The 4 Hour Work Week and the Corporate World
As most of you know I work as a software engineer for a huge international software giant. For the most part I enjoy my job, enjoy the challenges of new projects and really like the people I work with.
Yesterday we had an "all hands" with a middle level exec. I’m not sure the purpose of these meetings, as they tend to be painful boring, but to entice us to show up they give out awards, $100 and a paper weight for working hard to a small group of people. It’s not that dissimilar to my experiences in grade school when picking sides for some sporting game. Almost everyone I work with works extremely hard and it just seems somehow cruel to point out only a handful. But given that the project I worked on for 2 1/2 years was very successful and recently released it was generally assumed we would likely be getting awards.
When the development award came up only 4 senior team members were credited. It was rather demoralizing. Okay not rather, it was demoralizing. Exactly like that team picking experience. Fortunately (or more likely unfortunately) I was in good company because the woman next to me had to sit and watch as the testing engineer and product manager received awards for the project she led but her contributions were never mentioned.
Sigh. It’s a rare day I agree that working for a nameless faceless corporation is necessarily all that evil, but yesterday was one such day. It is a soul destroying exercise to continue to do your best with out recognition. I often wonder if anyone other than my manager values my work or even understands what I do. I sort of created my own position here as a requirements engineer, a rather rare position in a software company.
I emailed my manager about the award and he reiterated he valued my work. He’s a good guy and didn’t know this was going to happen until a short time before and he tried to change it to include the whole team.
Good intentions, but given the lack of communication (before or after) about event and his feelings and that the director that selected the subset of the team members didn’t think enough of my contribution to include me is just more fodder pointing to the futility of putting a huge amount of effort into a job where the returns are very limited.
It’s no secret I’d rather be in my studio fulltime, working for myself, and having only myself to blame when my career doesn’t go the direction I’d like it to. It’s also no secret I’m a single mom in need of an income. Sure I don’t need to live on a software engineers salary but I still need cash to survive. I know there are very few jobs out there that pay as well as my current job, so I stay, doing my best every day to put a positive spin on things and just move on. Switching jobs won’t change that I’d still be working for someone else and if I’m going to take time away from my art career I want to maximize the returns for that time.
I do really enjoy the people I work with. I often find software engineers more interesting than many artists, I think we are a hidden group of really interesting people. Some are serious pains to work with but they are just down right fun as people, and the challenge of learning to work with so many different personalities in an authentic way is an excellent skill to acquire.
I think about the future, knowing that I can’t live the rest of my life working for someone else so I spend significantly less than I make, squirreling away a chunk of money every month for the day when my kids leave home and I can move onto the next phase of my life, the fulltime artist. My sense of responsibility towards my kids doesn’t allow me to just chuck it all now. Just doesn’t fit my personality and I need to be true to myself.
I’ve investigated the idea of passive income, doing something that requires very little effort but results in a nice payout of cash. There are numerous of blogs out there talking about how to do this. Most of these people are making money from their blog, advertising, etc. My favorite is Genius Types, written by a guy that aspires to be a movie director and producer once he has the income to whatever he’d like.
Much of his income comes from his blog, which has some interesting articles. So I think about turning my blog into a commercial affair and making cash from the folks that come to read what I write. My traffic (based on pageview) matches that of genius types so in theory I could do this. I look at empty easel and see an example of an artist doing just that. The articles on empty easel are also interesting and I certainly have the technical background to give blogging/website advice to artists.
There are 2 things that stop me from doing this. The amount of time to create such a blog would be at least 10 to 15 hours a week. It would be about the end of me having free time to spend in my studio. Eventually it would pay off and I could replace a portion of the day job with passive blogging but at this point I’m not interested in paying the 3-6 months start up pain in terms of time. I have no doubt this is a short sighted view and one mostly based on fear. But at least I know that. I like blogging and I like helping people so this activity is a good fit for me.
Problem is I really don’t like ads on the internet. I run firefox with the adblock plugin turned on. I rarely will see an internet ad. So this just feels very wrong to me. I feel that many internet ads are misleading and that in participating in this type of thing I would contributing to people being ripped off. That doesn’t sit well with me.
