Jobs

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1590077]

Comments

[andrewducker]

I wasn't asked that in my review, by the way. My boss _likes_ it when I think. He just wishes I'd think more deeply before I started doing stuff.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

I would most be utterly bemused and wonder what kind of alien had taken over my boss's mind. Then polishing my CV.

[matgb]

Had to fire a guy once when I worked in retail, lovely bloke, but just couldn't handle thinking things through, I took a fortnight off in the run up to a busy period, came back and he'd done nothing, including the stuff I'd listed for him to do, etc.

He came in a few weeks later, really happpy, he'd got a much better job for him and thanked me for making him realise it wasn't for him.

His new job was a greeter at the door of a sports store "it's great, all I have to do is say hello to people, I don't have to think at all".

My mind boggled. I couldn't and still can't imagine being happy in a job that encouraged no thinking.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

[x] Given I am at times paralysed by over-thinking, encouragement to 'build the first one to throw away' would be a happy thing.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

It would depend on the context. If it was 'think less and do more' it might be justified criticism of a known failure mode in academics like me. I'd certainly think about it before doing anything .... errr ... which might not necessarily be the best way to respond. Come to think of it.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Depends on context. If the idea was to help with analysis paralysis, it could be OK, if the message was, 'just do as you're told and never question.' I'd be looking for another job.

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

As I'm the only standout currently, I should explain. At the moment the problem with my job is that all I'm really being paid to do is administration, but I'm being expected (not unreasonably, given my skills) to do quite a bit of the research as well. To be fair, the role isn't that well-defined. But thinking less would also give me more time to think about other things, such as my PhD, which would be nice.

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

Why no option for "simply glad to have a job in this economy?"

[captainlucy.livejournal.com]

While there is a certain simple joy in having a job where you can simply zone out all day, it loses it's sheen after a while. Personally, I like a job which makes me think but doesn't make me *have* to think, if that makes sense.

Also, ditto with the "happy to simply have a job in the current economic climate" comments.

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could think less in one of my jobs - it feels like brainless work, most of the time. The other is at least a little more diverting, thank goodness.

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

Reason I've been meaning to look for a new job even though I rate my job an 8 is that while I get well-paid, my wife has no job and also can't get benefits, so I'd need to be *extremely* well-paid for the two of us to average out at 'enough money to live comfortably'...

[alextfish.livejournal.com]

If my actual current manager were to tell me to "think less", he'd probably be meaning I should still think a lot because a lot is expected of me, but not overthink things the way I can sometimes do. Similar to drdoug's response, I guess.

[darkoshi]

I sometimes get the feeling that I think too much at work. It seems to always be me who points out problems with the code, or scenarios in which the code won't work correctly. Maybe the code doesn't need to work perfectly in all conceivable scenarios; the existing code likely doesn't.
I'm probably also over-analytical... I spend too much time thinking about and working on thing which aren't my main concern. I also spend too much time trying to word emails/messages well. Like this comment here; it's a simple comment, but I've spent way too long writing it.