Soundview

by Arn Bernstein

Seeing the Signs

Great pay. Interesting work. A fancy title and an assistant. These are the elements that make for a truly great job, right? One where the person lucky enough to have it is happy, content, and eager to go into work each day. Meanwhile, those people unlucky enough to be stuck in low-paying, less glamorous jobs, like waitresses, garbage men, and editorial assistants, are bound to be miserable and plagued by those "Sunday Blues," even on a Wednesday.

Not so, according to Patrick Lencioni, author of The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and their employees). Fascinated with why people stay in demoralizing, unfulfilling positions since he watched his father trudge off to his own miserable job day after day, Lencioni has paid close attention to the work world, continually refining his theories about job satisfaction. At first, he too fell for the misconception that well-paying, interesting work is all that is necessary for job satisfaction. He even changed his own career based on this theory. But then, Lencioni says, "… I met more and more people with supposedly great jobs who, like me, dreaded going to work…. The theory crumbled completely when I came across other people with less obviously attractive jobs who seemed to find fulfillment in their work…. And so it became apparent to me that there must be more to job fulfillment than I had thought."

In The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Lencioni explores the overlooked - yet simple and obvious - causes of job misery.

Once Upon a Time …
Lencioni frames his theories as a fable, telling the story of Brian Bailey, a recently retired CEO, who, only weeks into his retirement, has a less-then-stellar experience ordering takeout from a neighborhood pizzeria. Brian wonders why the pizzeria's employees seem so miserable, particularly in comparison to their counterparts at other area restaurants, and soon seizes the opportunity to become the pizzeria's weekend manager in order to investigate the cause of and how to alleviate the staff's misery.

Lencioni's fable utilizes the microcosm of the pizzeria, with its small staff and stakes, to illustrate the three elements that make any job miserable: Immeasurability, anonymity, and irrelevance. In order to experience true job fulfillment, employees must be able to measure their progress and level of contribution in a way that does not depend on the whims or subjective views of their managers. According to Lencioni, they must also feel "understood and appreciated for their unique qualities by someone in a position of authority…. People who see themselves as invisible, generic, or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing." Finally, employees must have a clear idea that their work matters, that it has relevance for others.

The story of how Brian then turns this miserable situation around provides a blueprint for any organization, regardless of size or industry, to increase job fulfillment for its staff. Lencioni presents his readers with a simple, straightforward cure that depends upon effective, empathetic management, and offers hope for everyone affected by job misery.