The Curse of Competency

[skybytch 259]

Are you aflicted with the Curse of Competency?

You get a new job and you kinda like it. They aren't asking you to do too much so you're stressed out or too little so you're bored out of your mind, and the pay seems reasonable for the work you are doing and the industry that you are in.

You're bopping along, doing your thing and doing it reasonably well when it strikes. The Curse of Competency. The bosses notice that you seem to be.... competent at your job. They see that you're good at what you're doing now and they assume you'll be good at everything else they can throw at you. So they throw it all at you.

And soon you find that you're doing far more than you were hired to do, many of them things that are far from what you were hired to do. They'll tell you at first that it's only temporary (since Joe quit we need someone to do his stuff until we can hire a replacement, which never happens since they can now save Joe's salary by having you do it all). They'll tell you how valuable you are to the company but those additional job duties never seem to include a corresponding raise in pay.

That's the Curse of Competency.

Now for the question - how to be good at what you do without the bosses noticing to the point that they invoke the Curse? This is assuming of course that you want to be good at what you do; I'm sure we all know how to do just enough to avoid getting fired!

[swedishcelt 0]

I know what you mean. Just because someone can do it all at a particular job doesn't mean that they should have to.

[mnealtx 0]

When you figure it out, can you let me know?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Ashtanga 0]

The problem is once you start doing it you are stuck with it. When they ask you to take on additional work while they fill a position you tell them, sure, if you pay me additional for it albiet salary, hourly or a bonus. Usually they will not give you the work in that case.

[mnealtx 0]

That works as long as you're not military (or gov't contract)... then they give it to you as "other duties assigned"....

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Ashtanga 0]

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That works as long as you're not military (or gov't contract)...

And generally when you say no you can kiss that future promotion goodbye.

But why would they hire someone else when you can do your job and the other persons. That doesn't make since.

So really, you are screwed either way.

[alanab 0]

i am so going through the SAME EXACT situation right now with my job!

gimme more money damnit!

[TALONSKY 0]

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The problem is once you start doing it you are stuck with it. When they ask you to take on additional work while they fill a position you tell them, sure, if you pay me additional for it albiet salary, hourly or a bonus. Usually they will not give you the work in that case.

I know people at my old job that would take this approach of pay me more before I take on the responibilty on. Most of the time they would just be left alone after that.
Kirk

[mnealtx 0]

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So really, you are screwed either way.

My point exactly.

In my current job, I have one primary duty... and probably 8-10 supplementary ones, curtesy of "other duties assigned...."

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Bolas 5]

And with that comes promotion til failure. You do a job well, and then they think you can be a team leader, well you figure out how to do that (kinda) and they make you a manager. As a manager you're barely able to keep your head above water, but do a good enough job they give you another promotion. Before you know it, you're totally out of your element, drowning, and have people yelling at you and stressed out. You fail, get fired, and now can't find work because your technical skills aren't up to date.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[banjobill 0]

I think most bosses have an image of a "leader" - at the corporation I used to work for they called it a "perfect 42 long", meaning a guy who was a perfect fit in a 42 long suit. Many of these guys (yes, sex discrimination still exists) were nitwits but were often promoted past their more competent co-workers who were left behind to do most of the real work. It was my experience that a lot of these "turks" were from wealthy families who had connections with top corporate muckity-mucks and they were "annointed" from the beginning to leap-frog over the masses.

Two suggestions - either become a"42-long" yourself, learning to play the political game, or enjoy your pay and benefits and take ALL your vacation and other legitimate days off. Then go skydiving.

B. (no longer a corporate eagle and free from indigestion)

.

....with a capital P and that rhymes with T and that spells TROUBLE!!!

[lawrocket 3]

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The bosses notice that you seem to be.... competent at your job. They see that you're good at what you're doing now and they assume you'll be good at everything else they can throw at you. So they throw it all at you.

This is exactly the way businesses operate, Lisa. They find out how to squeeze the most value out of an employee and keep pushing the person further and further.

What you are describing was explained by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in "The Peter Principle." The "Peter Principle" states that in a hierachical organization, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence - and stay there. In your example, you have demonstrated competence in the task in which you were initially hired. So they move you to an area where different skills are needed. If you are lousy at the new job you'll stay there. If you are good at it, they'll move you to another one.

The Army is an example of this, though it is managed with experience and time in grade. A private moves to Specialist. He may be the greatest damned Specialist (pay grade E-4) you've got, but the Army says he needs to be promoted or get out of the Army. So he becomes a Buck Sergeant (E-5). Too bad he's got no leadership ability at all, so he has risen to the level of his incompetence.

Back many, many years ago, the Army identified that there are some soldiers just not cut out for leadership, so they had Specialist-5's, 6's and 7's. Great troops who couldn't lead a fly to shit, but sure could do their jobs well.

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how to be good at what you do without the bosses noticing to the point that they invoke the Curse?

It's impossible. Really. I try to avoid this stuff, but I find that I give my staff responsibilities that the shouldn't have. Only when it blows up in my face do I back them off.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

It's called 'delegation', beautiful!

