Apply Warp-Speed Vaccine Process to Life

NASA put men on the moon in 1969 by: 1) putting the steps needed to accomplish this feat in order and 2) by assigning a number of teams to work on each step. When one team figured out how to accomplish step one, it could assume one of the teams working on step two was ready to move forward by applying its solution. Simplifying the task of developing a vaccine, there would be three steps: 1) develop a test vaccine, 2) prepare a pool of control and test subjects for the vaccine and 3) distribute the vaccine to the public. You can see how separate teams could be charged with the tasks of each step and, as soon as step one was complleted, another team was prepared to implement step two. As individuals, although we can't count on teams ready to work on various aspects of our lives, we can improve the way we live our lives by idehtifying the steps involved along the way. Children and adults can list the steps needed to get out of the house to school or work. For example, activities might include: get out of bed when alarm sounds, take a shower, exercise, get dressed, make bed, make breakfast, eat breakfast, make lunch, check email, read or listen to weather report and news, walk to bus or car. Once a list of activities is set, next, put them in order, paying secial attention to what can be done simultaneously. You might even discover activities that can be done the night before. Identifying steps that can be accomplished simultaneously is a way to be ready to accomplish step two as soon as step one is completed, even if there is no separate team ready to help you take on step two. Simply hanging clothes in the bathroom before taking a shower enables getting dressed as soon as exiting a shower, just as turning on a coffeemaker before showering speeds up the breakfast process. When students say they want to be president or a doctor, it is important to help them identify the steps needed to accomplish their objective. Helping students understand how a degree and experience working at a fast food restaurant or grocery store can pay off with good and legal professional positions in the future rather than dropping out of school to make short-term, fast money selling drugs and possibly landing in prison with no future. When a woman wants to have a career and raise a family, her planning also requires detailed plotting how to care for young children and how to maintain professional credentials at the same time. For example, she might find childcare/babysitters, enroll in graduate school, find a teaching position, subscribe to professional journals, write for a local publication, start a business. Because life is full of the unexpected does not mean forecasting is totally impossible. A general plan for any age, from birth to 100, always can leave room for delays and options, but identifying the steps needed to obtain an objective is the first step to getting there.

Inform Career Preparation

Lessons from current events and research findings can prevent career preparation mistakes.

     China's President funded facial recognition technology to control the country, and suddenly the coronavirus required masks. In the United States, voters in primary elections discounted presidential candidate Andrew Yang's plan to give $1000 a month to every citizen over 18 years of age. A few months later, they received a $1200 check from President Trump. Research Robert Plomin presents in Blueprint shows genes have an important influence on a child's propensity to excel in certain fields, but some parents risk criminal prosecution to bribe their students ' admission into prestigious colleges unsuited to their normal development.

     Several examples suggest productive ways to think about preparing for careers in the rapidly changing future.

      As world stock markets tumble, Scottish investment firm, Baillie Gifford, prospers. By purchasing stocks in companies whose stock prices fell because  they channeled profits into preparations for online sales, Baillie Gifford willingly sacrificed short term gains for a future when stores would lose out to channels serving online customers. As a high school student, becoming a dependable employee in an unglamourous, low-paying position can be the way to a credit card and a bank loan for higher education or a business of your own. Shark Tank Daymond John spent years working at Red Lobster to help finance his first fashion business.

     Skills are transferable.

     Erik Larson's current book about Churchill tells how Lord Beaverbrook, the head of a publishing empire, became head of England's Ministry of Aircraft Production in World War II. He felt manufacturing executives in one industry could master another, just as knowing the basics of one religion enabled someone to grasp the principles of another faith. This summer, the lucky student interns working at home in virtual positions for one company are gaining the valuable skills needed to fill virtual positions likely to expand in many companies throughout the global business world.

     Walk back the cat.

     Consider how the management structure NASA developed to win the race to the moon, the structure being replicated to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in the US, applies to career planning. Beginning with the objective, do what intelligence agencies do when they are trying uncover a spy. They begin "walking back the cat" to see who had access to the information that caused a project to fail, whom those people knew, and so forth. I don't know if Barack Obama operated this way, but, if he did, he would have said to himself, "I would like to be President of the United States." What should I do? I need to show I can win an elected, high-level political office. I will run for the Senate. Who supports and funds this kind of campaign. Where should I attend college to meet the people who provide that kind of support, and so forth. Whether someone has a clear objective to be an astronaut, a president, a movie star or a millionaire, he or she needs to begin today to: 1) trace back the steps needed to reach that goal and 2) take the first step.