Thoughts on a Merger...A Merger of Thoughts

“Yeah, I might lose my job!” Words you don’t usually here. Yet, as odd as it sounds that’s kind of how I’m feeling at the moment. Let me explain. My employer, Mt. Hood Beverage, is merging with its cross town rival Columbia Distributing (and Gold River Distributing, a downstate “cousin” of Mt. Hood Beverage.) Naturally there are many, if not all, employees a little anxious regarding their job status. My status is in no way secure...yet I fail to share in the anxiety. Why, you ask? The short answer: because of ten years of reading books most people don’t care to read and learning things most people don’t take the time to learn. Allow me to expand...

Ten years ago I was working at a business leadership seminar company in Lexington, Kentucky. I was exposed to the ideas of a man named Tom Peters- in fact, I can say in full confidence that his book “Circle of Innovation” literally changed my life. One of his stock-in-trade ideas is that the ‘new worker’ is basically on her/his own. Mergers and buy-outs and reorganizations and what have you have taken away the idea of job security. The worker’s only ‘security’ is in the strength of her/his own resume of (hopefully) stellar work history and job performance. In this brand-laden society, each individual is her/his own ‘brand’ – ‘Me, Inc.’ In essence you are your own business entity, regardless of your status as self-employed or W-2 wage earner. As long as you are constantly striving to improve yourself, to learn new skills and/or to hone your current skills through a stream of successful, impactful projects then you can have the best form of security- the choice of employers from your ever expanding list of job offers. Being the independent type I was enthralled with the idea- with that image. However, he’s even come up to an endpoint in that idea. On page 315 of his latest book, Re-imagine, he ponders the question of what happens when the need for your skill set has been completely eliminated due to changes in technology or market trends or competition. At the time of his writing, he had no answer. I feel I do...

Enter life-changing idea/book number 2: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I first saw this book in Abilene, TX when my manager at Oak Express (where I served for a short stint as a salesman) was reading it. I was intrigued and read a couple of pages, hoping to get my hands on it some time in the future. When I moved to Portland and hooked up with the world of investment real estate through the mortgage industry, I encountered the book again as it was one of the bedrocks of investors, especially real estate investors. (short disclaimer: to avoid being labeled as one who just jumped on the ‘Rich Dad’ bandwagon, I want to note here for the record that long before I read his thoughts on investing in general and real estate in particular, my wife and I had looked at our rent check going out and said, “We need to find out how to get on the ‘other side’ of this check. Because our landlords haven’t had to do anything, and every month they get a check from us!”) One of his ideas in that book is ‘Mind your own Business.’ Again, regardless of whether you are self-employed or other-employed, you are your own business entity. And your ‘business’ is building up investment income to give you security for when the employment income gets turned off (by disability, retirement, lay-offs...mergers... you get the idea). Businesses seek to obtain assets that keep them a viable business- a hedge against the down swings of an unpredictable market. Individuals-as-businesses should seek to obtain no less than the same.

And so, in the midst of this merger I ponder a merger of these ideas. Your job security does not rest in your employee name badge, but rather in your ongoing creation and re-creation of your resume of job performance. That way instead of being thankful that you’ve been hired (“Yeah, I got a job!”) you can trust in your abilities to get hired, and re-hired, and hired again, over-and-over (“Yeah, I have my choice amongst all these job offers!”). But ultimately, those incomes are merely the start- for in turn you, as owner of ‘Me, Inc.’ are also continually working to build up your assets to the point where your bills are covered whether you get a paycheck or not (“Yeah, I don’t need a job!”) That way, if and when your skills are no longer needed/wanted, you have an answer.

So I’m enjoying being part of a ‘history-making’ event (this merger is a pretty big deal). I’m enjoying witnessing the growth of an investment (bummer I’m not a shareholder). In artistic terms, seeing a company rise from $270 million in annual sales to an estimated $1.2 Billion in estimated sales is aesthetically pleasing- I am enjoying the beauty of it. And because I don’t place all my bets in the traditional ‘job security’ mindset, I’m enjoying the freedom of an educated mind- and look forward to what God brings from the education He’s provided me with (and regardless of what books I read or what things I relentlessly study, I believe they are things God is teaching me... but that would be a different post.)

And so in the immortal words of Michael Stipe: “It’s the End of the World as we know it... and I feel fine.”