Four Secrets to Liking Your Work You May Not Need to Quit to Get the Job You Want

by Muzio, Edward G.; Fisher, Deborah J., PhD; Thomas, Erv, PE

• ISBN13: 9780132344456
• ISBN10: 0132344459
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-15
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

Stop dreading Monday morning! Wherever you work, whatever you do, you can make your work life more fulfilling, more joyful...and it starts right here, right now, with this book. You're holding the first practical, start-to-finish program for transforming your work life: all the tools, tricks, ideas, examples, and proven Nresearch you need to make it happen!

Author Biography

Edward G. Muzio is President and CEO of Group Harmonics and a leader in the application of analytical models to enhance group effectiveness. He has started large organizations and small companies, led global initiatives in technology development and employee recruitment, and published papers ranging from manufacturing strategy to individual skills and productivity. As primary developer of his company’s educational suite, he serves as advisor and educator to workers at all levels in companies worldwide.

 

Deborah J. Fisher, PhD is a Visiting Research Professor at the University of New Mexico. Dedicated to group productivity and human motivation, her career has included tenure and an endowed chair position at her current institution, and Directorship of the Engineering Management Program at the University of Houston. She has automated organizational learning for the construction industry, created employee development models for Sandia National Laboratories, and educated generations of professionals along the way.

 

Erv Thomas, PEis a Program Manager at Intel Corporation. For the past several years he has been responsible for recruiting, mentoring, and developing the top engineering talent in the world. He has dedicated over 30,000 hours of his time to helping professionals and young adults live up to their full potential at work and in life. Additionally, he has been a design engineer, an educator, and the founding director of a non-profit organization where he has spent the majority of his “non-working” time mentoring teens at risk.