-Ok, I did actually write a pretty lengthy post about how I did things at my job, but I think it was too 'me' centered to be of any help so I deleted it...let me take a better stab at this:

You produced quality work in the stuff you were hired on to do, correct? I might say something like, "I know quality is important to you, it's a big part of why I enjoy working here at XYZ. I know I can feel proud of the quality I put into (whatever it is you do). Taking on Joe's responsibilities, however, are starting to effect the quality of work for the job that I was hired on to do. -When did you say that new guy/gal was going to be starting? Let me know, I'd love to help train them so I can get back to what I do best."

Second item, and I explained this in the lengthy crap I originally wrote in this message...do you make more money than 'Joe'? Was his position considered lesser? Here's what I told my bosses, and what may work for you: "Andy, you pay me $$$. For that salary, I'm a damn good 'X'. However Andy, it doesn't make business sense to pay someone 'X' an hour/month/year/whatever to make copies, does it? I suggest hiring a temp for $ per hour to do $ per hour work, and use my talents, for which you pay $$$, where I am can produce more revenue." They looked at me and said "Holy shit you're right. We're not paying $$$ a year for a copy-girl."

...then sometimes, they'd still send me to Kinko's for five hours (my boss would apologize and tell me 'I know it makes no sense at all, but that's what they (the up-ups) want...), sucking down a latte, and being the highest paid girl sitting in Kinko's for five hours...I kinda felt like a lawyer!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[Nightingale 0]

Talk to your boss and explain that with so much to do, there isn't enough time in the day to get it done right, to the best of your ability. If you never speak up, your boss will think you're doing fine.

[headoverheels 291]

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Now for the question - how to be good at what you do without the bosses noticing to the point that they invoke the Curse? This is assuming of course that you want to be good at what you do; I'm sure we all know how to do just enough to avoid getting fired!

Maybe you could just post whore enough to decrease your overall efficiency.

[goose491 0]

Yo Bytch!

I unfortunately know all too well what you speak of.

I have found that the best way to avoid this, is to apply one of the work rules originally coined by George Kastanza. That is to always seem irate and snippy. You see, George does nothing at his jobs. He prides himself on being able to collect as much pay as possible whilst putting forward the least amount of effort possible.

He discovered that when hard working people are really busy, they look somewhat irate, or irritable. They are snippy with you if you require their attention. Of course, one could argue that this "look" is but a display of concentration on the task at hand, and the "snippiness" but a desire to continue what they are doing... but not knowing what it means to concentrate on a task at hand, George mistakes it for general tetchiness. He begins acting as though he's gotten up on the wrong side of the bed everyday, and claiming he's got no time to speak with anyone when they need him... the result? His employer commending him on working so hard and being so very dedicated!

Now I do not advocate lazyness... but this can be applied by efficient or "competent" workers as well. Here comes your boss, worried he might be comming to dump some extra work on your desk?

Think about wearing a hair shirt. How uncomfortable! How itchy and painful even at times. "Man! Who the hell invented these GodAweful, pain in the ass shirts anyway? One just can't find peace!"

... that's what I do, and my boss cruises right by me with a pat on the back and a "Nice Job man, you're always working so hard!"


[Note: I just spent 20 minutes typing this post at my desk ]

lol

Nick

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Lindsey 0]

I'm thinking that maybe it's a sign that you're overqualified for the job you're doing. Maybe you're just too damned smart!!!

peace~
linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[skybytch 259]

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Maybe you're just too damned smart!!!

Are you trying to tell me I'm not living up to my potential? Heck, they've been telling me that since I was in elementary school!

It can't be that I'm too smart, cuz it happens to other people too.

[SansSuit 1]

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***
What you are describing was explained by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in "The Peter Principle." The "Peter Principle" states that in a hierachical organization, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence - and stay there. In your example, you have demonstrated competence in the task in which you were initially hired. So they move you to an area where different skills are needed. If you are lousy at the new job you'll stay there. If you are good at it, they'll move you to another one.

Then in a later book, Dr. Peter talked about something called "creative incompetence". Basically, if you are a good mechanic and don't want to be promoted to foreman, be a great mechanic, but be rotten at the paperwork. "Damn, he's good with a wrench, but he can't spell. He'll never make foreman."

With me, my reviews all have words such as "perfect", "incomparable", and "above all expectations", until it comes to "housekeeping". Then, not so much. Oh well, I'll never get promoted out of the cushy little job world I've created for myself.

---

Peace,
-Dawson.
http://www.SansSuit.com
The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving

[Guest]

Lisa,

Ya gotta be like Dilbert's buddy Wally. Just stay below the radar by being in a state where you're marginally good at what you do so that you don't get tasked with anything else; likewise, be too much trouble to replace.

It's a difficult line.

However, today I had a laugh. I had a recruiter from Cingular call me about a tech support gig that I had put in for; turns out that he was offering me less that half of what I had made per hour in my last gig there as a sys admin...

mh

.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[sunshine 2]

Ya know it's weird. I had a job for 7 years where i did pretty much nothing. Now i have a job where i work my butt off everyday. I like this whole being competent thing. Plus when i'm competent, i get raises.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[Lindsey 0]

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It can't be that I'm too smart, cuz it happens to other people too.

....who aren't NEARLY as smart as you....

Peace!
linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail