I’m working with a client on a long-term exit strategy. The first step is to free up some mental space and time for this person, whose work life has a great deal of frustration, resentment, and conflict.
You know I love a quadrant, and the one that I suggested to the client comes from Michael Bungay Stanier’s book “Do More Great Work”. This exercise is a favorite of mine for situations where staying in a role, but making adjustments to workload or emphasis, is the right approach for someone.
As with most quadrants, two of them are pretty straightforward. Where both entities care, focus more attention. Where nobody really cares, delegate or drop the work. It’s the places where you and your organization aren’t aligned that cause resentment and frustration.
The first step is to see and accept reality. If we’re tricked by lip service, we can become confused, heartbroken and forlorn by evidence that our priorities aren’t shared by a boss or an organization. And, there’s a limitation to how much we can talk ourselves into caring about things, even if they are important to an institution. So figuring out which parts of a job go into which quadrant takes a courageous honesty.
But then, progress is possible! Work can be much more satisfying when you figure out how to stop at “good enough,” and when you acknowledge that your passion project won’t be a source of recognition or praise (unless you change something). You can choose where to spend your time and focus, and you can understand why.
Here’s a worksheet you can download for looking at your projects and considering where to put your energy.
