Work Smart

Call me a conspiracy theorist. But those who work hardest aren't the ones most handsomely rewarded.

I've worked at 15 companies since I was 16 years old - that's over a 22 year period. I haven't worked consistently throughout the past 22 years. My duration at any given job has ranged from 5 1/2 weeks to 3 years 2 months. The mean has been 1.3 years per company. The mode has been 6 months. For the most part, I left because I found something I thought would be better.

The companies have ranged from being ultra-conservative to anything goes. The sizes (#employees) have ranged from 9 to thousands. 2 of these companies had unions.

There's always been a balance-of-power. Employers give stuff to their employees when they think they may need to. They also take away, when they think they don't need to, or shouldn't have to. If they take away too much from too many, then they lose productive employees - which costs them in other ways. If they give us too much, we get lazy, and start expecting too much.

When your boss improves your standard of living, it's because he recognizes your value, to a certain degree. It's your job to determine whether or not it's enough of a degree. There's no other sure measure. It's nice to make friends at work, but remember those friends are used by your employer to measure your performance against. To believe otherwise is naive.

It may sound strange to some, but at some point I realized I was too driven, and worked too hard. My perception was that the harder I worked, the more I would be recognized. If I wasn't recognized, I'd get bent out of shape and, eventually, quit.

I've always had a decent work ethic. I like to think I still do. But I worked at companies with smart people who weren't used to working so many hours, and had lots of social activities at home. Their paychecks were bigger than mine was. Being capable of working hard is more valuable than actually working hard. To not be viewed by my coworkers as a sycophant, I slowed down my pace. Life improved.

To have worked at the same company 30 years without calling in sick once, is no more spectacular than having the longest toenails in the world. It's just sad. People who do that sort of thing lose out. Anyone who tells them they should be proud of themselves is either as misguided, or a bald-faced liar!