"At Scholastic, I realized eventually that the best way for me to create that dynamic was to be outside the organization," Gould continues. "That way, I wasn't bound by existing rules or politics. I really believe in what the company is trying to accomplish. But I could contribute more effectively -- and I could have more fun -- working as a consultant to the company, rather than as an employee of the company." Gould was lucky, but -- like most change insurgents -- he also made his own luck.

The most undeniable truth of the new economy is that there is a surplus of exciting, challenging, and worthwhile work to be done -- and a deficit of change insurgents to do it. If you're a smart, hardworking, talented change insurgent, and your company can't change, won't change, or doesn't even recognize the need to change, you may simply be in the wrong place -- at the right time. Look for a company that genuinely appreciates the need for constant change and challenge. Or launch your own company -- and find other change insurgents who will run with you.

Business is constantly changing. Competition is constantly changing. Technology is constantly changing. Face it: There's no better time to be a change insurgent.

Robert B. Reich (reich@brandeis.edu) is an author, a professor, a former labor secretary, and a change insurgent. His new book, The Future of Success (Alfred A. Knopf), will be out in January.

Sidebar: How to Detect Change Resisters: It's in Their Talk

It's as much a law of work as it is a law of physics: For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Change insurgents are bound to evoke their opposite: change resisters. How can you tell who's a change resister and who's not? Listen to what people say.

1. "That seems risky." Of course it's risky. The question is whether the risk is worth it, given the chance that it might work -- and also the inherent risk of not changing.
2. "Let's go back to the basics." What basics? Mass production? Command-and-control organizations? The idea that "basics" exist is usually wrong, because the world has changed profoundly since the time when there was one right way to do everything.
3. "It worked before." Past success is the enemy of change -- especially when it's offered as a safe alternative to blazing a new trail.
4. "We're fine just the way we are." Maybe -- but it's unlikely that you'll stay fine unless you change. Success breeds complacency.
5. "There's no threat." There's always a threat, there are always dangers -- and if they're not "out there," they're "in here": Internal threats are often the most destructive.
6. "That's not in our core competence." Too bad. You'd better learn. Any organization that lets itself be bound by its old competencies is building its own coffin.
7. "The numbers don't work." Old models are often irrelevant to the new economy. Pay attention to cash flow, but don't let the "green eyeshades" prevent change from happening.
8. "It's a slippery slope. Once we start down that road, there's no stopping place." The real message: I'm not in control anymore! That part is true: Customers are in control. Old-fashioned control freaks are not in control. Anything that's not working can be ended immediately. What can't be stopped are successes.
9. "There will be unforeseen consequences." Naturally there will be, because the new economy is nothing but unforeseen consequences -- which is why constant change is necessary.

Sidebar: You Can Be a Change Insurgent

In the lexicon of job titles of the future, being a "change insurgent" is something that anyone can claim. In fact, "change insurgent" is the kind of title that you can add to your existing title, like an abbreviation for an honorary degree: "vice president, marketing, CI." Here's how you can qualify.

You don't have to be at the top of the organization.

In the old economy, leadership was another way of saying "formal authority." In the new economy, power comes from knowledge and creativity -- which means that change insurgents can, and should, be anywhere.

Power lies with people who know the technology.

People closest to the technology (programmers, designers, engineers) are in the best position to discover what the technology is capable of doing -- what can be tweaked or altered to get a different result. Geeks are also most likely to be in the "gossip circle" about what's cooking elsewhere. The job of every change insurgent is to bring that information to bear on the company's operations.

Power lies with people who know the market.