Know your mechanical prime time
Most people have jobs, and as of this writing, there is not a general revolt against the concept. In any society, it is a revered position - one that carries a certain “it’s a good feeling to be part of the team” camaraderie. Whether a democratic or a socialistic state, it is understood that the people who are out there working jobs are the bedrock of the society. They keep the wheels turning.
For you, having a traditional job rather than operating a business is ideal if any one or more of the following are of ultimate importance:
- Freedom: It is a luxury to be able to leave the job at the end of the day and not have a single work-related worry on your mind.
- You abhor the idea of managing the extra degree of financial risk, uncertainty, and headaches that can come with a business.
- In your job, you are doing what you love, feel a high sense of self-esteem, and simply don’t want things to change.
- You are building something of value in your job, and the future looks bright.
- The job situation is the only way you can obtain the necessary resources to do the thing you love (flying a jet, or politics, for example).
- You value the social aspect of being surrounded by peer employees.
- For the moment, you must survive as you prepare for independence down the line.
- You are making more money than you require, creating a future of freedom just from the assets you are stashing away.
- With your skill set, because of your physical location, or for whatever reason, there is no opportunity elsewhere.
- You crave the security of insurance, retirement fund, savings plan, etc.
In your job, Mechanical Prime Time (MPT) is the time spent on improving sub-systems. In other words, in step-by-step fashion, you create self-sufficient primary systems (your department, for example). Presuming you wish to advance in your career, it is critical you expend your MPT in the proper activities.
Understand this: Producing the service or product is not MPT! “Doing the work” is a distraction from what must be done to ascend the corporate ladder – or, for that matter, to achieve independence in a small business. Your focus must be on perfecting the systems that DO the work, not the work itself.
Note: The book Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Working Less and Making More describes how to determine your MPT. To order your copy of the book, or to receive a free download of Sam Carpenter’s “Six Steps to Working Less and Making More,” see www.workthesystem.com.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:20 am
“Your focus must be on perfecting the systems that DO the work, not the work itself.”
What a phenomenally valuable insight. I’m dealing with this right now in our startup company. It’s so tempting to just jump in and do the darned work yourself. But if that means I’ll have to do it again tomorrow & the next day, then I haven’t advanced the company toward its real potential.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Your first paragraph states that in any society it is the job holder who is viewed as the bedrock of society. I am not sure that this is true of pre-World War II American society. I was born in the late 50s and while growing up heard a lot of discussion from those who were my grandparents age and older about their convictions and values.
My parents and grandparents were very religious and not politically sophisticated. In fact, they seemed to pride themselves on never voting for a party, but if they voted (and not all of them did) they voted “for the man, not the party.”
I wrote the previous paragraph to point to the fact that they were typical of the religious people of their day. They tended to view “stay at home mothers” as the bedrock of society and not the men who worked at the factory. When I was born, my Dad and Granddad worked at an aircraft factory. (My maternal grandparents lived on a farm at the that time, I think.)
In spite of having lived through the great depression, they seemed to view economics as less important than family solidarity.