One of the most memorable concepts I recall from my undergraduate collegiate days comes from micro-economics class. The semester long under pinning of that class (taught by a distinguished professor from India) was the concept/ notion/ principle/ term that has parallels to the concepts of opportunity-cost, as well as cost-benefit analysis. The professors' word for the basic personal micro-economic concept was: 'utils' (utility).
Utils can be described as the anticipated value/ delight one would get from each option/ choice one faces, with the winning choice being the one that provides the greater util value.
On a personal level, utils is a fundamental concept akin to when one thinks about what 'butters-one's-biscuits' or 'floats-one's-boat', etc.
One may decide there is greater (short, intermediate and long term) util value in deciding to pioneer their career into a industry virtually unknown to one's own family (as contrasted to lower anticipated util value in staying to take over the generations old family business). Criteria for what attributes contribute to util value (positive or negative) vary by person, by decision, by time and more. Attributes may be one but typically are numerous (plus a person making an assessment for a decision may not be aware of all the attributes). Fundamentally, criteria for one's attributes in determining util value can consider personal satisfaction, and/or return-on-investment of resources (money, time, etc.), and/or impact on loved ones, etc. Anticipated value can be for short, intermediate and/or long term realization.
The attributes totaling up to the pioneering choice could be a mixed bag of seeing higher util value in the nearer term challenge of the pioneering journey and/or the longer term promise of the new industry. That util-thought process may factor in contrasting not just the perceiver greater pro-utils of a pioneering career path, but also assess the con-utils of disappointing family that may have had hopes/ expectations of this family member taking the baton to continue the family business for the next generation. Two people facing the same circumstance could arrive at same choice but due to different pro-utils trumping con-utils. Conversely, two people could arrive at opposite career path choices because one may get greater utils from pleasing his/her family members' hopes while the other gets greater utils from meeting his/her life path hopes.
Speaking of career, along with career journeys and the ongoing evolution of conventional wisdom for the job market (i.e.: yesteryear's paradigm of lifetime employment with one employer vs. the contemporary paradigm that not only can one expect to have multiple employers during their career, but the increasing pace of change/ innovation requires people to calibrate their expectations that one may have multiple careers in different industries/domains as well), the silver lining of today's paradigm of career change is that one is freer to explore what-if career options
During my career journey, there was a fork in the road in the mid 1990s. The generations long prevalent paradigm of lifetime employment was still powerful, but loosing its grip. In my circumstance with a front row seat in an industry going through deregulation (telecom), the employer- employee loyalty bond had
unraveled during a decade of significant downsizings that were at least annual. Sensing the loyalty-thing now unmoored, the unthinkable crept onto my personal radar screen. Were there more utils in staying, going with needs-of-the-business and being a good-corporate-citizen, or, was over a decade of patience enough (with a negative incentive to aspire higher as in those days as the higher one rose the more vulnerable one became) thus higher perceived utils outside where lifetime employment had been anticipated?
Destiny and diligence put me right place-right time when a internal business unit (BU) - but as functionally and physically independent from big corporate as possible, and most importantly, as entrepreneurial a BU as possible with day-to-day, end-to-end business matters and decisions to be involved in ... with the icing on the cake ... being at the dawn of monetizing the Internet when the BU had assets, core competencies and a need for one to take the lead on this emerging business front. A util deluge for me!
Over a decade later, after many successes (& utils) leading numerous innovative alternative online payment initiatives, an unexpected development occurred that opened the door to broader and deeper opportunity/utils ... getting recruited into India's BPO/KPO industry to help them expand into eCommerce. The decision to accept the BPO-India opportunity were util based in two areas ... perceived career utils to grow in a related area of eCommerce outside of the alternative payments niche ... and a career and personal util to extend my international experiences into the sub-continent of India. The utils from the seven years since that decision have exceeded expectations/util-outlook.
Further, as my interest, expertise and bond with India grew, so too did I feel a gravitational pull to a BPO business model that involved bringing economic opportunity to communities outside the main stream of the global economy. This recent seven year journey began with the expectation of helping the cutting edge solution providers from - in my case - Mumbai based BPOs who attracted young energetic talent from nationwide. Over time I learned of India BPO industry trends to leverage talent in first 2nd and 3rd tier cities in India under the premise that with less employment choices in midsized cities, BPO work forces were more stable, thus lower employee turnover rates, thus better ability to manage expectations with delivery of solutions. As my knowledge of India's employment market and BPO human resource models continued, so too did my understanding of how advancing infrastructure into India's interior opened doors to not only evolving BPO models to tap talent in rural communities ... but so too did my util
realization ... as I began to realize that the BPO industry was about vastly more than bringing less expensive solutions to back office functions ... but was evolving into a Noble Cause in that the BPO industry was now beginning to get involved in bringing economic opportunity to economically depressed areas that were also suffering from brain-drain as young workers were increasingly moving to big cities, contributing to accelerating slow deaths of rural communities.
Imagine the utils when reminding oneself of being at the U.N., meeting with a couple of top international U.N. directors, discussing the parallels between one's BPO work that has the noble cause of bringing economic opportunity to rural communities, and a key U.N. focus to help lift rural global communities with initiatives designed to help these communities become self sustaining. Talk about further enhancing util value important to me!
Take a step back and consider the common denominator of this BPO-rural community work, with alternative payment solution work that also is intended to bring optimal people off the sidelines of eCommerce (i.e.: the unbanked globally). Indeed, gratifying to realize the manifestation of career work has this common theme with such great util value to me - to extend inclusiveness globally for commerce and now for employment ... with side benefits that these efforts contribute to helping strengthen rural family togetherness, thus contribute to stronger rural communities.
Does everyone have 'noble cause' as a util attribute? Of course not. That said, 'noble cause' was not a
util attribute in my conscious pro-con decision making over the years. Thinking back to the earliest years of my career in field sales ... my favorite work back then? Pioneering E911 systems near the dawn of that enhanced, break-through emergency service. E911 (Enhanced 911 which allows for pre-programming to alert emergency service personal of what to expect at site having an emergency .. such as elderly people, or a warehouse with flammable chemicals in storage, etc.).
Digital commerce for the unbanked globally, employment for the rural disadvantaged globally ... that followed optimal emergency services for all. A common theme has come into better focus when viewed through the filter of utils - in my case - subconscious util values exercised a gravitational pull on my choices ... for what can reasonably be characterized as noble causes. Feels good.
Digital commerce for the unbanked globally, employment for the rural disadvantaged globally ... that followed optimal emergency services for all. A common theme has come into better focus when viewed through the filter of utils - in my case - subconscious util values exercised a gravitational pull on my choices ... for what can reasonably be characterized as noble causes. Feels good.
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