Time to hit the Reset Button

Whew, 2009 is over!! In retrospect, although challenging in many ways, the experiences and learning it provided were priceless..

Its amazing how quickly ones core priorities can change in response to changes in economic freedoms that get imposed upon us...

Fear losing our entitlement to lifestyle, in spite of how good we've got it.

This year I was fortunate enough to visit both India and China........ it truly helps to put perspective on what we call reality.

These countries have alway been relevant for me professionally, as they have always been the adversary for North American manufacturers.... The pressure certainly helped to get our industry motivated to either succeed or close shop, so from one perspective the competition was healthy, but the playing field was not and is definitely not flat.

India and China get blamed for social and environmental inequalities, but these inequalities are overshadowed by cheap prices.

The question I have is whether cheap prices represents a strong value proposition for the global community?

India in particular doesn't appear to be laying the foundation for sustainable growth, infrastructure is not keep pace with the growth and doesn't appear to be a priority.

Does outsourcing to low cost countries add value to the world, or destroy long-term value for short-term gains?

2010 for me will represent a renewed focus on technology, and manufacturing methods that don't rely on cheap labor, but leverage creativity and intelligence to create a preferred future. Products should be manufactured closest to the area of consumption, it is simply illogical to be shipping products around the world through the creation of industry zoning geographically rather than diversification throughout the world. I believe that these diversities within countries and cities will contribute to the development of strong communities.