This is a story about a young professional, a star performer, a potential future leader and how he destroyed his career...
He joined the company when he was fresh out of college. He was enthusiastic, quick witted, lively and knowledgeable. He joined the company with 14 others, within a week, they voted for him to be their representative, they gave him a nickname "Captain". This incident was noticed by the company management.
Captain topped in all assignments during the Induction Program and quickly grew in popularity. All the Project Managers wanted Captain in their teams. At the time of Project Assignments, the Resource Allocation Team gave him the option of choosing his own project, a rare distinction. Captain evaluated all available projects and chose his project.
Quickly Captain won accolades from other team members, he was faster than most others, would take just about 60% of the allocated time to complete an assignment, would move on to the next one as soon as he would finish his current task. The Project Manager was having a tough time keeping Captain "busy" with interesting assignments.
The next 3 years went by quickly, Captain was promoted to be a Team Leader.
One fine day, a senior in the team asked Captain, "why are you working so hard? Are they paying you too much?" --- this got Captain thinking. He was flabbergasted. The question made a lot of sense. He starting seeing other people around him, they were leaving at 6:30 PM, they were enjoying their lives, he realized that he was one of the first to come in to office, and the last to leave. He was doing almost 40% of the project all by himself, while people who were senior to him and who were getting better salaries than him, were getting away by contributing much lesser.
Captain started losing interest, his work hours were getting lesser and lesser, his efficiency suffered, he would come in at 9:30 AM and would be out the door at 6:30 PM. He was only doing what was being assigned. He was able to finish the assignment in 60% of the time, but never reported the completion of the task to the Manager before the deadline. In the spare time, Captain would chat with friends, browse the internet and while away time in the cafeteria. The story does not end here. Captain's interest fell further and his tasks were averaging a delay of 25% each time.
The Manager stopped giving interesting assignments to Captain, he stopped relying on him for delivery, his team was now reporting to someone else, Captain was reduced to a team member's role.
Captain started bad mouthing the company policies, he said that the Management does not know how to take care of loyal employees and his "own version" of the story of why he was demoted to a team member's role, he said it was because, his Manager was considering him a threat and so on.
Captain was fired after 4 years of service with the company.
Summarizing Captain's story;
Step 1: Captain listened to and more importantly, believed a manipulative senior,
Step 2: compared his contributions and salary with others', then lost interest in the work,
Step 3: started wasting time and subsequently introducing unnecessary delays in the task,
Step 4: lost out to others in the team for being more reliable, was demoted,
Step 5: then he started bad mouthing the Manager, the Management and the Company Policies.
This is how Captain initiated and architected his own downfall, but somehow, it was the Manager's fault.... he did not realize that his career was his responsibility and not his Manager's or the Organization's.
What captain did not realize is that;
- A negative talker has a ulterior, sinister and selfish motives. He should have reported the incident to the Management immediately.
- By working harder, he was the one who was amassing experience, what others taking 1 year to achieve, Captain was achieving in 0.6 years.
- It is unfair to compare one's salary to some one else's in the company. What one gets is what he/she deserves. One who is "underpaid and more productive" has a better chance to survive a layoff than the one who is "overpaid and under-productive". The same applies to getting a new job as well.
- Wasting time and introducing un-necessary delays on a task is a sin!, it is our duty to report the completion of a task as soon as it is done and move on to the next task.
- Bad mouthing the Management and Company policies is a crime. If one has a problem with a policy, then one should contact the Human Resources Department Representative or the Project Manager and not vent "feelings" in the Cafeteria with other employees.
A team member approached me a few months ago and told me, "I'm bored and I need some change".
Jack is a very experienced team member and one of the best I had on my team, so my mind started racing towards the conclusion "Jack wants to quit". Personally I don't believe in persuading anyone to stay and I strongly feel that an individual wants to quit because he does not feel for his team or the organization anymore and what's the point of holding on to such an individual who works half heartedly?
