My father used to say that he didn’t care what I did for a living provided I did it well. He said, “If you are going to be a street sweeper – be the best street sweeper you can be.”
He may not have had high hopes for me but he gave me a valuable lesson. Personal success comes from taking pride in your work, no matter how humble. John Maxwell said it this way: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Or maybe it was Tom Hopkins or Teddy Roosevelt who said it first. Other than trying to give credit where credit is due, I don’t think it matters.
Like most great sayings this one has room for interpretation. In the sales game it is usually used to inspire salesfolk to get to know, and care for, their clients. Personally, I like to think it reminds us to care about what we do.
Teddy Roosevelt did say: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” This is sometimes misunderstood, in my opinion, to mean that only some work is worth doing. While I understand that there is “busy work” and occasionally “make work programs” I would argue that all work is worth doing. It really depends on how we look at it.
I hate housework. There I’ve said it. I have never felt more than a moment’s pleasure from the odious tasks and the pain of dust and clutter do not outweigh the pain of cleaning. I am happy to pay someone to do it. We could say that housework was beneath my dignity – not worth my time and effort. But I would argue that I think housework is valuable work – worth doing and doing well. I am, after all, willing to use money, which is a proxy for effort, to get it done.
We have sold our children a bill of goods (which is a polite way of saying that we lied to them). We told them that they should find work they enjoy – valuable work in which they can take pride. Work can be its own reward. But sometimes we have to find the value for ourselves.
A young worker quit her job. It was a summer job in an office. She was in her first year of college, in the accounting stream. She quit because she had to file, and photocopy, and match invoices to orders, all of which is tedious. She quit without notice and in a huff. “The work,” she declared, “is beneath me. I am an accounting student not a clerical drone.” She lost the opportunity to learn how that office was organized. She could have asked questions, been curious and patient. The work could have been interesting if she had been interested. I do not predict a bright future for her unless she reexamines her perspective.
I know a doctor who hates the mundane work of clinical screening. He thinks that he is trapped in a backwoods hospital and that the glamorous and interesting cases are elsewhere. His lack of caring about the work shows as lack of care for his patients. He’d be shocked to know this because he sees himself as a compassionate individual. But, if the patient isn’t sick enough he feels that his time is wasted – the work not valuable.
All work is valuable. While we may not enjoy all aspects of our jobs we need to remember that work that needs to be done needs to be done well.