Book Review: The Obsolete Employee

(Virtual Source Press, 2007, ISBN-10: 0966248465, Hardback, $16.47 (Amazon Price))

Michael Russer has been a leader in virtual outsourcing for some time -- particularly in the real estate industry, where he’s internationally known -- and much of that accumulated expertise is on display here. (Full disclosure: Chris and I co-authored a popular book with Michael some time ago, Transform Your Business Using Virtual Assistants, for Real Estate Professionals.)

The Obsolete Employee -- which is directed primarily toward the hirers of virtual service providers, but can be used by the latter to educate their clients and prospects as well -- is written in a vigorous style that carries the reader along with a reassuring momentum and upbeat tone, which are ideal for innovative themes and the underlying, pro-outsourcing proposition.

After all, proponents of virtual outsourcing are often asking people to step into a world they may know little of, and risk significant elements of their businesses into the bargain -- entrusting the latter to the tender care not just of strangers, but invisible strangers, often far away! This is an anxious process (as experienced virtual service providers and their clients well know), where the cold data of benefits alone may not “make the sale,” and tone and momentum become paramount in overcoming potential concerns.

Russer, who has extensive experience as a professional speaker (in other words, an independent entrepreneur), and has been working with a virtual staff for some time, is one of a small group of experts who can speak to issues of small-business outsourcing with veteran authority. He has “walked the talk” and dealt with the good and bad of offsite support on a longstanding, regular basis. This places him in an ideal position to have written this book.

(This also means that Russer’s is not the story of the mature corporation that tried to send a large software project to Bangalore or call center operations to Manila, and readers seeking guidance on such decisions will have to look elsewhere.)

The author also handles tactfully the distinction between Virtual Assistants and Virtual Consultants, which can be awkward when commentators or authors portray the latter as being of higher professional standing or caliber than the former.

Russer also explores the neglected but critical distinction between outsourcing in the small-business context, and what he calls “Enterprise Outsourcing” (aka “offshoring”), which the consulting shops -- and to a lesser degree the media -- habitually miss. Fortune 500s outsourcing to India grab the headlines, while the future Fortune 500s -- outsourcing within North America, and helping people work from home and reinforce their families and communities and lead greener lifestyles -- are the real story, as this reviewer and Christine Durst have long contended.

And speaking of environmentalism, this book should be prescribed reading for the green movement. There are few single acts that benefit the environment more than working from home, and this book is one of the few on the market that show businesspeople why they should embrace the model. Al Gore, take note!

(For more information on the book, see http://www.theobsoleteemployee.com .)

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