The older unemployed may be “hobbled ” by lack of technology skills but this does not apply to Millennials who have technology skills in spades but lack basic communication skills and basic literacy and

Alf Tupper (Photo credit: foistclub)

in 1 case out of 5.

The reality and the Elephant in the Room is the fact that are 50 people chasing each job so irrespective of skills, attitudes, interview technique and CV preparation, tailoring of applications etc, there are simply not enough jobs.

Dr Alf is correct, more tangential thinking is required on the part of Millennials who may never work unless they start to view the planet as their marketplace.

The days when a man or woman could leave school and be assured of a job disappeared 25 years ago and are not coming back.

The politicians will not tell you this, business leaders will not tell you this, Chambers of Commerce, LEPs, Government Ministers and the parents of Mllennials will not tell you this because their minds are still in the past.

Everyone is reacting to events which have already happened, rather than what is currently before their eyes.

This represents a death wish for fighter pilots who follow Lt Colonel John Boyd’s philosophy of OODA/LOOP which is now used by the Pentagon as standard war-gaming technique. The acronym stands for:

1. Observe,
2. Orient,
3. Deploy and
4. Act

This can be used in business and one’s personal life, provided one is prepared to embrace the truth and act decisively.

Application of OODA/LOOP requires 4 steps:

1) People in civilian life need first to observe what is actually happening which is that like “Elvis leaving the building”, the jobs are off-shored, sometimes automated out of existence, and are being done in the Indian subcontinent, by motivated residents of the Pearl River Delta or by robots, expert systems, self replicating machines, 3D Printers or someone in the MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria or Turkey) that is unknown to you.

2) Then they need to orient themselves to the new realities Dr Alf talks about so eloquently and decide what they can and should do.

3) Next it is a case of deploying skills in the new environment ,rather than the firepower of a fighter high in the sky over North Vietnam and earlier in Korea where OODA/LOOP saved countless lives

4) Finally it is a matter of acting as if it really was a matter of life and death rather than waiting for “something to turn up”.

Fortune favors the bold, the calculated risk taker and the person who can think and act in advance of events.

Waiting for things to happen as they once did is an exercise in futility and the only thing it will do for you is make you older.

Applying this insight will require new thinking and new ways of looking at things which the education system,the “Great and the Good” and society have not provided.

These matters will eventually become the subject of future blogs, webinars, toolkits and resources as Dr Alf and myself both feel passionately about giving the millennials a chance.

John Gelmini

Related articles

• How the Western economies should effectively respond to the Chinese economic powerhouse – John A Gelmini
• Opinion: Unemployed in Europe Stymied by Lack of Technology Skills – NYTimes.com
• Opinion: Youth unemployment crisis – The Guardian – John Gelmini
• Opinion: US AirSea Battle concept may be useless against PLA via WantChinaTimes.com -John Gelmini
• Opinion: Europe’s populist insurgents: Turning right | The Economist – John Gelmini
• Why UK Chancellor George Osborne will not be allowed to use the axe on the Public Sector – John Gelmini
• Has David Cameron already abandoned the Millennial Generation? – John Gelmini
• Opinion: Labour must step in to rescue a generation of doomed youth – Mary Riddell ex Telegraph – John Gelmini
• Opinion: Churchill’s Bomb: How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race | Foreign Affairs- John Gelmini
• Bridget Kelly, David Wildstein, who had deep ties to Gov. Christie, unemployed … – New York Daily News