 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xvii
About the Authors	p. xviii
Prologue: Monday Morning Dread	p. xix
The Trouble with Work	p. 1
Do We All Hate Our Jobs?	p. 1
The People Problem	p. 2
The Personal Cost	p. 2
The Beginning	p. 3
Venting	p. 3
Should I Stay or Should I Go?	p. 4
Seeing Differently Through Models	p. 5
Change the Situation	p. 5
Leave the Situation	p. 5
First, Change Your Perspective	p. 5
The Magic of Perspective	p. 6
Glasses without Frames	p. 6
Wearing New Glasses	p. 7
Changing Perspective: An Exercise	p. 8
About Perspective Shift	p. 10
Tips for the Journey	p. 12
Stay Employed	p. 12
Stay Engaged	p. 12
Be Supported	p. 12
Be Selective	p. 12
Drive the Change	p. 13
Own the Wins	p. 13
Stay Positive	p. 13
Read the Stories	p. 13
Do the Work	p. 14
Get Organized	p. 14
"Rinse and Repeat"	p. 14
Homework: Before, During, and After	p. 15
Before Work	p. 15
At Work	p. 15
After Work	p. 16
How People Act	p. 17
Dr. Fisher's Story	p. 17
Observe Behavior	p. 18
Not a New Idea	p. 18
Behavior Defined	p. 18
Two Key Differences	p. 19
Differences in "Focus": Task Versus People	p. 19
Differences in "Approach": Reflective Versus Assertive	p. 21
From Two Questions to Four Styles	p. 22
Behavioral Styles in Detail	p. 24
Task Focused + Assertive = Direct	p. 24
People Focused + Assertive = Inspire	p. 25
People Focused + Reflective = Stabilize	p. 27
Task Focused + Reflective = Regulate	p. 29
From Theory to Practice	p. 31
Watching the Action	p. 33
Jamal's Story	p. 33
Behavior in Action	p. 34
Conflict Between Styles	p. 34
Myself, My Colleagues, My Job	p. 36
Using Your New Perspective	p. 37
Observe without Judgment	p. 37
Categorize Behavior, not People	p. 37
Use Your Experience; Don't Let It Use You	p. 38
Answer Only If You Can	p. 38
Your New Perspective, Revisited	p. 39
The Easy-View Summary	p. 39
Homework: Before, During, and After	p. 41
Before Work	p. 42
At Work	p. 42
After Work	p. 43
Want More?	p. 44
Why People Act	p. 45
Edward Muzio's Story	p. 45
Master Motivation	p. 46
How Versus Why	p. 46
Motivation Defined	p. 46
Motivation Versus Survival	p. 47
Building the Six Factors	p. 48
Three Kinds of "Why"	p. 48
Invisible Versus Visible	p. 48
Six Motivating Factors	p. 48
Connecting Questions to Motivation	p. 49
Answering the Two Questions	p. 50
Six Factors in Detail	p. 50
Task + Visible = Results	p. 51
Task + Invisible = Truth	p. 53
People + Visible = Assistance	p. 55
People + Invisible = Power	p. 57
Process + Visible = Structure	p. 59
Process + Invisible = Form	p. 61
From Theory to Practice	p. 64
Figuring Out Why	p. 65
Ariel's Story	p. 65
Motivation in Action	p. 66
Motivational Conflict	p. 66
Myself, My Colleagues, My Job	p. 67
Using Your New Perspective	p. 68
Learn, Don't Judge	p. 68
One Observation is not a Conclusion	p. 69
Describe Motivators, not People	p. 69
Stay Honest	p. 69
The Easy-View Summary	p. 70
Homework: Before, During, and After	p. 71
Before Work	p. 71
At Work	p. 74
After Work	p. 75
What People Do	p. 77
Erv Thomas' Story	p. 77
Harmonize Tasks	p. 78
The What	p. 78
Task Perks Defined	p. 79
Finding Positive Job Experiences	p. 80
The Importance of Task Feedback	p. 81
Types of Task	p. 81
Task Type Defined	p. 81
Predictability	p. 81
Urgency	p. 82
Determining Task Type	p. 82
The Task Type Matrix	p. 83
Task Types in Detail	p. 83
Anticipated + Deliberate = Long Range	p. 83
Anticipated + Immediate = Methodical	p. 85
Unforseen + Immediate = Quick-Fix	p. 87
Unforseen + Deliberate = Adjustable	p. 89
From Theory to Practice	p. 89
Do What You Like	p. 91
Conrad's Story	p. 91
Task Balance in Action	p. 92
Task Type Conflict	p. 92
Myself, My Colleagues, My Job	p. 92
Using Your New Perspective	p. 94
Think in Blends, not in Absolutes	p. 94
Change Type When you Change Task	p. 95
Convert Task Types with Care	p. 95
Set Up for Success	p. 97
The Easy-View Summary	p. 98
Homework: Before, During, and After	p. 100
Before Work	p. 100
At Work	p. 101
After Work	p. 102
Want More?	p. 103
Got Skills?	p. 105
Millie's Story	p. 105
Get the Right Skills	p. 106
Skills Defined	p. 106
One Simple Question	p. 107
Two Kinds of Skills	p. 107
Hard Skills	p. 107
Soft Skills	p. 108
Seeing "Skills"	p. 110
The Eyes of Others	p. 110
Change Your Own View: An Exercise	p. 111
Developing "Skills"	p. 112
Developing Hard Skills	p. 112
Developing Soft Skills	p. 112
What If I Can't Get It?	p. 115
Using Your New Perspective	p. 116
Beware of Bias	p. 116
"Mind Your Own...Skills"	p. 117
Silently Notice the Skills of Others	p. 117
Avoid Judgment and Certainty	p. 117
The Easy-View Summary	p. 118
Homework: Before, During, and After	p. 120
Before Work	p. 120
During Work	p. 120
After Work	p. 121
Want More?	p. 122
A Bird's Eye View	p. 123
Jim's Story	p. 123
The Bird's Eye View	p. 123
A Still Broader View	p. 124
The Third Person, Revisited	p. 124
Sources of Pain	p. 126
Your Pain: An Exercise	p. 128
Your Critical Few: An Exercise	p. 129
Finding Solutions	p. 130
Interpretation	p. 130
From Interpretation to Action	p. 130
Staying Open	p. 131
Should I Stay or Should I Go?	p. 131
Me Versus My Job	p. 132
Our "Relationship"	p. 132
No Decision: The Best Decision	p. 133
For the Moment	p. 134
Taking the Broadest Perspective	p. 135
Use Emotional Cues	p. 135
Use the Third Person	p. 135
Solve the Right Problem	p. 136
Be Supported	p. 136
In Closing: Steer Your Own Ship	p. 137
Appendix	p. 139
Notes	p. 141
Index	p. 147
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Prologue Prologue Monday Morning Dread The alarm broke the peaceful silence of the bedroom with an ugly metallic buzz, the dial glowing sallow green numerals of an obscene hour. Brian rubbed his eyes; consciousness came slowly. Soon, that old feeling of "work dread" began to smother his spirit. The day ahead of him drifted into focus, and his all too familiar feeling of dismay was close behind: It's time to go to work. Like many, Brian lost his "will to work" years ago. The thought of a whole week at "that place" made him want to go back to sleep or to vanish and never return. The conflict, the oppression, the sadness, and the boredom were unbearable. Yet he could find no alternative. Bills needed to be paid, and he had become fond of eating. Old habits die hard. Brian had dreaded his job for so long, it was the first thing he thought of as he awoke. But then he remembered something else. Six months ago, he had been given a book, one that claimed he could like his job again. It explained different ways of looking at work, through filters or lenses that could help to identify some of the dread and replace it with action. "One kind of Genius," the authors claimed, "is the ability to see the same situation from multiple perspectives." 1 Changed understanding can produce changed action; changed action produces changed results. He was utterly skeptical, but he had no better option. He read his new book and waited for failure. To his surprise, it helped. It wasn't long before he felt a small shift. This made him just a little less skeptical. The more he used the book, the better it worked. His job became first more tolerable, then more enjoyable. When he had started reading, he had been intent upon quitting his job as soon as possible. Now, he wasn't sure. Maybe it wasn't so bad if he approached it the right way. This was a novel thought for Brian. As he awakened that Monday morning, Brian felt the familiar dread and then remembered his new strategy. "What am I dreading," he wondered? He recalled that often it is a single, fixable problem that overshadows everything else. Several difficult things were going to happen that day, but which one was causing the dread? One by one, he tried the different perspectives taught by the book, isolating each possible source of his pain. He found it. He would have to work with a particularly troublesome person that afternoon, someone he would otherwise avoid. In his mind's eye, he looked again at that interaction with his new perspective. He considered what would probably happen and planned his responses accordingly. He knew things wouldn't be perfect, but he decided he could at least make a slight improvement. He checked, and his feeling of dread had vanished. Welcome to Brian's book. Why Do We Work? Besides the obvious answer, "to survive," there are deeper, more meaningful reasons to work. The idea of applying our energy to create a positive result is fundamental to both our culture and our belief systems. The ideal of "the value of hard work" is culturally pervasive, from the children's story of "The Little Engine That Could" 2 to the iconic account of a person of modest background who works hard and "makes good." One need not be from the United States. Otherwise privileged students at the People's University of China, for example, work in service-oriented jobs for educational credit. Why? To learn the value of working hard and efficiently, a value espoused by Chinese President Hu Jintao. 3 This value runs deeper, to our spiritual beliefs. A large number of creation accounts have existed, from ancient times to present, describing a creator working to construct the