Q. People are comparing our economic crisis to the Great Depression. I find myself worrying about everything at work. How bad do you think it's going to get in our workplaces?

A. As a result of the economic challenges that surround us globally, nationally and at work, two new insights are crashing like tsunamis into our awareness (and it's too late to head for the high ground of unconsciousness).

First, we cannot continue to live a financial fantasy about our lifestyles. We will actually have to live within our means.

Second, we will have to give up the notion of being employees, and will have to become entrepreneurs instead. Workplaces can no longer promise security.

Most of us have been dimly aware of both of these insights for some time. Our current crisis is just putting us in touch with a reality that we've refused to see because it wasn't convenient.

The human species is not wired to love change. Often when reality has shifted around us, we cling tightly to the past and play a game of "tell me it ain't so." It is only when reality comes crashing in that we become resilient, grieve what we previously believed, and adapt.

Change is in the air in and out of our workplaces. We face great opportunities and great challenges. As a nation we have always excelled at creative problem solving, and these times will demand no less. Continued...