The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (And Their Employees) by Patrick M. Lencioni

Author:Patrick M. Lencioni [Lencioni, Patrick M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Business, Finance
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Published: 2007-09-18T04:00:00+00:00

Irrelevance

Brian was getting more excited now. “The second cause of misery at work is irrelevance, the feeling that what you do has no impact on the lives of others.”

“What does that have to do with measurement?”

“I’ll get to that in a second. First, let me explain what I mean by relevance.”

Leslie didn’t let him. “You mean like a doctor caring for patients or a firefighter helping people get cats out of trees.”

Brian forced himself to nod. “Those are some of the more obvious ones.” Now he decided to turn the tables on Leslie and question her. “But what about all the other jobs? The unsexy ones. The car salesmen. The software program­mers. The receptionists—”

She interrupted him, smiling. “The restaurant manager.”

“Ouch.” Brian laughed. “So how do they make a differ­ence in the lives of others?”

Leslie thought about it, and answered as though she were taking a test. “Okay, the teacher’s aide helps teach the children. The restaurant manager helps people get food for—”

Brian interrupted. “No, no, no. I’m not looking for a specific answer. Because there aren’t any. It really depends on the situation and the job, and more than anything else, the person.”

“Okay, you lost me.”

“Yeah, I lost myself, too. Let’s get back to basics. Every human being that works has to know that what they do matters to another human being. Not just in terms of bringing home a paycheck. I’m talking about the actual work they do. In some way, their work has to make a difference in someone else’s life.”

Leslie listened carefully, nodding her agreement, but with a perplexed, almost disappointed look on her face.

“What’s wrong,” Brian wanted to know.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you have a look on your face. Is this not making sense?”

She hesitated for a second. “No, no. It makes perfect sense.” She winced. “It’s just, I don’t know. Don’t take this the wrong way.”

“I won’t. Go ahead.”

“Well, isn’t this all just a bit obvious?”

To her surprise, Brian wasn’t the slightest bit hurt by the comment. In fact, he came alive. “Absolutely! It’s completely obvious!”

Leslie laughed at her wacky husband. “Why are you so ­excited?”

“Because as obvious as it is, no one does it! It’s so ri­dic­ulously clear, and yet almost none of the managers out there take the time to help their people understand that their jobs matter to someone!”

Now Leslie decided to be difficult. “Isn’t that the responsibility of the employee to figure that out?”

Brian’s eyes went wide. He was incredulous. “Well, no, it’s the manager’s.”

“I don’t know.” Leslie was doing her best job of acting now. “It seems to me that if employees can’t do that for themselves, maybe they don’t deserve to have that job in the first place.”

Brian didn’t know how to react. The look on his face said, who is this awful woman? Finally, he spoke, in a frustrated if not slightly judgmental tone. “Leslie, if a manager has any responsibility in the world, it’s to help people understand why their work matters. If they don’t think that’s their role, then they’re the ones who don’t deserve their job.

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