Next in my  Question-the-wisdom-of-good-business-practices-series. Look at this link to see the last one.

Yes, you read it right. Mess is good.

As Albert Einstein said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what then an empty desk?”.

A common thought association with success and good work practices are the words neat, tidy, organised, following procedure, no non-conformance and the like. Just look at the proliferation and support within businesses for prolific systemisation, the scheduling of everything and the want to have access to every bit of organisational data via a mega electronic filing system. How much time do we all spend neatening up instead of something more productive?

We have a leaning towards neatness and yes, certain levels of mess and disorganisation is dysfunctional but there is an optimal level of mess for all systems and processes. It helps aid flexibility, innovation, quick to react to change and adds a level of resistance to failure (robustness).

This book – A Perfect Mess: the hidden benefits of disorder – is a few years old but is still so relevant. And, it is not just a business management type book, it explores lots of life scenarios. Its even a bit insightful into why some of us are so *busy*. Well worth a read.

So, in the past we have talked about the rarity of finding a ‘Dream Career‘ but I propose an alternative – work out what you don’t want to do to narrow down the field to establish your career continuium .

There are heaps of ways to do this, the most common being that we do a particular job for a while and you just know it is not right. Some people stay on regardless because they, or often their loved ones, deem that the job or industry is safe, secure, well paid, etc. Meanwhile the person just detests the thought of getting up everyday to go to work.

In my line of work I get to interact with people that their managers says have a ‘bad attitude’, are lazy, or the like. When you have a chat to them you often find they just have no interest in what they are doing, even though they might have been in this type of job for most of their working life. I had one person who had been a mechanical fitter for 25 years in a workplace he had grown to dislike. We had to work together on a project and I discovered he loved to fly on the weekends and was very involved in community groups, holding committee level positions. After I left that workplace I ran into him and he was excited and energised. He had left his former job and taken over managing a small local airport – he got to indulge in the air industry everyday with people that had the same interests as himself and got to apply his skills in managing, organising and occasionally fixing things in his trade area. He was a changed man and, he realised that he can change jobs without the world falling over.

The other thing I see regularly is the younger job seeker who says they want to pursue a particular line of work but has no idea what this work entails. I have interviewed hundreds of apprentice applicants during my career. After going through the routine questions I always ask what they know about the field they want to work in. For example, 10 years ago everyone wanted to be a diesel fitter in my local area. So I would ask them what a diesel fitter did. 9 out of 10 applicants could only tell me that they worked on big trucks and bulldozers and made stacks of cash. Yes, that was their answer at an interview. The 1 in 10, who usually got the job, had done work experience or had friends or family who had worked as a DF and had done lots of questioning or what was the case for many in that area, was made to engage in non-paid child labour fixing equipment because their parents owned a farm.

So, some better ways -

Look at what interests you have and what you are naturally good at, regardless of what you do at work.

Sometimes there are some solid alternatives, like the example above, that are out there. You just need to be ready to take the leap. The transition can be scary but for me, so is the thought of spending 5/7 of your days doing something that you really don’t like.

Ask lots of questions.

Talk to friends, family, work mates, people you randomly meet, anyone. Find out what they find interesting about what they do or what hobbies they have. How did they get into it. What experience or skills did they need. What don’t they like. What are the conditions like – and I don’t mean pay – where is it done, what general times, who do they interact with, do you get dirty, do they have to travel much, how is their day split between technical/people/systems?

Research.

You don’t have to sit on a computer or at the library reading wordy descriptions, you need to see the nitty gritty, and in this age of crazy insurance claims, it is difficult to get into a workplace to have a look. At our house we like to watch Mike Rowe’s show called Dirty Jobs. You can see it on ABC2, Pay TV or UTube. There are some people out there that looove their jobs but once you see what they actually have to do or the work environment, there is no way a lot of us could do them. A great way to eliminate possible careers and get a real appreciation for what others do everyday so our world functions. Check out Mike’s site for heaps of job related information:

http://www.mikeroweworks.com/

What other ways have you found out about a new career? 

I like Dilbert cartoons. Scott Adams has the knack of capturing the ridiculousness of corporate offices in a couple of cartoon squares. I check them on-line every couple of days if I don’t have one of his calendars. I am even known to give copies to people I know to take the mickey out of something that is happening at work, which I know can be annoying, but you have to be able to laugh at how silly it might be.

http://www.dilbert.com/

I discovered Dilbert in my early 20′s when starting in my trade whilst working for a government owned corporation. Ah, the bureaucracy. Hard to fathom how it was a priority to fly to Brisbane for a number of committee meetings about how to rationalise the 1000 plus forms in the ‘system’. Couldn’t someone just make a decision? Ah, the realisation that maybe what your Dad had told you about how people behave at work was in fact a lot more relevant than what that expensive uni degree taught you.

Whilst attending one of these fun committee meetings I strolled to the Brisbane Mall on the way to grab a taxi to the airport and when browsing at a bookshop (a common theme in my life) read the first couple of pages of “The Dilbert Future”. I bought it. It was funny. Plus it was a relief. A relief? Yes, it confirmed that heaps of other people question what happens at work. This book was published in 1997 and I was looking through it the other day and it is freakishly accurate still. In fact, Scott’s theory of Employee Motivation (chapter eight) should be standard reading for CEOs and executive managers that tell me that all their company needs to be better are systems to increase employee motivation. It’s a crack-up if you can get hold of it.

So what should you do if your workplace is just like Dilberts? My suggestions:

See the funny side – when you look back in the future you will have the funniest stories to tell.

If you are staying, find a friend at work to talk to about what happens. Your partner will just be so sick of hearing about it.

Step away from the herd: try and work differently to the rest of your workplace. (Blatant plug alert!) In fact, over the next 2 weeks I will be releasing some new guides, on the ‘other side’ of my website specifically for this purpose. It is a series called Work Smarter and will have guides on communicate, who does what, delegation and authority, eliminate time waste, getting work done and problem solving.

Or, join the rest of us fulfilling Scott’s prediction: “In the future, skilled professionals will flee their corporate jobs and become their own bosses in ever increasing numbers. They’ll become entrepreneurs, consultants, contractors, prostitutes and cartoonists.” Point one comes in handy in at least 4 of these 5 occupations!