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.
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