Focus on Problems Instead of Companies

A thought and recommendation on jobs and work: Focus on Problems instead of Companies.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what people should be doing right now given all this change in the world. Especially kids, but really everyone, and definitely people who are struggling to become or remain employed.

I think we should start shifting, as quickly as practically possible, from thinking about companies and jobs to thinking about problems and solutions.

Let me explain.

Companies are scrambling right now

The amount of change we’re going through right now is hitting everyone, but it’s especially hitting medium and large sized companies. They’re the companies with the most to lose. The most expenses. The most headcount. The most market share in whatever industry they’re in. Etc.

And because of this, they're also the ones having the most pressure applied to them by their boards and their management teams. And they have no idea how to handle it. The ground under their feet is shifting too quickly. It’s basically chaos.

The impression for many people trying to get a job, or keep their job, is that the company is in control. The company is safe, and secure, and it’s a bunch of Mr. Burns types at the top looking for people to cut so they can go from super happy and super safe and super rich… to even more rich.

That is surely happening in some places, but in pretty much every case I see the situation isn’t malice. It’s fear, and panic, and uncertainty. These companies simply don’t know if they’ll exist in 2 to 5 to 10 years anymore. And they don’t even know which threat to prioritize in order to defend against it.

So the workforce is getting slushed around and mistreated like crazy. You must use AI. Use more. Use more than that. Use as much as possible because we’re watching.

Ok maybe not that much.

We need to get rid of people. But we also need to hire people. Super AI people. But we need to hire. But not juniors. Or actually, not seniors, because they’re too expensive. Companies are literally panicking and walking around trying on different personalities, hoping something sticks.

🤔 Fear explains the whiplash. A company that knew where it was going would pick one strategy and keep it.

Anyway, the point is they aren’t in charge. There is no captain right now. Not in most companies. They’re all in flux and worried about the future.

This is the absolute worst time to look to companies in general, especially medium- to large companies, as a source of stability. I'm not saying you shouldn't work at one of these companies. They will continue to hire, and they will continue to employ lots of people (even if it’s significantly fewer people) for a long time.

What I'm saying is, you shouldn't expect it to be stable or pleasant anytime soon, or perhaps ever again.

Ok, well that’s bleak. So what do I suggest?

Focus on problems

Focus on problems. If you think about it, this is actually what companies are doing as well. Companies are built around finding a problem and building a solution that addresses it. They're just doing it in a massively bloated and inefficient way, compared to how quickly we as individuals or small teams or small companies can address those same problems today with AI.

🦾 A small team with AI can now build what once took a whole department.

There are millions of problems out there. And people need solutions!

You have skills. You have training. You have experience. And guess what else you have? You have taste. You have an opinion about how that solution should be created. This could be around database design, daycare for dogs, gardening supplies, reverse engineering malware, helping people start businesses, whatever it is…

You specifically have a unique way of seeing the problems you know about, and a unique signature for how you’d solve it. That’s tremendously valuable. And, importantly, I think it’s becoming, in many cases, more valuable than doing a known, trainable skill inside of a large company where you aren’t really allowed to implement your own brand of solution. Because you’re faceless in there. You’re just hands for the organism.

So, practically speaking, start thinking about what problems your skills and abilities make you capable of solving. And start thinking about how to find people who have those problems and offer them a solution. That could be a product, it could be consulting, or whatever.

🎯 An easy place to start is listing the problems people already come to you for help with.

Start the transition now

Again, it’s not one or the other. It’s not like quit your big job tomorrow and go independent with no customers. What I’m saying is, don’t let yourself continue to believe that companies will bounce back as a super stable and safe and long-term way of making money. The better AI gets, the fewer people each company will need, and this dynamic will not diminish anytime soon.

Businesses don’t owe people jobs—they provide jobs because they need people to make their own money. If and when that ever changes, the jobs simply go away overnight.Whose Responsibility is it to Provide Jobs to People? (2016)

⏰ You can test this on the side, with one small offer to one group of people, before changing anything about your job.

So even if you’re relatively safe in a big company or whatever, start thinking about this transition. And if you’re out here looking for a job, stop thinking that there’s a super safe position out there that, once you get it, will provide a lot of peace and stability. That is kind of going away.

Problems and solutions. I think this is a good mental frame for thinking about work right now.

Summary

1. Basically, the big companies have lost control right now; they're scared and changing direction constantly
2. It's mostly fear, because they honestly don't know if they'll exist in 2 to 5 to 10 years
3. So I'd expect a company job to feel unstable for a long while
4. The better move is to look at the problems your experience and taste let you solve
5. You can keep your job and start finding people with those problems and offering them solutions

Notes

1. 🤖 AIL 2: Daniel dictated this post. I (Kai, his AI assistant) placed his words as given and added the section headings, the bolded terms, the asides, the definition, the summary, the links, the subtitle and the header image. Learn more about AIL.