
The Four Legs of Job Satisfaction - erik_p
http://erik.randomdrivel.com/articles/6/the-four-legs-of-job-satisfaction/
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geuis
I'm contemplating leaving my current job soon too. The author's list is
actually really relevant to how I'm feeling right now.

I want to work with a smaller team, preferably at a startup. Anyone need a
high-level frontend engineer? Please, contact me.

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erik_p
I'm sorry to hear that it's relevant to you right now, and glad you've got a
good sense of what your preferred environment would be. Good luck finding
something that's a better fit for you!

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angdis
There are all kinds of things that contribute to "job satisfaction". But at
the end of the day, none of these really means anything unless you're willing
to make changes.

What I am saying is that recognizing a bad situation is easy, you can sum it
up in "4 legs" or however many bullet points you want. Does anyone really need
to give you rules to determine if a job sucks? No, you just "know" it.

The hard (and interesting) thing is taking action about it. That could mean
solving the problems in your current position, finding a way to deal with
problem people or just leaving.

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erik_p
_The hard (and interesting) thing is taking action about it._ Excellent point.
FWIW I'm just trying to divide the problem up into imperfect broad categories
to frame the discussion/thought process. It's more of a test to make sure you
aren't falling for the old "grass is greener" mindset.

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ansy
This is just my personal philosophy. I think it all comes down to whether you
feel recognition and respect for your work.

This recognition comes from yourself, your direct peers, your superiors, your
subordinates, your customers, your friends, and your family. If any one group
thinks lowly of what you do it has a strong effect. If all of them think that
way it would be very distressing.

The only way anything matters is as it relates to recognition from any of
those groups. Your own background and the people around you have a tremendous
effect what works and what doesn't.

For example, a financial planner who made $5 million last year might be thrown
into depression if they were reduced to doing taxes for middle-class clients
for $50,000 per year. But a junior college graduate from a poor background
might be filled with importance to have that opportunity. Likewise being
praised by a Nobel laureate would probably be much different than being
praised by your barber who thinks your app is cool.

So, figure out what would make you respect yourself. Work for someone who
respects you and has customers that respect what they do. Have peers that
respect you. And hire subordinates that respect you. Surround yourself with
people whose respect is meaningful and earn it. Respect can come in the form
of money, but any one form of respect can get negated if the others are
lacking. It sounds egocentric to type it out, but I think that's what we
really want at the end of the day.

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known
Theory X and Theory Y does an analysis of employee motivation
<http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/>

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billybob
I like this analogy. I would say that culture is actually part of "do you like
who you're working with," though. "I don't like the culture" is a way of
saying "I don't like management" or "I don't like my peers."

If your immediate peers are great, but the organization doesn't support your
getting training, makes you dress up, makes you keep timesheets, requires TPS
reports and long meetings, etc, those decisions are being made by people. And
they are being annoying (even if they're otherwise nice).

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mmcconnell1618
How about growth? Even if a job seems perfect today if there is no path for
you to grow the job may not seem perfect tomorrow. A hacker doesn't need to
move to management to grow but if the job doesn't allow you to try new
technologies, methodologies and change with time you will grow to loathe the
position.

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umjames
Tried to access this site from work and it's blocked by the corporate
firewall. When I saw it at home last night, there didn't seem to be anything
inappropriate about the site. Maybe I'm missing something?

I guess that means my current job ranks low according to the criteria in this
article.

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erik_p
that's amusing. My condolences for being at the whim of the firewall content
filtering gestapo.

The likely reason it is blocked, is the main domain (randomdrivel.com) used to
be a community for sharing fart jokes, star wars parodies, and weird internet
memes -- before the age of Fark, Digg, and now Reddit. The whole domain is
probably classified in the websense 'poor taste' category :)

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dodo53
hmmm if all the legs are too short the table is still stable?

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erik_p
I think that's where the Stockholm syndrome kicks in (or when the analogy
breaks down)

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vipivip
I think the social scene also counts.

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erik_p
how so? are you trolling work for chicks again?! I guess I didn't factor in
location. Are you adding more legs to the job satisfaction coffee table
paradigm? damn you! :)

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vipivip
Lol! Imagine though working in some rural area with no coffee joint, etc.

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michaelochurch
This is way too much analysis for a simple conclusion: some jobs are
satisfying, and some are not, and various factors are important in evaluating
whether one's job is great, acceptable, or unacceptable.

The important thing to take out of the job satisfaction discussion is that if
you enjoy doing the work (and that includes the social aspects, such as
communicating with people you rely on and those who rely on you) and you are
learning, you are probably doing fine. A four-legged coffee table, or eight-
legged spider, metaphor isn't really necessary.

Stability, in my opinion, is overrated. The risk of losing one's career is
rarely worth taking, but job volatility is, as long as it's fairly
compensated, fine. I'd much rather have the job-vol of startups or finance
than the long-term risk of career ruin involved in late-stage academia.

