Dirty Jobs, Worst Jobs – I Don’t Want it!
Seems Mike Rowe of Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs” doesn’t have a corner on the market for worst jobs.
Popular Science just released a story on “The Worst Jobs in Science.”
“We solicited nominations from more than a thousand working scientists and culled the list for the most noxious. Then we voted. Which is to say, there is absolutely nothing scientific about the ranking of the worst jobs in science that appears on these pages; it is simply the collective opinion of a group of alternately awestruck and disturbed editors who rarely suffer anything worse on the job than keyboard- induced repetitive-motion syndrome.”
Sounds interesting, right? But what a twist to the story…
“As happens in science, fundamental assumptions are herein turned on their heads. If you assume, for example, that people employed to supervise fart-smelling research would dislike such work, think again. Ditto Robert Jones, who adores working with flesh-eating beetles to remove every last morsel of decay and make his skeletons truly gleam. Mosquito researcher Helge Zieler says the beauty of the Brazilian rainforest far outweighs the thousands of mosquito bites and the malaria he suffered there. Science is full of inquisitive people who take great pleasure in doing jobs that others would not touch with a 10-foot pole…”
Whose Crazy, You? or Me?
Do you know someone who works in a job that you would just die in? I do.
I’ve always admired people who do stuff I hate to do, wouldn’t want to do, can’t do. But in the end, I’m glad it’s them and not me. I’ve talked with some of them and asked them about their work – construction, mechanics, roofing – work that is essential to our society, but it’s not for me.
Interestingly enough, when I tell them what I do, the general response is “boy, I’d go crazy if I had to do what you do.”
Running Mac OS on a PC
It seems we are like computers – we have both hardware and software that make us run. I call it hard-wiring and learning. I’m certain most of those people could learn to do what I do, and I could learn their work. Like installing new software into your computer.
But the software won’t run very well if the hardware isn’t right – and the problem is that you can’t really change out your hard-wiring like changing out a hard drive or a sound card.
So I install some “let’s fix the car” software into myself and my hard-wiring kicks in and I just dislike doing it; I can, but it takes me longer, I make more mistakes, and the job is definitely not enjoyable.
Someone else installs some “let’s analyze this team’s performance” software and their hard-wiring kicks in; they can do it, but they don’t really understand the team dynamics, don’t really care for why people are different, or don’t have the patience to communicate and coach people through change, and they don’t enjoy it.
Start on the Inside
[tag]Performance management[/tag] is about getting the right software installed on the right hardware.
The mistake some people make is they start with the software first – the [tag]learning[/tag] that seems needed, or the skills they want someone to have.
When the learning doesn’t take, or the performance doesn’t really improve, the question becomes:
- did we train them well enough?
- was the [tag]training[/tag] good enough?
- are they trying hard enough to learn and do?
But the problem is not the training, or their [tag]motivation[/tag] to do well, it’s a misapplication of software.
The key to winning is to start with the hardware first – start with understanding the person, what their [tag]strengths[/tag] are, where their energy is, what motivates them. And then add the right learning – the right software.
Workforce Expertise:
When you need to elevate someone’s performance, don’t start with “how can we train this person.”
Rather, start with “how does this person think and act naturally, and what motivates them.” Then move to “what learning experience would be best for them.”
Remember, just because two people are in the same role doesn’t mean they have the same hard-wiring and will be motivated by the same things, or will learn in the same way.
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