That's Not My Job

& how work culture inspires or destroys high performers.

I learned the hard way that saying "that's not my job" is sometimes the only way to protect your peace.

When I was working in childcare, or even volunteering as president for things in graduate school, I cared tremendously about doing well.

The people around me often had much lower standards than I did, so I found myself taking on responsibilities that did not belong to me. And guess what? All I was rewarded with was a missed weekend and some stress. Nothing else.

That's when I started to learn to embrace the phrase "Not my circus, NOT my monkeys".

I actually had a roommate who had a mug with that phrase on it, and when I got too worked up I would make myself some tea in the mug and sit with my feelings for a bit. It looked something like this:

Picking up that mantra got me through graduate school in one piece.

Now I make about 6x as much as I did back then (or an incalculable amount for the volunteer positions because N x 0 = 0).

Honestly? My perspective has changed with my career.

It's Not My Job, but Maybe I Should Do It?

My perspective on the phrase "that's not my job" has changed a lot as my career has evolved. I would say a lot of my success and quick career progression has been because of my willingness to do things that "aren't my job".

The difference is simple:

- I am paid a very good living wage.

- I am given the support I need to take on new skills.

- Im allowed to set boundaries to protect my peace.

- When I go above and beyond, I learn from it and progress my career instead of just making more money for someone else (with no raise for me).

This simple list above means that I have everything I need to take on things that "aren't my job" and turn them into growth opportunities, while also delivering a win.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does change the game.

I used to work minimum wage across numerous jobs, still struggling to pay rent. Now I work comfortable hours, have a comfortable salary, and work with other people who are experiencing the same.

The attitude of everyone around me is radically different than it was before. I've observed that people who are supported and compensated well tend to be generally open, flexible, and supportive.

By my observation, there's an important trifecta that determine the attitude people have towards their jobs.

- Work load

- Support

- Pay

When people are overworked, unsupported, and/or underpaid you start to see short tempers, making silly mistakes, and an unpleasant working environment.

I don't think it just comes down to money. People who have worked at MAANG in the past seem to be unable to talk about the experience without talking about how toxic it was.

It often seems that despite their high salaries, they shared other things in common with my minimum-wage jobs of the past.

- Overworked

- Unsupported

I've also talked with people who landed their dream entry-level data analyst job and still ended up unhappy.

The common theme was that these people had a good workload and received good support... But they felt underpaid compared to their peers, and therefore ended up with an overall negative attitude about their jobs.

Yet another example is people who are paid and supported relatively well, but have reached a growth ceiling at their company and while their role keeps growing, their salary and title are unable to keep up. Those people are high-risks for quitting, but seem to be the most valuable on the team.

To bring it back to my own career, if any piece of my work trifecta started to erode (pay, support, workload), then my willingness to pick up new work would erode with it.

Some people might call that quiet quitting, but I would argue it's more "working the job you're paying me to do".