Good Idea, Chap: Outsourcing and Funny Cat Videos- a Good Match?

Link to podcast:

<< http://www.mixcloud.com/antonipeychev/good-idea-chap-outsourcing-and-funny-cat-videos-a-good-match/ >>

Ten years ago, the word ‘outsourcing’ wasn’t even in the dictionary. I know that for a fact as, at the time, I had every dictionary ever published in every country.

On a more serious note, though, outsourcing work to various mediums has pretty much become the norm in recent years.

For those of you who are still using their ten- year- old dictionaries, it might be worth noting that ‘outsourcing’ means, in simple terms, delegating part of your tasks to an external company.

It must also be noted, however, that this is normally done for several reasons, namely:

• To rid yourself of your mundane tasks such as, say, document production or stock supply so that you can concentrate on the more challenging aspects of your work

• To pay less for the said services (rather than paying overtime to your own staff)

• To get someone who is proficient (or at least better than you) in doing something to do it for you

• To watch more hilarious cat videos on YouTube

Many of you probably thought that I was joking (or at least attempting to do so) by the above smug reference to funny cat clips; well, I wasn’t.

Recently, in the US, it was found out that a certain software developer had outsourced ALL of his duties and tasks to a consultancy firm in China so that he could have more time to focus on Facebook, Ebay, LinkedIn and, of course, funny cat videos.

(See << http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/16/software-developer-outsources-own-job >>)

Further to the above, it was consequently discovered that he had done the same with several other software development firms and, as a result, he earned several hundred thousand dollars per year whilst paying the Chinese consultancy firm a couple of tens of thousands.

The above incident was dubbed as a ‘shocking scam’ by many commentators at the time; in fact, the whole system of outsourcing was viciously attacked as a result.

Nevertheless, most of the said commentators had failed to take one tiny bit into account: in a capitalistic world, delegation is king.

FT’s Lucy Kellaway, whom I rarely agree with, has also recently done an article on outsourcing. She points out that she will never be able to outsource her work for two reasons:

• She will not be able to live with the fact that someone is better at doing her job than she is

• She loves her job too much

(See << http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/if-i-outsourced-this-column-would-you-care/article7947482/?service=mobile >> )

I’m sure she was quite genuine in saying that, NOT.

Frankly, there is nothing wrong with delegating part of your work to someone. You should not, however, try to get someone to do your own job.

Want to know why?

Because your contract says you can’t do that and that if you do, it will be considered gross misconduct for which you can be dismissed without notice.

So before we start getting all marshmallow-y about how much we love our jobs and cannot stand the fact that someone else might be better at them (statements which are, of course, quite true) we need to face the fact that no employer will pay its workers to hunt around for people that they can pay to do their jobs MORE efficiently AND for LESS money.

From a purely logical point of view, don’t you think that if an employer finds out who those people are, he’ll just employ them instead, their services being cheaper and more efficient…?

So, before you outsource anything to anyone, it might well be a good idea to think before you act. In the end, you might well end up having all the time in the world to watch funny cat videos on YouTube.

And, believe me, you don’t want that; it DOES get boring after you’ve seen about fifty in a row.