Freedom to Work

I hadn't thought about it this way, but this observation of Dorothea's about desirable jobs is SO true:

What I need, fundamentally, to make me happy in a job is permission to carve my own niche. Just show me the goal, wind me up, and set me down on a flat surface; I’ll take care of the rest. Employers who let me do this love me to pieces, finding that I make everyone’s life a little easier, and I love them right back, regardless of the job description. Employers who put up roadblocks in front of me lose me in a burst of hurt amazement, stricken stupefaction that anyone would want to stop me making things better.

This has a few implications, I think. I can be bound to particular outcomes, but not to particular processes. If I think a process is stupid, don’t get in my way while I fix it; I’ll resent that something fierce. By all means explain to me why the process is the way it is—new information talks me down easily out of a process snit. And by all means start me off on an existing process—that’s scutwork, it’s how I learn. But don’t treat your processes as if they were the Mount Sinai tablets in front of me. I’ll break ‘em. Just watch me. And I’ll lose a lot of respect for you to boot.

I hate having to do things "The Official Way" if The Way is stupid. Hate, hate, hate it. Like Dorothea, I love having the freedom to tinker and figure out my own way of doing things. Give me a goal and a deadline and get out of my way, indeed.

Perhaps this is why I have such trouble (a) deciding what it is I want to do career-wise, and (b) convincing potential employers that they should just let me at the work and, after seeing how I do, decide whether to hire me. Substantial as my skills list has become, my real value (I believe) lies in my ability to problem-solve, innovate (gah! corporate speak!), and develop and streamline new processes. But that should be valuable anywhere. Shouldn't it?

Comments

[yami, who's been reading all the resumes sent to her company's generic email address]

I think the resume-speak you're looking for might be "self-starter".

[Rana]

Hmm... well, if it means something to HR...

Are you reading the resumes for fun, or is this something you got stuck doing?

[Michelle]

Yeah, self-starter, works well unsupervised, demonstrates initiative. This is an interesting line of thought, though. And it begs the question of me, so after the process is streamlined and the most efficient method put into place, then what? That's where I usually stall and lose interest.

I have a feeling I'll be right in your shoes in another six months...

[Rana]

Yeah, that's what happens to me too, Michelle. I like figuring out how to do things and hunting down information; but I'm lousy at maintaining regular habits -- at work and at home. (You should see my calendar here; I swear, if I didn't note when I had to file things, they'd never get filed.)

Of course, it's also frustrating working with a computer system that begs tweaking, and not being able to do so. So it's boredom and inflexible system at the same time. At least the people are nice and my time isn't chunked into little 15-minute bits. (I did like temping for the variety of it -- but the insecurity and lack of benefits were not acceptable.)

I have to admit that the idea of D. finding a job somewhere else has its appeal for that very reason -- new opportunities!

[yami]

Oh, for fun - they're entertainingly random - electrical engineers applying for positions as geologists, people who think we're a real estate development company, etc. I mostly just read the cover letters, though; it's absolutely amazing how badly-written most are. I lose faith in humanity every time we list an opening on MonsterTrak.

Probably the thing to do is find a job where you get/have to invent new processes all the time.... Whatever happened to your "Temp Worker Consulting" concept?