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Foundation Insurance Group 803 West Broad Street Suite 500 Falls Church, VA 22046 703-988-3750 (phone) 800-203-2811 (toll free)
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3 Gigs That Robots Can't Touch (At Least Not Yet)
In England and Ireland, up until the 1920s and maybe later, people paid a knocker-up or knocker-upper a few pence a week to rouse them each morning. While most knocker-ups carried truncheons (some of them, in fact, were bobbies on their morning patrols, augmenting their income) and long bamboo sticks to tap on doors and windows, at least one employed a pea-shooter to reach higher floors.
As economies change, so do the customs of the era. Automation has long ago replaced the knocker-upper with thousands of cheaper and better options for waking up on time.
Bucking current trends, the three unusual occupations that follow - for both humans and animals - offer good paying work that doesn't look like it will be automated out of existence anytime soon.
In the snapshot below, goats, in fact, offer a much better all around solution - economically and environmentally - than mechanical means. And watching them work can be fun for the entire family.
Gardening with Goats
They've been the greenest of gardeners for a hundred centuries. They eliminate the need for expensive, toxic chemicals; they take the place of diesel fuel-burning tractors; they clear brush in places people can't reach, remove irritant plants like poison ivy and sumac, and fertilize as they go. And they just couldn't be cuter.
For the last four years, the Goat Girls have been pitting fauna against flora, offering the grazing and clearing services of their stable of 20 intrepid goats. Owner Hope Crolius, an Amherst, MA-based landscape architect, got a request from a client to brush hog an overgrown field. She proposed a carbon-neutral, cloven-hoofed alternative, bought three goats, and the rest is history. Crolius' flock has been munching their way across Massachusetts ever since, clearing brush from farms, hiking trails, and conservation areas. They're also available for birthday parties, just in case you don't have any brush to clear but want to hang out with some adorable goats sporting "festive costumes." Ersatz Executives
In America and many other parts of the world, merely being a white male brings with it a certain degree of privilege. In China, it can also bring some real money.
On occasion, Americans are being hired by Chinese companies to serve as fake businessmen: impressive-looking facades implying that the company has a more global reach than it really does.
Mitch Moxley, in his article " Rent a White Guy," published several years back in the Atlantic Magazine, recalled being paid $1000 for a week's "work," which consisted of showing up at a ribbon cutting, making trips to a construction site in the name of quality control (while not practicing any actual quality control), and sitting around an office reading magazines. When Moxley was invited to return, he was encouraged to "Bring a computer. You can watch movies all day." The Sweet Scent of Success
Taste-testing jobs run the gamut from delicious (if somewhat fattening...sampling Ben & Jerry's all day every day can't be all that good for you) to repulsive (pet food tasting is done by humans, and you need a PhD to do it). Scent testers, on the other hand, seem to get a lot more of the repulsive stuff (sniffing used cat litter or Odor Eaters to determine efficacy).
If you've got an extra-sensitive sense of smell and don't gag too easily, you can make a decent living as an odor judge. If you're lucky, you might be employed to sniff new perfumes, or inhale the non-scent of paper towels to ensure that they're truly unscented. If you're not, your workday might involve smelling blasts of halitosis (to test mouthwash), sweaty armpits (to test deodorant), and dead fish (to detect oil spill contamination).
The next time you come in to work on a Monday and despair over the mountain of emails you have to sort through, just remember...your inbox could be full of dead fish, waiting for you to sniff them.
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Want To Feel More Confident & Relatable? Lessons from the Puffer Fish and the Dog
You're late for a meeting with one of your biggest customers, and their Controller, Doug, doesn't look at all happy.
You've hinted beforehand that there might be a pricing increase on the horizon, and now you have to put it on the line and tell them their costs are going up by three percent at the end of the quarter.
It's the second price hike in three years, and you're seriously worried it's going to cost you the account.
Still, your relationship with Doug's company has endured bumps like this before, and you know you can make things right. You just have to rouse your confidence and win them over with a convincing positive attitude. If only you didn't feel so damn nervous....
While they finish up other business, you find yourself thinking about dogs and puffer fish, and what you've learned about projecting confidence and the power of the mind-body connection.
Those little puffer fish keep predators at bay by gulping seawater to transform themselves into intimidating spiky creatures the size of basketballs.
Dogs, when threatened by domineering alpha canines, tuck their tails and display their soft, vulnerable bellies to make it clear they're not going to be a threat.
And humans, too, by paying close attention to our posture and mannerisms, have the power to attract or repel others according to the demands of the situation.
One expert in this area is Dr. Deborah Gruenfeld, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She'd say that that cowering dog is playing low, while the inflated puffer fish is playing high.
Playing low can make you seem more approachable and empathic. They can also signal discomfort, fear, or timidity.
Playing high establishes authority, commands attention, and magnetizes followers. It can also be off-putting and intimidating - practical if you're fending off predators like the puffer fish is, but problematic if you want to be a relatable leader.
Our posture and gestures convey real-time information about who we are - and not only to others. Neurotransmitters in our own brain respond to those bodily messages by altering our moods and emotional states.
