I was watching an interview of Sam Elliott where he was describing how he got started in the industry. He states that he would go to the legal department at Fox Studios and read the scripts lying around and then go to the casting department and say, there's a script coming your way, number so and so, and I'd like to read for it. It wasn't in his job description to do that, he didn't get paid to do that, and yet he made that extra effort.
I have been working a 9-5 job in IT for a little over a year now. The pay is an entry level salary. The job can be tedious and boring at times. A lot of times, you have to give in to the demands of a management that can be a bit removed from reality. You want to tell them, listen you're building a tower with a foundation of glass. If you do not solidify the foundation, it will come crumbling down. You cannot ignore the human spirit in order to be more profitable. It's an intricate balance - between keeping good resources and growing as a company. You have to dance on that line and ensure you don't sway too much in either direction. It's hard, but who said work isn't supposed to be hard?
You see the hierarchy in effect. There are things you don't like, and yet you see the need for them. There are things you like, and yet you see the lack of business need for them. You want to do things you like, but you spend time doing things you don't like for two words: business need. It's a funny phrase. You can justify a lot with business need. We need to hire more inexperienced people because business need. We need you to do XYZ type of work, for business need. We can't implement this yet because business need demands your attention elsewhere. And yet, you see where the thought process is coming from. It's capitalism in its pure raw form. So you bite your tongue, redirect your attention, and do the work that needs to be done. Now, the management is happy. You're doing what needs to be done, you're fulfilling the business need. But what's next? What about the little project you started that you know can change the way you do things? Make your job more efficient and faster and less of a liability. It isn't a business need yet, and yet if it is implemented, you see it can be.
You have two options now. Do what you're being told, collect your paycheck, and be done with it. Your management is happy. It won't reflect poorly on your yearly reviews. What's the harm? And then you have another option. An option that makes no monetary sense. It's an investment of your time and effort and intellect beyond what you are asked for and beyond what you are paid for. It's doing a little more than what's expect of you. No one will blame you for not making that choice. No one will look down on you for not making that choice. You will still get your paycheck, you will still be reviewed fairly, if you don't make this choice. And yet, some part of you understands the need for this choice. The need to go a little beyond what is expected of you. To understand your job a little better, to try one more trick to try and resolve an issue, to do a little more that what is needed.
I have struggled with this choice for a few months now. Everyone around me keeps telling me, people will take advantage of you. They will start expecting that little more from you if you start doing it. That you have to be capitalistic to survive in a capitalistic environment like this. It only makes sense - do what is needed to get paid. Why bother with the extra step?
At first I wondered if these people were right. If I was letting people take advantage of me. I'm not getting paid to be there for an hour longer, so why am I sitting here until 6 trying to grasp a concept when I could have left at 5 with no questions asked? But then I took some time off and tried to remind myself of a few things. As a twenty-three year old, I do not have a clear picture of the life I want to live. I do not know what field I want to be in, what career I want, what kind of work I like doing, etc. But what I do know is that I want to work on myself. Be a better person than yesterday, be a more knowledgeable person than before, be a little more hardworking than my previous self. I want to be better at being me. It sounds so cliched, believe me I know. But I want to invest in myself. So, when I am there an hour longer than I need to be, am I making that investment in my own growth or am I being taken advantage of? Could it be the latter? Of course. That's the nature of capitalism. But is the former more important than the latter? Absolutely, to me. This could be a convoluted explanation of me justifying my workaholic ways. I don't know. But I wonder if this work ethic that I have learned, that I enjoy, and that I crave will hurt me in the future. I do not know.
But when I hear successful people talk about doing a little extra, working a little harder than necessary, going that little extra step, it makes me feel not so crazy. Like maybe there will come a time when it will all be worth it. I keep thinking, I am young. I am just starting my career. If I switch fields, most people won't bat an eye. I have time to build my resume. Right now, experience is the one thing I don't have. If I work towards that, the rest of the pieces will fall in place, right? I don't know, I hope so. If nothing else, I am learning how hard I can work.
No comments:
Post a Comment