Some people work really well in the typical office environment and others do not. I guess I am definitely one of the latter group and I generally don’t like the idea of having a normal job. There is a really old joke that is often cited when discussing the way in which large companies organize their employees and it involves a monkey, a cage, a banana and a fire hose and I thought I would share it with you. Forgive me if you have heard this before but I really like it because it sums up a lot about working for a large organization.
You start off with a metal cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage hangs a banana on a string. After a little while one of the monkeys will try and climb up to grab the banana. As soon as the monkey starts climbing up to reach it, someone sprays all the other monkeys with cold water. Some time later another monkey tries the same thing but the same thing happen again: the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. After a short while whenever a monkey tries to climb up and grab the banana the other monkeys attack it. Monkeys are smart and so they quickly realize that if any of them go to get the banana, the rest of them will get the hose and consequently they attack any member of the group who tries to get the banana.
Once this happens we can take one of the monkeys out of the cage and replace it with a new one. As you can imagine, after a short while the new monkey will try and grab the banana but the other monkeys, remembering what happened before, will attack him so they don’t get sprayed with water. Eventually the new monkey will get the message and even start attacking others when they try and grab the banana. At this point you can take out another one of the original monkeys and replace him with a new one.
If you keep repeating the process enough times, you will reach a point at which none of the monkeys in the cage have ever been sprayed with, or even seen the hose but they will still attack any monkey that goes near the banana. If the monkeys could speak and you asked them why they did this they would have to answer: “Well this is just how we do things around here.”
This is very much what working for a large company is like sometimes. Things are just done the way they are because it’s the way they have always been done. Anyway I’m probably drifting a little bit off topic, so here are a few of my reasons why having a regular job might not be for everyone.
1. Being told what to do:
I’m not sure how other people feel about this but I am one of those people that hates being told what to do. In fact my logic about this is so twisted that if you tell me do go and do something then nine times out of ten I will go and do the complete opposite. If you want to get me to go and do something, tell me not to and I will probably go and do it for you. Needless to say, I don’t do well in a situation where I am being told what to do all the time and I’m sure many of you are the same.
2. Working To Make Someone Else Rich:
Nothing is more draining than realizing your work is not really benefiting you in any way and is, as far as you are concerned, pointless. No matter how hard you work in a regular job, your efforts will typically be of benefit to someone else but not to yourself. This makes working hard seem futile and hence it encourages people not to work hard which is terrible. Employees are there to make management rich.
3. Management:
A good manager can make you feel involved and proud to work for a company but a bad manager will make you feel like shooting yourself every time you step foot in the office. Sadly a lot of managers don’t do their job as well as they should. In my humble opinion, the main function of a manager is to make staff work to the best of their ability at all times and to make them feel enthusiastic about doing it. Sadly very few people really do feel this way. If you love your job then chances are you have a good manager behind the scenes.
4. Profit:
When you work for someone else, someone else controls how much you can earn and this is really not good if you are intending on getting rich any time soon. You don’t get to choose the hours you work or how much you can pay yourself.
5. Thinking For Yourself:
Most employers have little interest in what you think, they just want you to get you head down and do the work that is required no matter how smart of useful you believe yourself to be. While this takes the burden of making decisions off of your shoulders, it also means that you start to lose the ability to think and rationalize for yourself which is not good at all. Over time you will become conditioned to carry out all sorts of stupid tasks without thinking about why you are doing them. Some people however may actually like not having to take responsibility or make decisions. I guess it all depends on the individual.
6. You Don’t Really Learn Much:
No matter how good you get at your job, most people don’t really learn very much from doing the same things day in day out no matter how complex the job is. If you work in customer service for example you will probably end up being really good at dealing with the public but little else. Doing the same thing day out does not really give you any great experience nor does it give you the chance to develop and improve yourself.
So there you have it. Those are my six reasons why having a typical job may not be suitable for everyone.
Whose Dream Are You Building?
Jordan Crouter
cell: 949-310-6998
www.jordancrouter.com | 
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