Work Matters and the changing economy seem to be the core reasons why insights and strategies are especially needed in this rapidly changing world to ensure that one's own work is on the right track. This seems true, but the challenge is seeing the whole picture.

A changing economy exists when the market for goods and services undergoes substantial transformation or adjustment due to new opportunities or pressures from competitors, consumers, suppliers, or other market forces. Those different forces include artificial intelligence, the pandemic and COVID-19, and changing opinions on an acceptable return on investment.

Faced with a problem, decision, or even a career change, an essential first step is to consider “the lay of the land.” In general, this term is an expression indicating the desire of an individual to understand new surroundings and all their nuances, including why it is what it is and what is there that you don’t see. The dictionary definition of the term Lay of the land is the general state or condition of affairs under consideration, the facts of a situation.

It is also important to remember that what one concludes about the lay of the land isn’t just what is seen but what is unseen and unexpected. This can be a problem in predicting how well the perceived landscape can be managed because different people can deal with the same landscape differently.

As a Runner myself for many years, I learned an interesting lesson as I observed how running over the same hills up and down was a very different experience for a running companion and myself. We were about the same height and even close in weight, but he had long legs, and I had short legs. Running downhill was more challenging for me as my legs were pounded, and uphill was easy because my legs reached the road below without being pounded. Two people, the same hills, different hills, and different experiences.

When your goal is to find the proper work and career, you need to understand what the terrain will be in the new environment. You also must have an accurate understanding of who you are and your capabilities and limitations.

"The Winds of Fate”

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One ship drives east, another drives west,

With the self-same winds that blow.

’Tis the set of the sails

And not the Gales

That tells them the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the winds of fate

As we voyage along through life.

Tis the set of the soul

That decides its goal

And not the calm or the strife.

This short poem reminds us that we are all impacted by fate, but we still have choices. And it brings some questions to mind. Which way is the wind blowing in your life’s journey? Have the recent upheaval and uncertainty left you with tough choices to make regarding your future and job prospects? What do we do when the wind shifts entirely, and there is no reliable forecast for how intense it may get or how long it may last? We can all change the set of our sails, but more may be needed to understand how the lay of the land may have changed.

This book endeavors to help each of us as we each face our winds of fate.