Everybody's naked

In the old economy, most people's careers were hidden in the sense that you could not see how well (or poorly) they were doing. Sure, there were some signs, like the title of the person on his/her business card. But that was it.

Today, we live in what Don Tapscott calls the age of the naked corporation. Everybody's career performance is public information.

If you're registered at LinkedIn, you can be sure that the HR department at your company has already seen your profile. You can also be sure that the fiercest competitors you have in your industry (whom you may not have met yet) have already checked you out, and have seen your stats (number of connections, number of endorsements, quality of profile - language and content, etc.

The main change is that whereas before, career competition was a sort of submarine warfare where battles were waged based on what you heard (sonar, sounds), today career battles are more in the open, more like sea battles.

Watch the movie Master and Commander - the Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe. It is a breathtaking illustration of the kind of brutal career warfare that will take place in today's economy.