My partner Luke works for a local council. He spends most of the day listening to members of the public fretting, complaining, protesting or 'trying to cut a deal' over Council Tax payments. Not exactly top 10 in one's list of dream jobs. Yet we've come up with a way to make his average job into a Dream Job.In a way, so many of us end up in that less-than-perfect job. Even if we finally landed a spot in our dream company (the one with the pool table in the canteen and handcream in the loos), reality quickly bites when the routine grind of repetitive work hits in. I've known a number of bubbly idealists who joined ethical companies that should've been 'the one,' yet eighteen months down the line they're looking again for something... better.
So what's going wrong here? Is it that our managers don't know how to design jobs that are fulfilling? Could be. Or it could be that we don't know how to find fulfilment in our job? If we blame our managers, there's not much we can do but shift jobs and complain about the next boss. But if we take responsibility, it really is possible to make any job our dream job. Here's how.
A few weeks ago Luke and I developed a technique that has radically changed the way he faces his customers. We call it the Customer Award of the Day.
The Concept: Every day Luke hunts out candidates for his Customer of the Day. For each person he speaks to, he notes down the positive (and only the positive) qualities that he notices in them. The Customer of the Day is then given the fine award of, well, nothing, apart from Luke picking them as his favourite person for that day.
Meaning that the guy Luke had previously see as the "petulant business man" becomes "diligent, focused and an excellent communicator," and the "disorganised, emotional woman with three children who's shouting at me" becomes "caring, nurturing, protective mother who is passionate and expressive."
You get the idea. By focusing on the positive qualities of those around you, their positive side is exactly what you experience. Just think about the difference it makes if you pick up the phone and hold your breath for the first good quality to shine, rather than holding your breath in anticipation of a fight.
"But isn't that just deluding yourself?" a number of Luke's colleagues have asked. I suppose you could see it like that. But if like me you see truth as more dynamic than objective, you'll realise that in life you see what you want to see in people. And the qualities you chose to focus on are the ones that will stick in your memory.
More than just positive thinking, this a way to learn. Every time you recognise a quality in someone else, you can implicitly compare your actions to theres and think - "Am I being as generous today as customer #3? Or as straightforward as customer #7?" If you're surrounded by good examples your own development becomes easier.
Even if your job is not as repetitive as Luke's, you can still keep a lookout for your Person of the Day. What qualities did you admire in your colleagues, clients or people in the street? What did you learn today from people around you? Who struck you as inspirational, unique, clever, peaceful, and so on.
The choice really is yours. And in this way, it's your choice whether you have an drab job or a Dream Job. Ask yourself this: would you prefer to focus on people's 'bad' qualities, or would you prefer to work with an endless supply of exciting, impressive people that you can learn from?
