jrh
Well-Known Member
First off, this is not another gripe thread. You all know me, and I don't like complaining very often.
What I wanted to bring up was a really good book I just finished reading a couple days ago.
Last week I was hanging out at a friend's place and noticed a book on her shelf called "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and Their Employees)." It's by a guy named Patrick Lencioni. Normally I don't bother with business type books, but knowing how much pilots complain about work, and being an inexperienced manager myself, I started skimming through it. After reading a couple chapters I couldn't put it down.
It's the true story of a highly successful CEO who retired, got bored out of his mind, and started managing a small fast food restaurant for something to do. From that experience he came to realize what it takes to have a satisfying job.
See, most people look at "good jobs" or "bad jobs" as nothing more than doing as little work as possible for the most amount of money possible.
The CEO admitted that if a person isn't paid well enough to provide for food and shelter, money factors in to how happy they are. However, it's a relatively small part of the overall picture. This is why rock stars, professional athletes, and even a lot of highly paid CEOs aren't really *that* happy with their work.
He explained that deeper than good and bad jobs, a person can have a satisfying job or a miserable job. A miserable job is a job that you dread going in to no matter how much it pays.
So, what determines the difference between a satisfying job and a miserable job? Three simple elements:
Anonymity--If a person feels like nobody knows them at work, they won't be happy. And this means really knowing a person, not just knowing facts about them. People need to have a genuine interest in each other. It could be their boss, and/or their coworkers who take an interest in them, but somebody needs to really know what a person's like on a deeper, personal level for them to be happy.
Irrelevance--If a person doesn't see how they're making a difference in the world, they'll never be truly satisfied. They need to feel like they're having an impact on something. That impact could be as simple as knowing how much easier it is on their coworkers when they do a good job, but it has to be something.
Immeasurable--If a person can't quantitatively measure progress in one area or another they'll be miserable. We all have an inner desire to keep moving forward in life and if we can't see it happening in a measurable way, we get frustrated.
When I looked back on all the jobs I've had, these three elements prove amazingly true. I think it also explains why some airline pilots hate their jobs (no friends from work, don't see the point in going from city to city repeatedly, don't see anything changing regardless of how good of a job they do) while other pilots love it (make friends with the crew easily, take pride in helping their passengers, take pride in safe, efficient operations, always striving to get better).
This is also why I really enjoy my own work as an instructor. I'm friends with everyone from the office, I know I'm making a difference in the safety and happiness of my customers, and I can continously measure my progress through hours billed, pass/fail rates, or whatever. It's also why I keep flying skydivers even though it pays next to nothing. I'm friends with everyone from the dropzone, I like helping other people relax and have a good time, and I can measure my performance with faster turnaround times, more loads per day, etc.
Maybe this all sounds obvious, but I'd never seen it broken down in to such simple guidelines before. I think it can make a difference on a person's outlook with their current job, as well as analyze what they want out of their next job, rather than just chasing money and time off for the rest of their life.
Hope this helps you.
What I wanted to bring up was a really good book I just finished reading a couple days ago.
Last week I was hanging out at a friend's place and noticed a book on her shelf called "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and Their Employees)." It's by a guy named Patrick Lencioni. Normally I don't bother with business type books, but knowing how much pilots complain about work, and being an inexperienced manager myself, I started skimming through it. After reading a couple chapters I couldn't put it down.
It's the true story of a highly successful CEO who retired, got bored out of his mind, and started managing a small fast food restaurant for something to do. From that experience he came to realize what it takes to have a satisfying job.
See, most people look at "good jobs" or "bad jobs" as nothing more than doing as little work as possible for the most amount of money possible.
The CEO admitted that if a person isn't paid well enough to provide for food and shelter, money factors in to how happy they are. However, it's a relatively small part of the overall picture. This is why rock stars, professional athletes, and even a lot of highly paid CEOs aren't really *that* happy with their work.
He explained that deeper than good and bad jobs, a person can have a satisfying job or a miserable job. A miserable job is a job that you dread going in to no matter how much it pays.
So, what determines the difference between a satisfying job and a miserable job? Three simple elements:
Anonymity--If a person feels like nobody knows them at work, they won't be happy. And this means really knowing a person, not just knowing facts about them. People need to have a genuine interest in each other. It could be their boss, and/or their coworkers who take an interest in them, but somebody needs to really know what a person's like on a deeper, personal level for them to be happy.
Irrelevance--If a person doesn't see how they're making a difference in the world, they'll never be truly satisfied. They need to feel like they're having an impact on something. That impact could be as simple as knowing how much easier it is on their coworkers when they do a good job, but it has to be something.
Immeasurable--If a person can't quantitatively measure progress in one area or another they'll be miserable. We all have an inner desire to keep moving forward in life and if we can't see it happening in a measurable way, we get frustrated.
When I looked back on all the jobs I've had, these three elements prove amazingly true. I think it also explains why some airline pilots hate their jobs (no friends from work, don't see the point in going from city to city repeatedly, don't see anything changing regardless of how good of a job they do) while other pilots love it (make friends with the crew easily, take pride in helping their passengers, take pride in safe, efficient operations, always striving to get better).
This is also why I really enjoy my own work as an instructor. I'm friends with everyone from the office, I know I'm making a difference in the safety and happiness of my customers, and I can continously measure my progress through hours billed, pass/fail rates, or whatever. It's also why I keep flying skydivers even though it pays next to nothing. I'm friends with everyone from the dropzone, I like helping other people relax and have a good time, and I can measure my performance with faster turnaround times, more loads per day, etc.
Maybe this all sounds obvious, but I'd never seen it broken down in to such simple guidelines before. I think it can make a difference on a person's outlook with their current job, as well as analyze what they want out of their next job, rather than just chasing money and time off for the rest of their life.
Hope this helps you.
