in this blog, and she provides a number of practical examples that are really enlightening. What’s really good about the book, actually, is how practical it is, and how she shows the struggles of executives with a more open leadership style.

She also provides practical way forward, showing how social network strategy needs to be aligned with the organization’s strategy. It is possible to embrace social networks within pre-defined limits. She shows how to define and enforce these limits, and how to take advantage of the value of the Fourth Revolution while minimizing risk – personal, and for the organization.

We will discuss some striking ideas particularly in some following posts. Today let’s reflect on this quote

“Open leadership is how leaders must let go to succeed”

That’s real. It is about how to let go old-fashioned control to influence the organization at a higher level. Letting go is hard. Let’s help our leaders understand that they have to let go. Or they will get run over by the Fourth Revolution’s speeding train.

When do you let go of your old all-controlling-closed leadership style?

10 tactics to overcome ‘Resistance’

Here are my 10 current tactics to overcome my ‘Resistance’ to really do the Creative Work (if you have not read my blog post on “the War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, follow the link)

First, I have identified my potentially main time wasting activities which ‘Resistance’ is too happy to entertain:

aimless internet surfing (‘Resistance’ likes so much losing time following all the interesting hyperlinks without purpose)
aimless television – and watching movies on airplanes just for the sake of passing the time
social networks usage, which includes online chatting, and email

So my tactics are:

limit those potentially time wasting activities to a predefined duration or context so that they are useful to my goals – plan the day accordingly;
spend dedicated time looking for ideas, purposefully reading, watching or surfing what I have chosen (yes, chosen) to read, watch or surf on. Creativity feeds into other’s ideas so it’s important to watch and listen, but to be effective in doing that;
switch off voluntarily internet, television and social networks when doing the Creative Work (and also the nasty email notifications!);
rest well and exercise regularly to foster creativity, dynamism and balance – makes it easier to recognize Creative Work as the most important thing to do;
make at least a 2 hours span of uninterrupted time for Creative Work – often in my hotel room at night when I travel, or after the children are in bed at home. When ‘Resistance’ makes me realize that less time is available, it generally wins;
put on some music to isolate from the outside during Creative Work (don’t ask me what I have been listening though!);
always have something to note thoughts and ideas on, in particular just after Creative Work when ideas still pour in (I now use Evernote to centralize all my ideas on the Cloud and have them available from anywhere)
when doing Creative Work, focus on one piece of Creative Work at a time (for example, a set of blog posts, or writing my book). Got it? ‘Resistance’ wants you to switch, so that the flow of Creativity stops and has to be started again; focus instead!
when doing Creative Work, ‘Resistance’ would like us to abandon, thinking what we are doing is crap. Don’t get bothered about the quality of the newly created material, and wait for at least one night to review what has been done, to bring perspective. Just go on creating;
when you find Creating hard, when the blank sheet or screen is watching, resist the urge to switch to something else. Stay concentrated. Start writing. Once you open the flow of Creativity, it will not stop.

That’s it! Also, what works for me is that it is difficult to get into creative mode, but after a few minutes I dive into the real, concentrated creation work. After 15-20 mins I am in the flow, I don’t see the time passing. What’s tough is to get in Creative Mode and start.

I still have a lot of progress to do to tame my ‘Resistance’, who still win too often, but I am on my way. As is my second book, and a number of other things I want to create. And you, what are your tactics?

Be consistent with what you want to be

I am always amazed at how people sometimes act inconsistently with what they want to be. And thus, with what they are – deep within. That is particularly visible in my practice of coaching.

I do also fall into this trap too often. And I regret when that happens.

Because I know that it is only by being consistent with what I want to be, that I’ll become what I want to be. But my behavior is not always consistent!

So, what can we do? Probably the best solution is to keep in mind what we want to be, what is our goal and purpose, and repeat it inside us over and over again like a mantra throughout the day.

Repeat it, in particular when times are tough and stressful and we tend to come back to our old natural self.

But don’t say it because if your behavior is inconsistent with what you say, that’s even worse!

The day where somebody will tell you that he or she feels like you really are like what you want to be, you’ll know you are on the right way.

When do you start monitoring how consistent you are with what you want to be? What do you do to improve this consistency?

A sure way to retain your employees

As knowledge and development is today a major part of the compensation package, then the one and only way to retain your employees is to give them more of: knowledge and development!

And you know what? That can be almost free if you take the time to develop them in the workplace.

Knowledge and development is part of the compensation package. If you don’t provide it you are not competitive and K.E.E.N. will leave. If you provide plenty of it you can pay less money.

And if you want to retain people, stop the stupid practice of the Industrial Age which was to cut all the training and development budgets as soon as the sea gets rough. Rather, increase it. Publicize that your company is a great place for development.

What’s more, if you leave people space for their own development the rewards to the organization will be plentiful and unexpected. The organization’s culture will be open and collaborative.

Today in the Fourth Revolution, giving more knowledge and personal development opportunities is the secret recipe to employees retention.

Knowledge and development is part of your compensation package

What is your current compensation package?

I’m sure you’ll answer with a number, plus maybe some comments on social security and additional perks of monetary value.

Well that’s not what is the most important in your compensation package.

In your job, do you get to develop your knowledge? Do you get to develop your networks? Are you developing yourself by being stretched beyond your comfort zone in a safe environment?

That’s also part of the compensation package. The K.E.E.N. expects to be able to develop his knowledge, her value, to be challenged.

Actually in the Fourth Revolution, beyond a minimum salary, knowledge and personal development should probably be the majority of your compensation package.

Look at your situation. Is that the case? Will you ask an increase… in knowledge and development? Act now. That’s urgent. Do it.

Get out of the personal commodity trap

In the Industrial Age, people were a commodity. They had a tag given by their diploma, were part of a category and were just inter-changeable.
That started changing with the emergence of the Knowledge Worker, one of the precursors of the Fourth Revolution. Still there were broad categories of Knowledge Workers.

Beyond the Fourth Revolution, the K.E.E.N will absolutely need to avoid becoming a commodity.

As the excellent illustration says – make sure not a lot of ordinary people understand what you are doing. Invent a fancy job title, an unexpected tag line to describe what you are doing.

Develop a unique personal brand. And market yourself.

Commodities are easily replaced. Commodities’ price gets down with competition from low cost countries.

Above all, don’t stay a commodity. Get out of the commodity trap. Start now to build your identity, your brand, and to market yourself.

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