Both of us were quite for a moment, I think he was waiting for my reaction, and I was fighting the thought and my conclusion that Jack wants to quit, what if my conclusion is wrong? I was not sure. I had learnt and resolved long ago, that I will not jump to any conclusions and will ask for more information or clarifications when in doubt, and this is what I did.
I asked Jack to elaborate... he said, he is been doing the same thing over and over again for the past few years and he is finding it difficult keep up with the output requirements because of boredom. He admitted that he has started taking more breaks in the past few weeks and does not know what to do. He was aware that his performance was dropping and needed help.
I thanked my lucky stars that I did bring up the subject of "him quitting"... it was a good decision to ask him to elaborate on his statement.
I was thinking at the back of my mind, can I give him another assignment? is there some other team I can deploy Jack? does Jack possess any other special skill that can be used by other teams? All my questions had the same answer, "NO".
Now I had no choice but to motivate and inspire him to go on and fight the battle. For this, I had to understand more on this situation.
Here's the dialog that followed
Q: What NEW techniques/tools have you learnt in the past One Year?
Jack: None
Q: What NEW techniques/tools have you learnt in the past Three Years?
Jack: None
Q: So, all tools and techniques you use today are what you learnt more that 5 years ago?
Jack: Yes, it is true
Q: What is the standard that you follow to get a task done?
Jack: Jack describes the standard procedure that he follows to get each type of task done.
My Thoughts: I was surprised that Jack used to follow the exact same procedure each time that he would encounter a certain type of task or needs a certain result. Jack's life was very mechanical. He knows exactly what is to be done and he can close his eyes and perform that task. This is probably why he was quick and efficient. Systems and Processes makes the team efficient, but I realized, that our system was not taking care of boredom. Good Management principles talk about job rotation but this project was no assembly line! and I was not talking to a skilled labor!. A Knowledge worker was sitting in front of me, and I had to do something quickly or risk losing Jack forever. How many people have come up to me and said, boss, I am bored. In my entire experience, this was the first instance. So, I was to rely on my expertise!
Here's what transpired subsequently...
Q: Do you know the meaning of the term "Improvisation"?
Jack: No, I am not aware.
Q: Do you agree with "a problem can have many solutions"?
Jack: Yes, I do.
Q: If you want a certain result, have you tried different ways to reach the result?
Jack: I know how to achieve a certain result, and I use my set of techniques for this.
Q: Do you like your job?
Jack: Yes I do.
Q: Do you like the team and the company you work for?
Jack: Yes, I do. That's why I have come to you.
My Thoughts: Jack likes his job, the team and the company, he has not tried anything new in the past few years and has been leading a very mechanical work life which has led him to Boredom. So, the situation is salvageable, in my opinion. All Jack needs is a new "perspective" in his work life.
I told Jack that his problem of boredom at work can be solved by using a technique called "Improvisation".
Improvisation means "doing things differently and more efficiently each time for achieving the same or similar result!".
I explained to Jack, "make small changes to the process you follow for achieving the desired result each time you encounter an opportunity. Try and see if you can improve efficiency by cutting down unnecessary steps in the process. When you discover a more efficient technique, teach others in the team so that the whole team can benefit from this learning. When you teach others all you know and when people look up to you for solutions, you would always like to stay a few steps ahead of them, so you will try and discover something new. Improvise in the available time, do not lose sight of your goal and deliveries".
Further I encouraged Jack to start something new after office hours, like join a gym, pursue a new hobby, take some music lessons or just learn cooking. This would give Jack something new in his life after office hours so, he does not take work pressures home and has something different to think of and do when he gets home. Jack went back to his desk and started working on his new project!....
Today, Jack is rejuvenated, his performance has improved, he has joined the gym and started cooking. He has better relations with his coworkers and has grown in popularity.
My conclusions:
1. I will not be motivated if I don't want to be motivated - Jack chose to be motivated and approached me for help, he could have just walked away.
2. I am employed to get a job done. Employment helps me earn my bread, butter and the jam. It is my duty to stay motivated in my job for as long as I can and deliver.
3. If I am unable to stay motivated, I will escalate the matter to my boss an seek help.
