Marketing Me! Suvival of the adapter

Neo-Darwinists love to cite, "survival of the fittest" as their misconstrued mantra. The corrected statement should actually read, "success of the adapter".

Adapters adapt to a changing environment and continue and succeed. In the natural world, success may be the ability to continue their existence. In the work world, success (or survival) means having work and continuing to grow new opportunities.

Would it be that life were perfect. The U.S. manufacturing employee laments the loss of the base in his or her particular geographic area. But manufacturing jobs continue to be found here, here and here.

For the U.S. manufacturing employee, to adapt means leaving Massachusetts, Michigan or Wisconsin. It may also mean adapting to an individual contract rather than collective bargaining situation.

Adaption for work means success, not survival. Survival is after losing his mortgage broker position, the office worker sells his home, moves in with relatives and mows lawns to pay bills.

Success is about lateral and upward moves to greener fields. Successful adapters may scale back temporarily but eventually they return and thrive. The successful adapter will come to dominate his world whereas the survivor awaits extinction.

Remember, when the term, "Survival of the fittest" is bandied about, remind the speaker of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the lowly mammal. The T-Rex was bigger, faster and stronger, but where is he now? And the mammal? Now he dominates the earth.

What will you be?