Monday, January 19, 2015

Why are we unhappy with our jobs?

Our dream job is always the one that we don't have. Why are our dreams distant when it concerns our profession? Let's consider this. There are three kinds of people who contribute to any business: the Thinkers, the Doers and the Negotiators. Thinkers invest, Doers work and Negotiators sell. Ideally, Thinkers are the ones that start a business, employ Negotiators as salesmen, and Doers as core employees. Doers are not risk-takers enough to start a business, negotiators don't understand the technicalities enough, and thinkers can't exert themselves enough to do. Every business has a core operation: Teaching in a school, financial analyst in a finance firm, engineer in an engineering firm - those are the doers. Negotiators are the sales people in every firm: It doesn't matter what you sell, if you have them on your side, you sell well. Thinkers are those who start the business or have the innovative ideas. Unfortunately, not in all businesses are things driven by the Thinkers, done by the Doers and sold by the Negotiators. Negotiators could be influenced by the salaries of the Software industry and turn developers, the Doers might be attracted by the gains of the businessmen and take up entrepreneurship and the Thinkers might settle for a sales job that gives them the freedom of effort.

Identify what your MDs/CEOs should be: The Thinkers should be the innovators of the industry who are free from insecurities of the business and who are open-minded and logical. Identify your Doers as people who like to put in that extra effort towards maintaining quality and who are sticklers for timeliness. Identify your Negotiators as people who are punctual to the tee and are realistic about your product. Misfits destroy the harmony of work: A Negotiator in the Doers' job shamelessly coaxes work out of a colleague, a Doer in the Thinkers' job is a strict boss who mistrusts employees, and a Thinker in the Negotiators' job is simply wasting his time. Identify who you are: What gives you more pleasure - Doing for the sake of accomplishing a task (Doer), delivering a solution through effective communication (Negotiator) or think up an innovative product / solution that enhances user / customer experience / revenue (Thinker). Everyone is a mix of all three, but one of the characteristics should be dominant. Having said all this, I'd like to impress upon the Thinkers to push and effect the change. They are the people who have to drive businesses. Here's an appeal to you to identify who you are and to act upon it. Change your job, start a business or go freelance; Ultimately be happy, knowing what you are and fulfilling that end.

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