Civic ventures

When I started this blog in April, I knew it had an expiration date. I signed a short-term contract. I referred to myself as a guest blogger on Yahoo! Even the title, "Working the New Economy," suggested that this was a project of limited duration. After all, how long could this "new economy" last?

Now that it's time to wrap up, it's pretty clear that the new economy has become the new normal. And I can't say that I have figured out exactly how to work it. Unemployment has now topped 10%. Counting those who are underemployed, it's closer to 20%. Mass layoffs are still happening, including a round at BusinessWeek last week where several of my most respected colleagues were shown the door.

One defining feature of this not-so-new-anymore economy is that we will all need to flexible and nimble. I've worked independently for nearly a decade. And now it seems that my usual mix of contract work, freelance relationships, consulting and other kinds of affiliations has become standard in what Tina Brown so aptly dubbed the gig economy.

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We’re used to a familiar path of life. You get educated. You work. And by the time you enter mid-life you probably juggle a few things. You still work. Maybe you have a family. You take care of your aging parents.  At some point, you retire. And then what? Years ago, when retirement was pegged at 65, retirement consisted of a decade or so of idle recreation. But now if you retired at 65, your retirement years might last another twenty-five years.

But what if that were all flipped on its head? What if, instead, you studied throughout your life and only settled into your true career somewhere around midlife? And what if it was considered normal to work into your 80s instead of into your 60s? Read More »