Strategy, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy deals with how one event affects others. Once only thought of as a military process, strategic planning is now a common political and business term. In its purest sense strategy looks at how elements are linked and provides a high level plan to achieve a goal. Until recently military strategies were developed to win wars. The CSIS website at (http://csis.org/category/topics/defense-and-security/military-strategy ) presents the multi-faceted elements involved in modern military strategies. Although the concept of strategy has been around for a long time, it has only recently made the formal leap from the military to business. It was only in the 1960’s and 1970’s that business began to think in a systematic and integrated way about their costs, competitors and customers. Now strategies have expanded to the personal level where individuals develop strategies to achieve their long tern goals. (http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2010/03/the-secret-origins-of-corporat.html )

Most of us give very little thought to our personal and professional strategies. Instead of gathering facts and studying the landscape. We play it by ear, depending on our experience and luck to get us through. However the workplace is changing. It is no longer enough to be competent in your career field to get ahead. With the advent of computers and databases knowledge is becoming a commodity. Similar to when the US opened its markets to global competition and manufacturing moved offshore. The same thing is happening to our professions. Who would have guessed that when you dial the number for tech support that you would be talking to someone located halfway around the world? Not me! No longer are you just competing with your classmates, you are competing against a global labor pool.

Again knowledge is not going to be the defining attribute in the future. Being skilled in your job will no longer be good enough, especially if you job is moved offshore. The days are quickly disappearing when you can just get a high school education and find a job that turns into a life long career. You need a strategy that takes into account the changes that are taking place in the economy. What are the jobs that cannot be sent off shore? What skills will still be in demand in 20 years? Perhaps the days of just learning a single skill may be fading as technology continues to make more and more skills obsolete. Everyone needs a career strategy.

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