Chutzpah Classes

I've been giving a bit of  thought lately to what gift you could give to someone who was considering building or growing their very own 'career creation'    This is work/employment which does not fit the standard model of study hard, get a good job, maybe a couple more and then retire with enough money to live modestly well!

The writing seems to be on the wall with regard to large employers and their work practices.With the wonders of the Internet and the WWW,  I was able to spot an article by NY reporter Ashley Milne-Tyte writing in the alumni magazine of the University of Phoenix.  (Don't ask :-/)   She discusses Allison Hemming's forthcoming book about the future of work.   It seems uniform behaviour now for large companies to outsource all non-core operations.  This echoes Camrass & Farncombe's analysis in their book 'Atomic'.  This reduction in staffing has arguably created the need for small start ups to address the local gaps that then occur in the market. The skill set needed for this is claimed to be "how to be a business by yourself”.  Able to make enough money to sustain yourself, sometimes by turning several skills into income streams.

Now, whilst this might appear to be nonsensical if you are currently in a decent full time job, it may appear to be a promising alternative to those of you currently unemployed and fearful of finding a suitable job or to anyone in a job that doesn't offer much in the way of self development or fulfilment.  Equally, it may be of interest to anyone who has been made redundant or who has taken early retirement and needs additional income (for the odd cappuccino or two).

OK, so if it's not the same as selling your labour to an employer via a resume and interview, how difficult can it be eh?

You are talented.  You have skills.  You have experience. You have energy and enthusiasm.  You want to work.  You feel that you have something to offer the world.  But.... there is no job to apply for!  So, who you gonna call?  No, NOT ghost busters! Not yet anyways ;-)

Firstly, there are some steps you can take which will take you quite a distance down the 'how to' road.  To be honest, I've been doing a fair amount of research in this area and have many books and resources to recommend, but trust me, it doesn't look like rocket science. (If there still is such a thing!) However, there is a  gigantic shift from the thinking about it to actually doing something about it.  It's daunting I think and takes most of us into uncharted territory. Somewhere along the line you are going to have to approach people to see if they would want to pay you for what you can do for them.  How's that gonna feel?  Who do you pick?  How do you approach them?  What do you say exactly?  Then what?  What if they don't want to buy?  Oh no!,  you just may have to cope with rejection.  Then you might want to give up because this is all just too challenging and not what you've been taught to do!

This is where you need chutzpah in great big boxfuls!

It's no good having talent and no chutzpah to take yourself into the market place! CHUTZPAH -  I love this word! It's a Yiddish word that sort of means audacity but with a splash or two of humour mixed in. Cheeky!  Cambridge on-line dictionary define the term "unusual and shocking behaviour, involving taking risks but not feeling guilty".  For me this is a wee bit too negative.  Perhaps it could be taken to this extreme but I do agree that it's about an attitude towards taking risks and living with the consequences. You do need a strange mixture of confidence to expect to succeed whilst at the same time enough personal resilience and strength to accept failure.  Look, Walt Disney thought Mortimer Mouse would make a good talking animated cartoon.  He needed chutzpah to walk into the first bank and ask for the money he needed.  As it happens it needed quite a lot of it because the first bank thought he was nuts.  The 303rd gave it a go!

However, chutzpah is not on the curriculum.  Perversely, "in terms of career choice formal qualifications may create more attractive opportunities for waged employment than pursuing a career in entrepreneurship.  Consequently, it may be that there are links between low-levels of education attainment and 'necessity' entrepreneurship."  (ESRC Project Income from Self-employment: Development of an Innovative Life Course Model - Paper 10 Jones, O & Jayawarna, D)

So, do we need chutzpah classes?

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pronunciation of chutzpah