Professional happiness…an oxymoron?

May 25, 2009 by janet · Leave a Comment 

Readers of this blog are well aware that I am fascinated by the elusiveplanning concept of finding satisfaction with our work.  Ironically, as I write today’s entry, I am currently experiencing my perfect working moment:  a creative setting, a view of the harbour, and a power source for my laptop.  I have escaped from my home office to the 2009 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

It seems fitting, then, that my first event of the weekend was Caroline West and The Happiness Mistake.  I arrived (fashionably late) for the session that was already full.  Before disappointment could set in, a friendly volunteer directed me to the overflow broadcast area on the main pier where I listened while studying the jellyfish and sipping my coffee in the sun.  This is what West would call happiness state 1:  a momentary pleasure.

West actually proposes 6 separate definitions of happiness that take into account complexities that include states of mind, endurance of feelings, and the source of your perception.  It is for this reason that she also proposes that we abolish the word happiness altogether for something more clear and achievable.

If you are struggling with the concept of professional happiness, it is no wonder.  You may not even know which happiness you are striving for.  Is it maximising the number of happy life moments or working toward achieving a big aspiration?  Is it measured against an internal standard or something external to you?  All of these will have an impact on your pursuit of happiness.  West suggests that we take the advice of Aristotle and take the time to contemplate our work.

In his book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton reports that fewer than 15% of us are happy in our employment.  He suggests that industrialisation drives our need for scale and specialisation.  But scale does not help us find meaning in our work and meaning is what we need to increase our pleasure.  De Botton suggests taking the time to find meaning in our everyday tasks much in the way one might while gardening or doing the washing up.

But the dissatisfied professionals I see most often are those who do not feel they have that much control over their work environments.  The tasks (and sometimes the jobs) seem to be given and taken away at random so that the thing that gave you meaning yesterday may no longer be yours today.  That’s where I think ‘Plan B’ comes in.  When I worked in corporate, I always had ‘Plan B’ (I called it the ‘I quit’ plan).  It was both the action plan and the savings plan that supported my mental health.  Your Plan B might simply sit in a drawer at home gathering dust, but just knowing  it is there can make a big difference to your professional happiness – call it a philosophy of happiness with a little reality sprinkled in.

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It’s time to expand your job description

May 4, 2009 by janet · Leave a Comment 

 strategies“In a bad economy, the best work environments are those where you control of your own destiny.”  That’s a reminder I received from a friend the other day.   Her point was that people with stable jobs and predictable incomes might feel more secure.  But they might not have the job security they think they do.  It got me thinking…

Can’t everyone take more control?  Try this quick test:  Take a look at your ‘to do’ list for this week. How many items on it are ‘other driven’?  How many are ‘self driven’? If your to do’s are activities that only benefit others, you might not be doing anything to benefit your own career development.  Some ideas for changing the balance…

1.       Build a personal brand – where do you really shine and what is best left to others?  What is your personal philosophy about the work you do?   This takes a bit of reflective time, but is well worth the effort.  Half the battle of figuring out what you do well is recognising it (and ‘not it’).  Whatever ‘IT’ is, it is worth celebrating.  Take time to figure ‘it’ out.

2.       Spend more time out of the office – my favourite quote from my friends at Pragmatic (pragmaticmarketing.com) is “the answers to your questions are not in the building”.  Companies make mistakes and miss opportunities because they spend all of their time talking to each other.  Pretty soon, the truth becomes self-created and is not valuable to the rest of the world.  Get out of the office and talk to others.  Get some perspective on yourself and your organisation.

3.       Take advantage of every development opportunity.  When I think of all of the corporate training I skipped because of some urgent deadline (and what I now pay for out of my own pocket), I feel a little sick.  You know those programs that you don’t think count as ‘real work’?  Well if you would go along with an open mind, you just might learn something useful.  Better yet, how about those continuing education credits where your company puts money towards a degree?  There are tons of resources and interesting programs out there to support your growth.  What are you waiting for? 

4.       Change jobs more often.  Job and role loyalty is great to a point, but you aren’t doing yourself or your employer any favours staying in a job too long.  Movement is good for both of you.  The temporary discomfort it creates leads to perspective and new ideas. 

5.       Network.  Your network is part of your resume.  It’s an asset you carry with you.  Care for it.

It’s time to expand your job description.  Instead of just adding to your employers’ business value, spend some time developing your own.   The 2 activities don’t need to be mutually exclusive.  Done right, you can both win.

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