“Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I’m working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too, I’d say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work.”
When we moved to Texas I was unemployed. I quit my job at US Bank and my wife quit hers at a social services agency and we made a big life change by moving from Washington state to Texas. In hindsight, it really was a big decision and new start. For a couple months I was looking for a job. Eventually I got a job with a chemical company called Celanese. It was essentially a glorified customer service position, servicing other businesses that bought from us. I did that for about 18 months and I enjoyed it. The people I worked with were great, the work kept me busy for the most part and my boss was good to work for.
The thing with big companies is that it’s more or less expected that you move up the corporate ladder. The concept is that you’ve learned and mastered one position so you should seek out a promotion in a new position, often in a new department. I think this is a flawed logic because I believe people should stick to what they’re good at and not try to do something new just for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder. But if you choose to play the corporate game, these are the rules. So the time soon came that I should move on to a “new challenge”. I eventually ended up in the Logistics department in a new position called a “Logistics Specialist”. It sounded important, but trust me, it wasn’t…at all. Not even a little. Some advice, be extremely wary of taking a job where the position has been newly created. I’ve seen this happen many times, even in our own business, where a new position is created and it sounds exciting and full of opportunity, but doesn’t turn out well. I think this is because if the position is not extremely defined and communicated to the person and thorough training/support is not provided, the person fails. I was no exception, but we’ll come back to that.
So I began this new position and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. Insufficient skills, inexperience, undefined responsibilities, egos and office politics, no direction. All these things lead to a boring and dreadful job. Some were my fault, but I think a lot of it was my manager’s fault. I say that with the experience of being an employee managed by someone and as someone who has managed others. For months I would literally walk into my windowless office sit at my desk and turn on my computer and do nothing. I would fumble around on my computer acting as if I had work to do, but I was not doing a single thing. No one relied on me and I didn’t rely on anyone else to do my job. My job was absolutely not necessary, thus I was not necessary. That’s a terrible feeling. The dread of coming into work knowing there wasn’t any work to be done is a miserable way to live. People fantasize having a job where they don’t have to do anything. I can tell you that that’s an awful job to have because you create zero value for the company, therefore you truly are expendable.
While I don’t believe your job should be your identity, nor should you solely rely on it to find purpose and fulfillment in your life, I do think it can provide some satisfaction. This job left me feeling empty and fake. I learned that working can be good for you. I actually enjoy working hard, both mentally and physically. Work can provide you satisfaction and fulfillment through accomplishing something challenging. I wish I could say that I figured out a way to redefine my job, worked hard with my manager to refocus to find success in this role and thrived in it and to this day others line up to try to get this coveted position. None of that happened. In fact, the whole supply chain department, which included Logistics, was outsourced and my position was to be eliminated in a few months. It was unexpected, but not really. I mean, they were paying me to literally do nothing, so I couldn’t blame them. Thankfully, I didn’t have to take the offered severance pay because I was able to find another job in a different department that was much, much better.
The lesson I learned is that some jobs are physically demanding, have long hard hours, require a lot of creativity or mental strength and those things can be tough. They can also be rewarding and provide you with a sense of accomplishment. But jobs where there’s no work to be done are truly miserable. They leave you feeling empty and unsatisfied. Go towards work, not away from it.
Gradual Ascent 