How To Keep Software From Stealing Your Job

If you find yourself complaining about how your company or your customers don't value your work the way they should, you are not alone.

You are also wrong.

A lawyer friend I know grumbles sometimes about changes in his industry. Online services like LegalZoom have siphoned off much of his “gravy” work: forming corporations, writing wills, filing trademark applications, etc.

He charges about $1,500 to form an LLC. Online services charge between $100 and $400. He thinks the problem is that people don't value his work properly, but the real problem is his perspective. His industry has changed.

That means his job has changed – and the value of his job has changed.

How? Software and the Internet has stolen a big chunk of his work.

We used to worry about robots displacing us. Now, they don't need to be hardware robots -- they can be software too.

Why might your job be at risk of a software or robot takeover?

1. Your work can be reduced to a set of guidelines, rules, or checklists.

What Daniel Pink calls "left brain dominant" skills – processes or tasks that can be captured in a series of steps or scripts – are increasingly vulnerable to automation or outsourcing.

As with my lawyer friend, forming a corporation involves a series of predictable steps, and automation allows any aspiring small business owner to accurately complete those steps.

And, with the advent of using the Internet for inbound marketing, it's easier for these new software services to reach customers too.

2. You have a different perception of quality from your customers.

Take, for example, analyzing a website and determining what works -- and what doesn't. This is a highly specialized process which professionals charge a lot of money for (for good reason). But, then there's Website Grader, an online tool that does a lot of that initial assessment of a website in just minutes. Oh, and it's free. (Disclosure: I wrote the tool in the early days of my company). Now, many professionals that were selling this as a service (often for hundreds or thousands of dollars) might belittle the tool, because of course, it's not going to give you the astute insights that an experienced professional would. And, they'd be right. But, for thousands of people every month, it's "good enough".

Quality is in the eye of the customer: When a customer is completely satisfied with what you perceive as "not good", is the customer wrong?

If I'm happy with an off the rack suit the fine folks at Prada can turn up their noses all they want… but I'm right.

3. Your employer or customers see your work as a commodity.

Process control and automation have also turned many skilled professions into commodities. Accounting, legal services, medicine... those professionals are highly skilled but customers have choices – they can readily receive similar levels of quality and service from a variety of sources.

Are some providers better than others? Absolutely – but to most customers, "good" is sufficient for their needs. Why pay for "great" when I only need "good"?

When I only need "good" I naturally view your skill as a commodity… no matter how highly trained and skilled you may be.

4. Technology allows others to perform a reasonable facsimile of what you provide.

I can build a WordPress site in the morning, create a corporation while I’m eating lunch, and set up accounting for a new company in QuickBooks in the early afternoon… and for a lot less than what I would pay a web designer, a lawyer, and an accountant. When I can do it on my own and be satisfied, companies can’t charge as much – or pay their employees as much.

Or maybe even need employees.

Now take a look at your profession. Do any of the above apply? If so, change your perspective.

Stop wishing for the good old days, start creating the good new days.

You are only "worth" what employers or customers are willing to pay.

You are only needed when software can’t steal your job.

How to Stay a Step Ahead of the Robots

Successful businesses, no matter how large, are based on people. People, not systems make the long-term difference.

That’s why people skills will always be in demand.

Here are some skills you can develop that robots and software will likely take a while to learn:

1. Develop a high degree of empathy.

Forget your job description for a moment and focus on what your manager or leader needs. What does she hope to accomplish? What are her goals? What are the leadership challenges she faces? What can you do to make her more successful?

Or focus on an internal or external customer. What does that person hope or need to accomplish? What are her goals? What are her targets? What can you do to make her more successful?

Or focus on a colleague. What are her career goals? What is she struggling with that impacts her performance? What can you do to make her job more fulfilling and rewarding?

Every day, spend a little time thinking about what someone else really needs and help them get it, even if the effort required falls outside your job description. Developing the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and help them achieve what they want to achieve (at HubSpot we call it “solving for the customer”) is an incredibly valuable skill.

2. Forget your job title and focus on adding value.

Most employees keep the trains running on time; a few generate a significant return on their employer’s investment. The greater the return you generate the less replaceable you become. See your job description as a list of basic responsibilities, then take the next step and determine how you can add value by cutting costs, or increasing revenues, or optimizing processes, or partnering with other functional areas...

(Think about it this way: I may know how to set up Quickbooks in twenty minutes, but I don't know every accounting and tax strategy that can save our company money. That's why we need accountants -- and why we gladly pay for their help.)

Most importantly, never think, “I’m not doing (that) unless I get paid for it.” Think, “I will do that, because in time I will get paid for it.”

Look past the basic employer/employee relationship and find ways to add value to what others receive. Indispensability doesn’t happen overnight; it’s earned, not given.

3. Develop your communication skills.

Robots can only repeat; they can’t imagine. The better you can communicate the better you can express your ideas and creativity – or help others express theirs.

That includes visual communication skills. Take a photography class. Take a graphics design class at a local college. Take a speech class. The better you can communicate, the better you can share what you come up with when you…

4. Focus on thinking and creativity.

Robots love performing rote tasks because they’re awesome at doing what they’re told.

Coming up with new ideas? That’s not generally a robot’s strong suit.

But it can be yours.

Every job involves some amount of routine – reports that must be generated, forms that must be completed, processes that must be performed, etc. Spend a few days streamlining those processes: eliminate what you can and optimize the rest. Free yourself up to think and create and innovate.

New ideas are one thing that will never be a commodity.

5. Truly be the best.

Go ahead and begrudge the success of others, but remember: no one reaches the top through luck alone. Successful people work incredibly hard.

Focus on gaining and providing the kinds of skills employers and customers need – and will pay a premium to have. The more you excel, the more you earn.

It may take time, but true excellence always pays off.

And besides keeping the robots at bay… is personally fulfilling in its own right.

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Looking to grow your business? I've taken just about everything I know about marketing and put into my book, Inbound Marketing. It has shown thousands how to get found using Google, social media and blogs. 2nd edition is about to be released. Check it out on Amazon.

Photo: freshidea - Fotolia

Tim Adams

Transformation | Operations | Results Driven | Critical Supply | Leadership Development |

7y

Thanks john Russ for the article!!

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John Kenneth Russ

Systems Administrator at Wayne State University (Retired)

7y

Great!!!

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Jordan Zoot

Mng. Dir. - CEO , aBIZinaBOX Inc., CPA's Real Estate, Professional Services, California Commercial Cannabis Tax, Acctg.

8y

Get Xero so your boss doesn't think you are a zombie.

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William Weikart

Weikart Advisory Services LLC - A Registered Investment Advisor

8y

There it is.

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