Tag: Work

Here’s the thing.  If you want someone else to tell you each and every detail of a process so that you’re sure you’ll succeed – your results will always be limited.

Get it? No?

Their System, Their Results.

If I join a weight loss plan, and eat exactly what they tell me to eat, use their process, be it a calculation that only they understand or a package that they’ve determined is a meal, then I will be limited to the results that someone else’s plan or package can deliver AND I’ll be limited to using their system as long as I want to maintain my weight.

If I take a position at a company, study my job description, and I use that as the metric for what I’m going to do on a daily basis, then I am forever tied to that position.  I will not be demonstrating that I’m ready for another position AND forever after I’ll be tied to that static definition of success.

So What?

Well, for starters, I’ve hemmed myself in.  In an effort to avoid disappointment, I’ve reduced my possible outcomes.  Because I’m only going to follow one path, because I’m going to measure my food against an unchanging plan, because I’m going to measure my job performance against a static scale, the scale of my possible achievements has just shrunk. 

Let’s look at the opposite.

If I create my own weight loss plan, I might be less successful in the first months of trying. However, I’ll be learning.  I’ll be trying things that I thought of and measuring the results.   It’s possible that I’ll find a formula that creates weight loss.  In fact, as long as I never stop taking action – planning what I’m going to eat and eating exactly that – measuring results and then adjusting – I will drop weight.   I will also build internal confidence in the weight loss process because it arose from inside myself.  I’ll know more about what causes me to drop weight than I ever would on someone else’s plan.  At the end, when I’m at goal, I’m not tied to anyone’s boxed meal or secret formula.  I’ll have self-confidence around weight loss. I’m also more likely to lose faster than my friend on a plan, because I won’t be limited to someone else’s schedule or process.    I’m also more likely to lose slower for the same reason.  The number of possible outcomes has expanded in every way.  

The same goes for my job. 

If I believe that it’s up to me to define what my responsibilities are, I’ve just blown open the doors on possible outcomes in my career as compared to a person who is measuring themselves against a single yardstick or job description.  

The process is the same.   I define a set of actions that I imagine will create the job results that I want.  I take those actions consistently, then I measure where I’m at.  I tweak my proscribed actions and repeat the process.  

For instance, I might decide that I love the feeling of completing a task and I want my job to include completing tasks quickly and often.  So I set up a course of action.  Every Monday, I’ll consider what results I need to achieve by the end of the week – say one report created, two reviews done, five hundred lines of code or one project promoted – whatever it is, then I break that down into tasks about a half hour in length each.   I double check the tasks against my calendar,  modulate the quantity so that it’s achievable and start checking off the boxes for each task.  At the end of the week I measure my output, my job satisfaction, etc.   Did I love the feeling of completing tasks?  Did I get the result I wanted from this?   If not, I evaluate why, adjust and try again.   In time, I should be plowing through tasks and creating results efficiently.   If I’m the kind of person that loves that type of work process, my job satisfaction should go up. 

If I work in an industry that appreciates that type of work process, then I should see my performance scores or salary go up.  

If my industry doesn’t value high task completion, then I may see my performance scores go down or my salary stagnate.  Then I can decide what action to take next. 

Either way, the possible outcomes for me at work have expanded in every way.  I am now in control of the results I get at work, I have confidence in my ability to define my job and achieve the results I want, all of which should translate into less uncertainty about my ability to continue to keep myself employed over the long run.

My friend who wanders into her boss’s office each week for a list of tasks to do is working in a way that our society tells us is less risky.  That’s not true.  She has reduced the risk of making a mistake, but she’s increased the risk of missed opportunity.  She has less of a chance of building confidence, creating a  super-enjoyable job and less chance of exemplary achievement. 

There’s an argument to be made that she’s traded her potential for stability.   That argument is shaky given that we don’t know how well her boss assigns work and how long the job she is currently doing will remain viable.   Should she lose that job, she will most likely only feel confident in seeking the same job elsewhere.  And in knowledge work… the jobs we were doing yesterday are often obsolete today.

So What is the Take Away? 

When you Define Your Process, You Own the Results

And that my friends, is pretty powerful MoJo.

Next Week:

Three Secrets About Work

Guaranteed to Change The Way You Think About Your Job