"Well see, they wrote all this bank software, and, uh, to save space, they used two digits for the date instead of four. So, like, 98 instead of 1998? Uh, so I go through these thousands of lines of code and, uh... it doesn't really matter. I uh, I don't like my job, and, uh, I don't think I'm gonna go anymore" Peter Gibbons
- Office Space 1999
How is it that we are so custom to the processes and protocols of our daily routines that we lose track of what our job really entails? We get up each day to either shuffle off kids and reach our career destination, or we are creatures of habit that embark on a career path that leads no where? How often do we question our competition with our career choice?
Are we ready to take the risk of change just because we don't like something? Or do we stay in our comfort zone because it is all we know?
As we look into competition in the workplace, many may view their career's as golden. Many see that they are excelling at their full potential and the job defines them. However, on the flip side, does your job define who you are? Can we mentally and physically say that our job title is what we've become? How does your job enable you to act the way you do outside of the workplace?
Can a cubical worker be let out of their four walls long enough to interact with the real world?
What is the real world? Where is our reality? Is it in between the 8-5pm time clock? Do we all work 8-5pm? I mean its the standard expectation, yet no one really follows it unless you punch in and punch out. But, who is always on time, and who leaves on time?
Our competition on the job is based on multiple factors:
1. Do I like the job?
2. Do I respect management?
3. Where do I see myself going within the company?
4. What would get done if I weren't working here?
5. Is it really the people I work with that make the job more interesting?
I can solely relate to the point about the job's reality. If I convince myself long enough that I have created my work's reality I will indeed compete with myself to improve it. But, what if there is nothing to improve. Am I ultimately challenged or am I ultimately bored. Does the employer want their employees bored or challenged? What is the politics behind excelling on the job.
Am I competing my colleagues and my boss for their jobs?
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bobbot
Alpha Whiskey
Gary Gladstone
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