The people in my MBA class are lucky. Save a few of the remaining 41 of us, everyone has a job, and has had a job throughout the program. A few of us have even gotten new and better jobs.

However, this is not the case for 10% of the country.

There is good and bad about the current economic downturn.

The bad is quite obvious – massive unemployment and its effects. We’ve heard enough doom and gloom from the mainstream media so I won’t dwell on that.

There is good however.

Many companies in the US and internationally had grown greedy and fat. One lesson from my recent MBA trip to Austria and Eastern Europe is that American banks and investment firms weren’t the only ones lending money to anyone with a pulse that showed up with an I.D. Everyone saw that they could get quick and huge returns, so out went the money. We all know how well that worked. Unfortunately, those of us still doing well are suffering because of this. I hope someone learned a lesson here, though with the banks, I doubt it.

The cliche “good enough for government work” does not only apply to the government. Sadly, there are still many in companies that go about their day to day job as if in a trance. Seth Godin calls it “sheepwalking,” a new favorite phrase of mine. Have you seen Office Space? Have you see The Office? That’s reality folks. Sad state of affairs. Well, these people can no longer hide. I’m hearing countless stories of leaders and executives telling people that if they don’t shift into high gear and start providing serious value to the company, they will have to move on.

Companies are leaning down, and asking people to do more with less. It’s survival of the fittest out there. The truly hard working and innovative are the ones that will survive. Add in globalization and you had really better step up your game.

Entire industries are changing forever. Automotive, finance, and energy to name a few. It’s up to us to swallow the hard pill of reality, figure out where the future is, how to align ourselves with it, and how to start going down that road as quickly as possible.

How are you preparing for this brave new world?