"Only now do we see the value in people"

Scots cannot deny the men who built the glorious ships, dug the coal that fired them and who shaped the far off places of the empire where they docked, their place as historical giants.

But we must wave all that firmly goodbye. Scotland cannot have one foot in the era of the internet, e-mail and the Euro and another in the heavy industries of the past.

Just as we cannot have our heart in 1978 Argentina and our head in 2002 Bertie Vogts. It is not such a frivolous analogy. In a time where we are finally embracing modern, exciting football with young, talented Scots, we cannot cling on to a dusty, dirty past, with old, worn out memories.

The people who will sadly lose their jobs at Longannet will hopefully find new work swiftly.

The local enterprise company and other agencies are stepping in to offer them help with careers, benefits, retraining and learning opportunities.

Many will have plans to start their own businesses or turn to learning to retrain for a new career.

As a nation we are masters at doom and gloom, it is written into our stereotype along with shortbread and bagpipes

This emphasis on the individual, on the human resource, will hopefully soften the blow for most.

But as many Scottish companies start to see learning and personal development opportunities for employees as a core part of the job, we are starting to see the person coming before the profit.

As our workers become better skilled, more flexible and adaptable, our economy will reap the benefits.

As a nation we are masters at doom and gloom, it is written into our stereotype along with shortbread and bagpipes.

It has been said many times before, but it is significant how the image of the happy-go-lucky Irishman goes hand in hand with a thriving economy.

Perhaps our attitude to ourselves and our past needs to change before we can win economic success.

"There are some great success stories"

The economists would say this is nonsense. That there is hard economic fact for our successes and our failures.

But if our attitude when we get up in the morning can affect our day at work; if seeing our cup as half empty rather than half full can affect the life choices we make, why doesn't seeing ourselves as a downtrodden, great-days-behind-us, unlucky loser, create a cocktail of poor decision-making and less than innovative thinking that contributes to a listless economy?

There are some great success stories in Scotland. Stagecoach, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Weir Group and Standard Life are examples of a roaring nation.

Modern, lithe, companies with international agendas. This should be the model for every healthy Scot, never mind the sectors they work in.

In addition to these companies there is much work being done to change Scotland's learning culture with organisations like the Scottish University for Industry advocating learning and training for all and creating opportunities for Scots to access learning at a time, place and a pace that suits the learner. These are the foundations that will hopefully build better Scots for a better economy.

But we must not only build a better economy but one of greater substance.

By putting the individual first...we can maybe start building more of our own multi-nationals

For too long our future has been built on dying industries and transient inward investment.

But we have learned hard lessons. Motorola and NEC in particular have taught us much.

Our economic houses must be made of stronger stuff, incapable of being blown down by the sniffles of far away countries. We must no longer rely on others.

By putting the individual first, by training them to be highly skilled and adaptable and by working hard to make them mentally positive, we can maybe start building more of our own multi-nationals and world beaters.

Longannet must be a difficult signpost on the way to happier destinations. We cannot forget the Scots who shaped our history, but we must remember that it is us who will shape our future.

Are we ready for it? With a bit of belief and some positive, innovative ideas we can build a modern, prosperous Scotland. Who knows, we might even help Bertie build a team of world beaters.