Rarely have I agreed with an article’s point of view so strongly. It sounds like you and I have worked at the same companies.
“Paying your dues” is a fast-track ticket to mental atrophy. I don’t know why, but the people who were already in the corporate world when we arrived (I’m 26) have this “do what the boss says enough times, and they might promote you!” attitude that’s as spirit-crushing as it is misguided.
The problem with “do what the boss says” is that “what the boss says” is more often than not a simple task, the result of which is simply either “done” or “not done.” Update some links on this web page. Pull a raw data set that includes fields a-e and e-mail the CSV file to them so that they can look at a few non-formatted numbers and make the decision their brainless gut told them to make in the first place. The day “what the boss says” is something akin to “figure out how to accomplish this business goal” is the day that boss becomes my leader.
The problem with tasks such as these is that they’re easily automated. If we spend our time practicing esoteric, company-specific procedures that $5 and just as many brain cells can automate, then how safe is our job with that company? Even more scary for the company–how much human resource utility are they just leaving on the table, because their management thinks success in business is a bureaucratic endeavor.
Quit that job and enjoy starting over, networking with people who can actually teach you something.
Advertise
Rarely have I agreed with an article’s point of view so strongly. It sounds like you and I have worked at the same companies.
“Paying your dues” is a fast-track ticket to mental atrophy. I don’t know why, but the people who were already in the corporate world when we arrived (I’m 26) have this “do what the boss says enough times, and they might promote you!” attitude that’s as spirit-crushing as it is misguided.
The problem with “do what the boss says” is that “what the boss says” is more often than not a simple task, the result of which is simply either “done” or “not done.” Update some links on this web page. Pull a raw data set that includes fields a-e and e-mail the CSV file to them so that they can look at a few non-formatted numbers and make the decision their brainless gut told them to make in the first place. The day “what the boss says” is something akin to “figure out how to accomplish this business goal” is the day that boss becomes my leader.
The problem with tasks such as these is that they’re easily automated. If we spend our time practicing esoteric, company-specific procedures that $5 and just as many brain cells can automate, then how safe is our job with that company? Even more scary for the company–how much human resource utility are they just leaving on the table, because their management thinks success in business is a bureaucratic endeavor.
Quit that job and enjoy starting over, networking with people who can actually teach you something.