Enjoying Work?

Monday, May 12, 2008

I would say the vast majority of jobs are comprised of clearly defined responsibilities, fulfilling those job responsibilities, and going home at the end of the day done with the list of responsibilities you've been given for the day. It seems that this model of work is found nearly everywhere - McDonalds, Wal-mart, Starbucks...and perhaps most desk jobs?

This is where I'm still wrestling with my own work. If I'm okay simply with doing the tasks given me, then it means I don't ruffle any feathers or stir the water. But, if I want to change things, do things differently, or do something new, it begins to stir the water. The easy thing would be to simply show up at work at 8am, do my duties for the day, and leave at 5. But the easy thing isn't fulfilling, exciting, or appealing.

And so, I continue to struggle. I'm sure there are jobs out there where you're hired and encouraged to continue changing and growing things. I don't think they're nearly as common as the other kind of job - where you show up, do your list of duties, and leave.

I also don't believe that it's only the upper echelon jobs that ought to have the freedom to develop, create, and change things. I'm sure the argument is that experience and knowledge is what gives only the upper echelon and management the right to do these things...but, among other obvious responses to that ridiculous claim, is this: if people have been trained their entire careers to "just do as you're told," how in the world do we expect them to become creative and risk takers? They're not and thus why the majority of corporations and companies continue to look adn function exactly the same from year to year. Which, I believe, is also why companies that give employees the ability to create, develop, or change do well: AES (huge energy company, I'm reading Joy at Work by the co-founder right now), Google, Apple, etc.

So all that say, I don't think I'm ever going to be okay settling for a "do as your told job" - I might be able to bear it for a short time, but I suspect that it will always drain me.