Overcome boredom
What makes for rewarding work is learning, growing, and finding ways to making a difference
DEAR J.T. & DALE: My husband started a new job and is having a blast working at a company that’s the Google of our city. It’s great for him, but it stinks for me because I’m stuck in a dead-end job. Seeing him excited makes it harder for me. What should I do? — Amelia
Dale: Your question reminds me of one we addressed late last year. Tony Lesce of Albuquerque sent us a response that sums up how many people feel about work: “Poor Brad! He is bored. Gee, if he wants to be amused, he should go to an amusement park. Many jobs are boring. That’s a fact of life. This is why the boss pays you to do it. Otherwise, you’d be paying him.”
J.T.: That’s a gloomy view, especially when passed along by you, the author of a book about great leaders, called “The Gifted Boss.”
Dale: Yes, but I was writing about the top 1 percent of bosses. To work for a special boss, you have to make yourself special.
J.T.: Before we get to that, I want to tell Amelia that I’ve seen plenty of corporate-culture junkies who are almost cultish in their devotion. Good news: They almost always mellow out as they become accustomed to the work environment. Meanwhile, the bigger concern is your feelings of jealousy. Do not throw out a perfectly good career just because there isn’t a Google-type company for you to work for. (Speaking of which, try Googling an article I wrote, “Five Reasons You May Not Want To Work for Google.” There are downsides, like the extreme commitment it requires and being characterized as a “groupie” should you want to move on.) Take some time to think about what makes you happy at work and how to do more of it.
Dale: Exactly. A great job isn’t free muffins and nap rooms. What makes for rewarding work is learning, growing and making a difference. It’s great to have a wonderful boss challenging you; however, you can take on that role yourself. Set a tough goal — any goal. I met an assistant manager of a convenience store who decided that his store would be the cleanest in the city. Big deal? Yes. He makes a game of it, which means he’s not bored. Plus, a gifted boss is going to spot him and bring him into a great job.
Best of the month
Dale: Time for our suggestions for new careeroriented resources. This time, we picked a pair of new books about finding new meaning in work.
J.T.: First is Robert Maurer’s “One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.” The author is an M.D. with the UCLA School of Medicine. He discovered that the Japanese technique of continuous improvement could help with his medical practice. He tells the story of a patient stuck in a sedentary lifestyle. Instead of offering her the typical exercise suggestions, which rarely are followed, he asked her to march in place for 60 seconds a day. He knew that wouldn’t make her fit, but he hoped it would be the first step of many. And it was. She soon worked up to regular aerobic workouts.
Dale: Another of his examples comes from a policeman who hated his job. Maurer asked him to start writing down one moment a day when he enjoyed his work. As he did, he saw a pattern: He liked talking with prisoners. He’s now getting training to become a counselor and that re-energized his police work.
J.T.: While Maurer’s book is a great primer, our other choice is “The Business Romantic” by Tim
Leberecht, which is a deeper look at finding meaning at work.
Dale: Yes, it’s a more philosophical book, but still it harkens back to the smallest increments of meaning — to moments. Leberecht argues that you don’t need to always love your work, but that you must have “... the ability to create and find moments of love in what you do and how you do it.” That’s the theme of both books: work as the opportunity for moments that surpass the ordinariness of the everyday.