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The job I enjoyed the most was one I did for 3.5 years. But it had one of the worst jackasses you could imagine, as its manager. So I just learned my job, did it in the best way I could and ignored him, as much as possible. The key was that by doing the job well and gaining favor with co-workers, clients and higher-level managers, any attempts by him to derail me, were not supported by the Division Director.
After losing a couple of attempted showdowns with me, the department manager learned it was best to leave me alone and focus his bullying on others, who had more reason to fear him. But I'll never forget the flash of joy that went across his face, when I told him I was leaving to return to college. In his little world, he apparently thought of me, as I did of him. I never realized what an easy job it is to be a student, until after I'd had to deal with him all that time.
Let's say your company produces widgets. You can make a widget in say 4 hours. But if you want a widget done WELL, well then maybe 6 hours to make one, and spend maybe another 2 hours to check it over, put touches on it. Not so bad for an 8 hour day.
But people want to make as much $ as possible. So, your boss says, "We make the best darn widgets for the price we charge." And he gets an order of widgets and orders you to make 10 widgets a week.
While that's possible, all of these widgets have different customers specifications. So, one might take 4 hours to make, one might take a whole 8 hours. And since you need to spend 4 hours tops to make a widget to meet your quota, you either spend your own time to make sure it's done right, or go home for the day.
Now ... all of a sudden your boss calls you into his office. Mr. XYZ has called and his widget has a defect. Now that's a mark against the company. And a mark against you. "F@ck. How did I miss that? That will never happen again." But mistakes do happen again.
Or ... maybe you have a bad day. You had a fight with your wife and you can't concentrate Monday morning. Well ... now you're a widget behind schedule. You have to make that time up.
On top of that, the guy next to you makes 12 widgets a week somehow and is witty and people love him.
So ... now you're going into a place where you need to work virtually every hour of the day to meet your widget quota, you're constantly worried about keeping up with widget making trends, which really only takes away from your widget making time, you're constantly worried about your boss calling you into his office pointing out the mistake you made on this widget that you can't believe you somehow missed, and the co-worker next to you is making more widgets than you and with less mistakes.
Now THAT'S stress.
Does this situation sound familiar to anybody?
Yes, it sounds incredibly familiar. People on my team take vacations so they can get caught up on work - without getting more work.
I've thought about this and I think it comes down to feeling trapped or having limited options.
My entire outlook changed when I realized I would be perfectly fine if my job went away... call it liberating.
I also believe others can sense this... especially employers.
Early on... I have seen this with some of our trauma nurses... they are really good and good to work with... but they have tons of options and the Hospital Admin knows it... so they are treated with respect and defference.
Once a person needs are met... money is no longer at the top of the list... and this can change a person's outlook dramatically...
The secret is not to have kids. Maybe a wife/husband and dog with a standard 100-150k house. Thats it. Less of an expense associated and you are in a position to call more of your own shots. You don't have to provide for a ton of people. Power is when you have nothing or just the basics. . Or you have a lot. When you don't have much you don't care. You have power because you don't care. And the key is take the power out of the employer's hands
If its just two working adults and a pet, you are in a position to call more of your own shots
The secret is not to have kids. Maybe a wife/husband and dog. Thats it. Less of an expense associated and you are in a position to call more of your own shots. You don't have to provide for a ton of people. Power is when you have nothing. Or you have a lot. When you don't have much you don't care. You have power because you don't care. And the key is take the power out of the employer's hands
If your goal is to "take power out of the employer's hands" then start your own company. The downside of that is you bear all the downside risk of failure. That's not the case when you let the employer 'have the power'.
It shouldn't have to be that way, but so many of us have awful times at our jobs. Many times, you leave one bad place and the next place is worse. Bad managers and bad coworkers are everywhere. I've heard all sorts of stories from family members and have experienced many nasty people at work myself. Why can't the workplace be somewhere you like going rather than hell on Earth?
The secret is not to have kids. Maybe a wife/husband and dog with a standard 100-150k house. Thats it. Less of an expense associated and you are in a position to call more of your own shots. You don't have to provide for a ton of people. Power is when you have nothing or just the basics. . Or you have a lot. When you don't have much you don't care. You have power because you don't care. And the key is take the power out of the employer's hands
If its just two working adults and a pet, you are in a position to call more of your own shots
Better yet, just stay single and live in a cheap studio/1 br apartment, then put what money is left over each month into retirement accounts. Home ownership is overrated.
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