"Distinct or Extinct"

Recently, I made some critical comments about Tom Peters' book "Re-imagine!"  I do not know what the technical term is for recanting blogs is, but I do need state now that there were some nuggets of wisdom contained in the book.

In addition to his message "We are not prepared", Mr. Peters used the phrase "Distinct or Extinct".  He expounded upon this statement by explaining the following:

1.  technology will continue to render many 20th century jobs obsolete

2.  re-tooling our skill set, re-imagining our views, re-engineering ourselves is not optional; rather, it is the price of admission to work in the 21st century

3.  technology will render many current jobs to a commodity status and faster than we are prepared to absorb it in our economy

4.  Americans will find their high-priced salaries/wages, relative to the rest of the world, as unsustainable for companies to remain competitive with the rest of the world (whither America's auto industry, steel industry, etc. and look at the impact of outsourcing)

5.  Therefore, we must continue differentiate ourselves lest we become extinct in the 21st century landscape

6.  Hence, "Distinct or Extinct" - let this be our clarion call to begin differentiating ourselves via training, learning, incessant curiosity, and embracing not fighting technology

Note: "Re-imagine! was written circa 2004.  Some of what Mr. Peters has admonished has manifested itself in the last 2 years in the "Great Recession".  To wit, 7 millions jobs have been lost in the US since 2007 yet worker productivity continues to increase.