Maybe someday I’d do a blog like empty easel but it would be ad free, I’d do it to help others, not to make money off of them. So that project will have to wait until I have more free time in my life.
Reading these types of blogs led me to the book The 4 hour work week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich . Again based on the same concept of passive income, although he’s pushing internet businesses. The guy that wrote the book makes his money selling "supplements" over the internet.
One of the first examples he mentions to demonstrate premise is a story about him winning a kick boxing championship. He does this by finding the loop holes in the rules and exploiting them. He dehydrates and weighs in much lighter than his real weight, then rehydrates, gains back 15 pounds in a day. He knows if he just knocks his much smaller and lighter opponents out of the ring 3 times he wins. Not because he can kickbox, but because he has outsmarted them.
I found this story morally reprehensible and felt yucky reading (well actually listening to) the rest of the book. I think about the competitors that trained for this match and honed their skills, only to face a bully that didn’t care about honor, he just wanted a championship to boast about. He even admits the judges were annoyed at him but he doesn’t seem to show any acknowledgment there was a good reason for that annoyance. He is instead extremely proud of himself.
Maybe this type of behavior is authentic for the author but it just doesn’t work for me. Much of the book displays a similar lack of compassion for anyone but himself. While I’m sure there were some interesting ideas in this book I didn’t get much from it because I was so disgusted. He claims it’s not a time management book but much of what he had to say I’ve heard else where in other time management books, such as Eat That Frog.
What all this boils down to, no matter how demoralizing working at this mega corporation can be on certain days, it is still the most authentic choice for me right now. So I’ve moved beyond the disappointing day yesterday and stayed up until 1am to finish some work that must be done. (interestingly at 1am the other woman that didn’t get an award was also online working – there’s something to think about). I suspect I’ll have 3 or 4 more nights like this over the next week to meet some deadlines but maybe if my manager is generous he’ll give me some additional time off work around christmas to compensate given our lack of sufficient vacation time.
Posted by Lisa in: About Me
Tagged: 4 hour work week, corporate america, eat that frog, empty easel, genius types, passive income
Lisa, I feel your pain. I work in a corporate environment as well, and feel too often that my hard work and efforts go unnoticed, or unappreciated. But, the paycheck does keep me here, as well as helps support David to grow his business. But one day, there will come a day, that you and I will be able to scale back, work less and truly do the work we love and work for ourselves, and be succcesful. There are plenty of days where working in the Corporate world sucks but know there are others here so you’re not alone. Now, it’s back to the grind….
I had to double check that I wasn’t reading an entry written by my daughter! I’ll give you the same response I would give her (also a single mom)… don’t quit your day job! (but you/she already knew that!) You are both making exactly the right moves in laying the foundation for your future… that day when the kids are on their own and you will begin a whole new life. What we don’t realize is just how much life there is yet to live once the kids are on their own. Take care of yourself, stay healthy and save for your future… you’ll have a running start. Oh… and keep smiling at that day job… unless the recognition (or lack of it) amounts to big buck bonuses just ignore and endure.
Lisa,
I have no doubt you would be successful online over time, you do have the visitors and web expertise to accomplish something better than what is out there. Case in point, I was curious about the empty easel site and went to it, it looks awful to me. To me it looks like an ad section of the sunday newspaper without any life to it….interesting you think the articles are so interesting, I was so turned off by the site I don’t even want to read anything on it. But maybe that isn’t the point to look like all those other art
blogs. Who am I anyhow…my blog looks like a big game fell all over the page.
Hi Lisa, I am so sorry that you didn’t get the recognition you deserved! A bummer for sure. But keep socking away that money and buy your freedom!
I am with you on the ad stuff. I won’t look at them. If things move, I look away … so I don’t want to go that route either. I am not surprised at your values and I am not surprised you live by your values.
You are a very fine person!!
