Our own worst enemy?

I hear people bitch, moan and complain constantly about the state of the American economy and the decline of the middle class life style. They blame the Republicans, the Democrats or Corporate greed, but not one person every raises their hand and says, "It's me. I'm part of the problem." If American consumers were willing to pay an extra couple of bucks to purchase items that were made in America, corporations would flock at the opportunity to manufacture more items here. As long as
Americans demand cheap and fast, they will get exactly what they pay for and not one thing more.

The biggest problem with America is Americans. We love to preach, wail and complain, but gone are the days of old where people buckled down and through hard work and diligence strove to improve themselves and those around them. Now, it is always someone else's fault. What happened to self reliance? Self worth? Responsibility for self? It isn't the government or big corporations fault that business has moved to other regions. It's our fault. We did it. We chose to shop at Walmart, that one stop shop for all things consumers want. We chose to shut down the mom and pops in favor of the giants. We chose to quit perusing the local butcher shop in favor of the super store. And now, we want to sit back and bellow at the injustice.

Before you start belaboring big business, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror and determine what role you play. Do you educate yourself? Do you spend your money such that you support your local economy? Small businesses? Do you take the time to learn what products are still made in the good ole USA and then purchase those or do you just assume that it doesn't matter? Most local unions can point you to those businesses that still support the American Made idea. Do us all a favor; quit belly aching and start doing something to make a difference.

It's time to begin the next adventure.

As I packed up my office today, in preparation for my move to the 6th floor tomorrow, I couldn't help but reflect on the two plus years that I've spent in this mid-building office in the planning department. I can't say that I will miss not having a view or being in such a high traffic area and I'm definitely looking forward to being able to check up on my river friends throughout the summer via the panoramic views that I'm gaining from my new office. But, it does seem strange how far I've come in just two and half years.

I hadn't a clue that I was truly an engineer until I made the career change to planning. Now, I appreciate my ability to analyze data, develop scenarios and put together logical plans of attack for pretty much any problem that gets throne my way. Wow! To think about how much I despised the four months of six sigma training that Whirlpool strong armed me into is quite funny to me now. My first few months in this office were emotionally draining. To know absolutely nothing about our products, our process or our people, was a challenge to my very psyche. I went from being a sight expert to being a decoration in the conference room.

Alas, I almost long for the time when I could schedule my days according to a specific set of tasks or deliverables and not at the whim of others who need my expertise or analysis. Honestly, I'm very grateful to the mentors who took a chance on an engineer and helped to create a dynamic and capable planner. It’s made me realize that it doesn’t matter my background, my degree, or my title, I can solve problems and isn’t that what business is all about? Identify a problem. Define a problem. Fix a problem. I think pretty much everything in the US corporate culture revolves around this premise. So, I now take a step in a new direction and head into the realm of purchasing. Will a newly created role in the land of Global Strategic Sourcing gobble me up? Nah, I got this! I’m confident in my ability to be successful because I know that I’m building on my past experience, education and mentors. That being said, I know that it may be a slow start and I relish the learning, the growing, the solving new problems. We’ll see how I fair in a few short months and see if I’ve risen to the occasion.