Simply put, the emotional brain follows the cues sent by the body. When our actions are confident, we begin to feel more confident. We can actually alter the way we feel by adopting the appropriate body language. If the body can say it, the mind can play it.
Some of the playing-low mannerisms below can be good adaptations for company leaders with aggressive styles who want to make themselves more approachable; others indicate that the person displaying them is feeling intimidated or insecure.
We can put ourselves in the right mood to magnetize and persuade others by adapting playing-high behaviors that signal authority and confidence.
We can read moods and mindsets in people's actions, and change our own moods by acting the part we want to be.
Mannerisms of playing low:
- Reducing the amount of space you take up by hunching your shoulders, pointing your toes inward, leaning forward, etc.
- Reacting strongly and visibly to what the other person says
- Speaking tentatively, in a higher-than-usual pitch, and in sentence fragments
- Avoiding eye contact, except when glancing up to see the other person's reaction
- Shouting to win an argument (which shows you have more at stake)
- Smiling a lot (to make the other person more comfortable)
Mannerisms of playing high:
- Taking up lots of space, leaning back, and appearing relaxed
- Speaking slowly, and in complete sentences
- Making extended eye contact when you're speaking...and then letting your gaze and concentration wander when the other person responds
- Making expansive gestures
- Holding your head high and very still
- Not reacting visibly to what the other person says
The meeting's over, and while no one was happy with the coming price change, Doug and his people felt reassured by your confidence, and felt you were someone who understood and cared about their company.
See for yourself
If you're skeptical, or just curious about the mind/body connection, try this quick high/low experiment. First, play high: sit in a power pose. Relax, spread your legs, drop your shoulders, open your arms, puff up your chest. Hold this pose for 30 seconds, then say out loud, "I am nobody. I am less than worthless. I am ineffectual, scared, and helpless." You'll find it very hard to believe. Then play low. Put your legs together with your hands sandwiched between them, lean forward, hunch your shoulders, drop your head, tense your muscles. Hold it for 30 seconds before declaring, "I am invincible! I'm the boss. I feel like the king of the world. I'm in control." Again, being huddled in a tense, meek pose, you'll have a hard time believing yourself.
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Cyber Liability Risks
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of costly computer hacking attacks against large companies, such as Target and Home Depot. But smaller companies face computer liability risks as well. Virtually all businesses use information technology (IT) in some way-to communicate via email, to provide information or services through a website, to store and use customer data and more. Your business can be held liable if certain data is compromised, not only by hacking attacks but even if a smartphone is lost or a laptop computer is stolen.
The risks of cyber liability are evolving rapidly, with new risks emerging as technology advances and new regulations are put in place. Insurance experts now consider the risk of cyber liability losses to exceed the risk of fraud or theft. In this tumultuous environment, your business can take several steps to limit risks, including purchasing cyber liability insurance.
What Are Your Cyber Liability Risks?
If your computer systems are hacked or customer, employee or partner data is otherwise lost, stolen or compromised, the costs of response and remediation can be significant. Your business may be exposed to the following costs:
- Liability-You may be liable for costs incurred by customers and other third parties as a result of a cyber attack or other IT-related incident.
- System Recovery-Repairing or replacing computer systems or lost data can result in significant costs. In addition, your company may not be able to remain operational while your system is down, resulting in further losses.
- Notification Expenses-In several states, if your business stores customer data, you're required to notify customers if a data breach has occurred or is even just suspected. This can be quite costly, especially if you have a large number of customers.
- Regulatory Fines-Several federal and state regulations require businesses and organizations to protect consumer data. If a data breach results from your business's failure to meet compliance requirements, you may incur substantial fines.
- Class Action Lawsuits-Large-scale data breaches have led to class action lawsuits filed on behalf of customers whose data and privacy were compromised.
What Cyber Liability Insurance Covers
Some standard business insurance policies, such as a Business Owners Policy (BOP), may provide coverage for certain types of cyber incidents. For instance, if you lose electronic data as a result of a computer virus or hardware failure, your insurance may pay recovery or replacement costs. To extend coverage for a fuller range of cyber liability risks, you will need to purchase a stand-alone cyber liability policy, customized for your business. This type of policy can cover several types of risk, including: - Loss or corruption of data.
- Business interruption.
- Multiple types of liability.
- Identity theft.
- Cyber extortion.
- Reputation recovery.
Steps to Reduce Cyber Liability Risks
Because computing technology changes rapidly, there is no absolutely sure-fire way to protect digital data and computer systems. In addition, technologies deemed to be highly secure can later develop vulnerabilities or be found to be vulnerable all along. For instance, websites worldwide used an encryption technology called OpenSSL for many years before the technology was discovered to be vulnerable to cyber attack. You may be able to limit your cyber liability risk by: - Installing, maintaining and updating security software and hardware.
- Contracting with an IT security services vendor.
- Using cloud computing services.
- Developing, following and publicly posting a data privacy policy.
- Regularly backing up data at a secure offsite location.
Reprinted with permission from the Insurance Information Institute, www.iii.org
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All content © 2015 Professional Marketing Associates, Inc. This newsletter is not intended to provide specific legal or insurance advice. Please consult your individual agent for further information on the topics covered.
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