i have a heart like the sea
extra points for the winner of "name the musical she stole her subject line from"
i have too much free time at work. no really. a couple of weeks ago i discovered that i could crank out about a thousand words a day on any given topic. i keep a word doc open on my desk top and pick some topic in the morning and throughout the day, i'll click on my window and write a little. at the end of the day i usually have nothing, but sometimes I actually string together coherant thoughts. i read somewhere that thomas pyncheon was a tech writer and i understand now how he had the time to write his books. If things stay boring, i might just get a book out of this job too. here's one of the things my free time has produced.
I am largely unsatisfied with my job.
Let me back up a little. I love my job. I work with a great group of people, who strive to do well not just in their jobs but also in their interpersonal relationships. While we may not be best friends, we care about each other, take care of each other, and respect each other. The job security feels really good, even during this particular rough patch that we cannot control. The hours are as flexible as an Olympic gymnast, and the benefits package is out of this world. I do my work on completely functional machines running up to date software supported by an IT department that seems to work around the clock. There is a decent cup of coffee in the morning, a relaxed dress code, and I sit in a really comfy ergonomic chair. I even have a window. The view isn’t great, but it’s a window
When there is a quiet patch at work, or I’m stuck momentarily doing some mindless busywork I sneak out to a webpage that has a series of lectures on just about everything. Since I’m at work I try to keep to the ones about innovation, teambuilding, leadership and things like that. It’s not directly work related, but I’ve absorbed some useful information through my headphones while I’m doing some editing to the document of the day. I haven’t gotten “caught” yet, but I think I could explain things in a way that my superiors might actually appreciate.
Today was one of those slow days, so I logged in and found a lecture about how leaders inspire people (a topic that shows I want to learn about being a leader in my organization and waste time simultaneously.) One of the principle ideas in the lecture was based on something called the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is three eccentric circles each containing a concept that relates to our knowledge base regarding our jobs. The outer most circle is “What,” the idea being that most everyone knows what their job is. If you work in a coffee shop, you know that in the morning you come in, turn on the lights, and grind the beans. During the day, you brew the joe, steam the milk, and capp the cinnos. The next circle in is the “How.” At your coffee shop you probably have some kind of sales goals for the day, and hopefully you have some idea how to do that. Maybe you don’t know the ins and outs of the company’s marketing strategy to drive customers in your door, but you should know how to make the drinks right and be polite to your customers so they will come back.
It’s the inner most circle that is the most important, at least according to this one guy on this one website, who probably stole the Golden Circle idea from some other guy that I didn’t bother to research. (ok, I did the research. He didn’t steal it. In fact he wrote a book about it. But that’s another story) This circle is “Why.” Why are you making endless cups of coffee? The website guy says most people don’t know the Why of their jobs. My fictional coffee company sees that steaming cup of heaven as a universal connection, and by drinking from that cup you are connected to people around the world who also wake up and enjoy the same smell and taste every morning. Drink Coffee. Connect to the World. I’d buy a cup of that.
The whys in our life are the things that inspire us and keep us motivated. It immediately reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Antoine de Saint- Exupery. “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Don’t give them the What and How, but tell them Why. Some people may decide they don’t care for the salt air or a finely roasted bean, but the rest will drink the proverbial Kool-aid. In fact they will ask for more, and tell their friends how wonderful it is.
Therein lays the source of my dissatisfaction. I love the Kool aid here. I come in every day thirsting for it, wanting more. I understand the big Why of my workplace, but what I’m missing is the How and some days even the What. It is frustrating to come into the office every day, wanting to contribute towards our mission and not know how to do it. I want to be a tiny cog in the machine, but I have no idea how. Some days I’m given something to work on, a small What. I have to ask for the How and pry loose information about the bigger process and how this fits in. Those are the good days.
My heart is set on the sea. Please give me some woods and nails and tell me how to build a boat.