The Caveman, the Spear, and the Future of Your Career
By Mitchell Schuckman, PCC | Founder, The Schuckman Group
I recently imagined having a conversation with a caveman who had developed a particularly effective hunting spear. Business was booming. His neighbors were exchanging meat for his spears, and he was enjoying the prehistoric equivalent of a successful entrepreneurial career.
Then someone else figured out how to make spears. Competition increased, prices fell, and the animals were becoming harder to find. My caveman was understandably frustrated.
“I invented something that was supposed to make life easier,” he complained. “Now I've got more problems than I started with.”
“Perhaps you need to evolve your business,” I suggested.
“Into what? I've heard plumbing is a good career, but nobody's invented pipes yet.”
Fair enough.
The conversation never happened, of course. But it occurred to me while thinking about something I've been hearing increasingly often: Is artificial intelligence making careers in professional services a bad investment?
A Familiar Problem, Millions of Years Later
I recently read Reid Hoffman's Impromptu, which explores how AI might expand human capabilities. His optimism about technology's potential reminded me that human beings have been inventing tools, confronting their unintended consequences, and adapting for millions of years.
Stone tools, spears, the wheel, industrial machines, computers, and now AI have each changed what people can accomplish. They have also changed how people work, compete, and create value.
Our imaginary caveman friend might have responded by developing better spears, finding new customers, changing his prices, or helping people hunt more effectively. Some choices would work, others wouldn't.
The important point is that the invention of a tool was rarely the end of the story. It was often the beginning of another one.
And that brings me to a very modern career dilemma.
Should I Become a Plumber?
I wasn’t actually coaching him, but I was at a backyard barbeque a few weeks ago talking to a young man named Chris. He was a senior associate who was five years into his career at a large professional services firm. He had spent years in school, passed difficult examinations, worked long hours, and invested heavily in developing his expertise.
Now he's watching AI accomplish tasks in minutes that previously took him hours. He's seen a few of his friends get laid off and he’s reading predictions about massive white-collar job losses over the coming years. He's hearing that accounting, consulting, and legal careers may become considerably less attractive. And he's beginning to wonder whether he's made a terrible investment in his future.
“Should I just quit and become a plumber?” he asked.
I wouldn't dismiss the question. We need skilled tradespeople, and plumbing can be an excellent career. More importantly, his concerns about AI are legitimate.
Some professional work will disappear. Some services will become less valuable. Firms may need fewer people to perform certain tasks, and the traditional model for developing young professionals will have to change.
But before encouraging him to abandon his career, I wanted to explore something.
Is he worried that his profession will disappear, or that the activities he's currently performing will change?
Those are very different concerns.
The Coaching Conversation
I'd ask him to think about the work he's doing today.
Perhaps he spends hours researching technical questions, preparing analyses, drafting documents, or assembling presentations. AI is already making many of those activities faster and less expensive.
Then I'd ask what his clients are ultimately trying to accomplish.
Are they buying the research, or are they trying to make a difficult decision? Do they want a presentation, or do they need to persuade their board? Are they paying for a technical analysis, or for the confidence to take action?
The answers might help him see his career differently.
Back to my caveman friend. When everyone learned to make spears, the original spearmaker had a problem. But perhaps he also had an opportunity to become the person who understood hunting better than anyone else.
Chris, the senior associate, has a similar opportunity.
He can learn to use AI to become more efficient. He can develop a deeper understanding of his clients' businesses, improve his judgment, strengthen relationships, and become better at solving problems that matter.
He might also discover new services to offer or new markets to serve.
None of this guarantees his job will be secure. Adaptation isn't always easy, and the responsibility can't rest entirely on individuals. Professional firms need to rethink how they train, develop, and reward their people.
But Chris has more choices than simply defending his existing work or abandoning his profession.
And that's where I'd want our coaching conversation to lead.
What Are You Becoming?
I've been leveraging AI extensively in my own business, exploring how it can improve my preparation, challenge my thinking, connect ideas, and help me work more effectively with clients. Some experiments succeed. Others fail. But I'm learning something from each one.And I find myself increasingly interested in a question that applies to professionals at every stage of their careers.
If technology changes what you do, what could you become better at doing?
That's a more productive question than trying to predict which occupations will survive unchanged.
When I asked my imaginary caveman friend whether he'd figured out what to do about his competitors, he said “I think I'll learn more about hunting. Maybe develop a spear with a stronger shaft, find different customers, and teach people how to use the spears more effectively.”
“Sounds like you're evolving,” I replied.
Humanity has spent millions of years adapting to the consequences of its own inventions. AI presents extraordinary challenges, and some of the changes ahead will be painful.
But our greatest advantage has never been any particular tool.
It's our ability to keep learning what to do next.
Mitchell Schuckman is the Founder and CEO of The Schuckman Group LLC. He is a Professional Certified Coach credentialed by the International Coaching Federation and the author of I'll Tell You a Great Story. theschuckmangroup.com
Note on privacy: Names and identifying details have been changed. The experiences described are drawn from multiple client engagements and do not represent any single individual.