Abundance Asia Automation Test
Evaluate your career resilience against three forces reshaping the economy
The Abundance Asia Automation Test is a three-question diagnostic that helps professionals evaluate whether their current work is vulnerable to the three macro forces reshaping the global economy. Question one - Can someone overseas do it cheaper? If routine knowledge work can be done by well-educated workers in Asia at a fraction of the cost, your job is at risk from globalization. Question two - Can a computer do it faster? If algorithms and automation can perform your core tasks more efficiently, your job is at risk from technology. Question three - Is what you offer in demand in an age of abundance? If material needs are saturated and consumers seek beauty, meaning, and emotional connection rather than just functionality, purely functional work loses value. Any yes answer signals the need to develop high concept and high touch abilities that cannot be outsourced, automated, or rendered obsolete by material abundance.
- Three specific macro forces determine whether analytical work retains its premium value
- Any work that can be reduced to rules and routines is vulnerable to outsourcing or automation
- Abundance shifts demand from functional to emotional and meaningful
- The test identifies vulnerability not destiny - the response is to develop complementary skills
- Ask the Asia QuestionExamine whether your core work tasks could be performed by someone overseas at significantly lower cost. Consider whether your work can be transmitted digitally, whether it requires physical presence, and whether the skills involved are teachable to well-educated workers in other countries. If yes, your work is vulnerable to offshoring and you need to develop capabilities that require cultural context, physical presence, or creative judgment that cannot be easily transferred.Pro tipThe question is not whether it will be outsourced but whether it could be - even partial outsourcing erodes the premium on routine knowledge work
- Ask the Automation QuestionEvaluate whether a computer or algorithm could perform your core tasks faster and more accurately than you can. Consider whether your work follows predictable patterns, involves routine calculations, or consists of applying rules to data. If yes, your work is vulnerable to software automation and you need to develop capabilities that require creativity, empathy, ethical judgment, or novel problem-solving that machines cannot replicate.
- Ask the Abundance QuestionAssess whether what you offer is still in demand when basic material needs are met. In an age of abundance where consumers can get adequate versions of almost anything cheaply, purely functional offerings lose their premium. If your work produces something functional but undifferentiated, you need to add elements of design, story, meaning, or emotional resonance that create value beyond mere utility.
Law was long considered a safe prestigious career for analytically minded professionals. But routine legal work like document review and basic contract drafting began being outsourced to well-educated lawyers in India at a fraction of US rates. Simultaneously, legal research software began automating work previously done by junior associates. The lawyers who thrived were those who added empathy, negotiation, storytelling, and creative problem-solving to their analytical foundation.
Daniel Pink developed this test by analyzing the three converging forces he observed transforming the economy in the early 2000s. Abundance meant that in developed nations basic material needs were met, shifting demand toward aesthetics and meaning. The rise of highly educated workforces in Asia meant routine knowledge work could be done for far less. And rapid advances in computing meant software could handle tasks once considered the exclusive domain of educated professionals. He distilled these forces into three simple questions that anyone could use to evaluate their career vulnerability.