Individual Marginal Benefit

Periodically I make an effort to calculate the margin my employer enjoys for employing me.  It is difficult to do because my company is a large ship and would get along just fine without me.

However, someone needs to do my job and if someone had to choose regularly who would do it...I would like to be the one that is repeatedly chosen.

As a somewhat related aside...kids at a recess in their schools have much better feedback mechanisms than we tend to have in our jobs.  Think about how touch football teams are selected on every elementary school playground in America...the best performers are chosen first and the poorest contributors, last.  Additionally, these teams are re-selected with great frequency...which provides each participant's value to be re-assessed each game.  Significant improvement or degradation will quickly be reflected in the order one is selected the next time around.

Because I don't have as effective a mechanism to provide feedback on my performance (or on the perception of my performance) I must do it myself - which I do according to the following guideline;

1. Does it take me less time or effort to do the same work this week than it did last week?
2. Have I actively learned something this week that is not explicitly required of me?
3. Are my co-workers, supervisors and customers better for having associated with me?

If I answer no to any one of these questions for very long, it is clear to me that I'm starting to stagnate in my place and I need to make a change to something or else I run the risk of becoming a break-even player.  Or, worse yet, a marginal loss.

And everyone knows when the kid who accidentally makes a touchdown for the opposing team will get picked the next time teams are chosen.

Remaining qualified

I had a conversation last evening with a gentleman who manages an office for his company.  He employs people in an industry in flux.  They are able to do well because they have adapted technologies that allow them to work better, smarter and faster than they were able to 5 years ago or even last year.  Like all, they are required to do more with less.

Our discussion touched on his concern for his employees who do well for the company, but some are unable or unwilling to keep up with the technology that makes them successful as an organization.  He pleads with them to not ever have to tell them that they are no longer qualified to do their job.

On the way home from work today, I heard an investor in California talking about clean industry as the place to put money right now.  As his analogy he made the point that the 1920s in New York City would have been a terrible time to have invested in blacksmith shops and buggy whip manufacturing.

What does it take to move past the blacksmith shops we're comfortable with and do what is necessary to stay qualified for our own jobs?  When will we learn that the fungibility of resources is increasing and no longer will the country on our passport hold the key to prosperity?  And, what can we do to prepare for it?

If we will start to view ourselves in light of our marginal benefit, I believe it would make a big difference in how we provide value as well as how we articulate our personal value statement.

Benjamin