Greetings. On a recent bike ride in Carroll County, Maryland, we came upon an interesting sign. It’s not exactly as it seems at first glance, but the sign did get me thinking about the importance of being engaged and doing work that is somewhat stimulating. The sign reads “Boring Volunteer Fire Co.” and it runs counter to my notion that firefighting is a dangerous but interesting (and important) job. And it turns out that this 100% volunteer fire company has been serving the community of “Boring, Maryland” for over 100 years.
But let’s stick with my first glance…
There are a lot of jobs that actually are “boring,” unless we choose to make them otherwise. By filling the boredom with a sense of energy, curiosity, and humor in order to figure out new and more interesting ways to get things done. By taking the initiative to rethink the nature of our tasks and the real potential of our roles and responsibilities. The bigger challenge is when we work in a boring company or organization. A company or organization that is unable or unwilling to see the possibilities in every one of us and the work we do and, as a result, fails to give us permission to stretch, explore, and try new things. In these places, efforts to inject new life into old jobs is a real battle that leads to only very small personal victories until we’re able to find away out.
But what if companies asked all of us to become the entrepreneurs of our jobs? To become more directly responsible for recasting them in ways that eliminated the boredom and produced remarkable results. To unlock our genius in ways that delivered more compelling value for the organization and the customers we serve. Now that’s a “win-win” opportunity of the highest order!
We win in business and in life when we commit to bringing new energy and promise to the work we do. And when the organizations we work for believe in our potential for genius.
Cheers!
