Knowledge Work: Be a Star or Be Ousted

 What's pushing out average performers in knowledge work is the double whammy of cost-efficiency and AI. Only the stars are surviving. 

Forbes just cut out the contributing writers who weren't attracting and growing large audiences. In coverage of this development New York Post reported that those terminated were shocked. They shouldn't have been. After all they were hardly stars. Likely they were only pulling down 50 bucks an article. Had they sensed they were star material they would have bellowed for much more.

CBS is in the process of reviewing who has high wattage and who has been fading.

Being laid off or fired at a tech company is classified as being a "low performer." That's code for not having star quality.

This bifurcation of knowledge work into stars and those on the way out has become a dominant trend in knowledge work. But it's not new. 

Way back in 2021, the chair of elite law firm Paul, Weiss Brad Karp explained in a Bloomberg Law interview the infrastructure of operating on star power. That's what clients purchase. That is, they are willing to pay the high fee for the brand (as well as the real track record) of the star performer. That's because their legal issues are high stakes. A major law firm without that infrastructure could go out of business. 

Karp hammered that recruiting and retaining those twinklers requires a hefty war chest. So, it gets circular. A law firm - and by extension most businesses - have to achieve nosebleed profits to fund star power but without star power it won't be able to make those profits. That's exactly the current game across most sectors of chasing maximum profits. To survive they have to ferret out the stars, actual and potential, and rid the balance sheet of the compensation of non-stars.

In coaching circles, we currently warn professionals that if they lack what it takes to make a big splash in a field, don't enter it. It's no longer enough to be talented. You need to put together star presence and unleash the track record to support that. Moreover, if your star begins to dim, find another game in which you can dazzle. 

Thrown off your game, maybe the first time since you started working? You made all the right moves and then the world moved in another direction.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.





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