~ Diane Clancy
http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog
Steve – yes – knowing there are others is some how a comfort, and maybe somehow not. But I try not to dwell on it because the year I spent wishing I weren’t there every single day was painful – now I just head to work looking for what I can learn from the experience.
KJ – yep – agree – quitting the day job is not okay for me while the kids are at home. Another thing about the 4 hour work day book I didn’t like is that he felt his passive income/new rich scenario was the only reasonable way to live ones life. He put down anyone that made other choices. Sequencing isn’t bad – it’s what many mom’s do, not because we are stupid, but because it works for us.
Paula – I have to admit I don’t actually read most of the articles on empty easel – just the blog/website related ones on mondays. And I had never seen the site with the ads turned on, just turned them on to see. Yuck – that is exactly why I don’t want to ever put ads on my blogs/websites – it is incredibly tacky in my opinion. Definitely confirms I have no interest in pursuing this form of passive income. That site looks a lot better if you turn off all the ads via adblock in firefox.
Thanks Diane!
Lisa, I have worked at large companies and small companies and have never received recognition for my contributions. When organizations are run by men you have to expect this to happen. They have the power and will use you for their advancement. Even though this is the 21 century, the caveman attitude still prevails. I no longer work over my 40 hours a week and give away my time, because nobody appreicates it anyway and all I do is lose time that I could use working on my next project. I work at a job that I don’t really like, but like everyone else I need to eat and live indoors. I too am working toward the day I can chuck it all and spend my time creating art!
Lisa, I think because you don’t get the recognition at work that you’re going to get it for your art. Yes? And that’s where you want it most. Still, I continue to be amazed that some managers have zero people skills. I know. I worked for 9 museum directors in 10 years! As for the book, I’m so glad you read it so I don’t have to. It’s been on my list of things I should read, but maybe I don’t need to rush. Eat That Frog! is a good one for me.
Lisa, I find your entry slightly ironic. My husband and I were just talking about working environments. He is a civil engineer and has been struggling with clients and government officials. I was saying everyone struggles with clients. The only people I hadn’t heard complain were those working with computers. I guess I just haven’t been listening well enough. I’m sorry that people don’t notice the hard work you do. Remind yourself you are storing treasure for a later time.
Please don’t sell yourself and your art out to advertisers. Remain true. Both your writing and your art have a truth that would be lost to the highest bidder.
The thing about the game plan – putting money aside for the day you can go full time on [whatever activity you care to mention], is that it has to have an end point. I know of somebody who has been going to chuck his job in ‘in two years time, when we’ve bought the/improved the/paid for the….’ for, well, forever really. I think I first met him in 1997, and it is still ‘just two more years’.
You know, or at least e-know, somebody who had a plan and chucked the job. Different job, different family responsibilities, different details. But same problem, same principles and same-ish aspirations.
Lines, eh?
My many years in different publishing companies and being married to a software engineer who worked for over 25 years for a huge multinational US computer company has had me nodding all through the beginning of this post of yours. This personal experience has brought the realisation that those who go the extra mile are almost always underrated because somehow it becmes expected of them – indeed they become even more put-upon. The people who are patted on the back are those who ‘flaunt’ their ‘business’ and expose their backs for patting.
Rewards come in different packages. You get a good salary, you have fun with workmates, you enjoy challenges in your day job. You are creative in diverse directions, your art work is increasingly successful in the ways you want, you get fantastic readership and feedback from your blog, you have two children who sound really great folks. You are rich in many ways. Praise and appreciation from those whom you respect is one thing, but lack of it from the ignorant is no hardship.
I feel your pain – it’s such a common one now a days. I’m really sorry to hear about your experience nonetheless. It’s one of the reasons I left my job long ago – and while I miss the paycheck and bennies, I don’t miss the corporate world with a rotating list of CEOs with their golden parachutes and managers who could care less.
My husband and everyone who works for the same company is being forced to work overtime through December for a project coming to a close and he’s so irritated. I’ve tried talking him into quitting his job – but like you – he’s doing the responsible thing to keep food on our table and our life as is right now.
If the corporate world would just look within and give their employees the respect they deserve – companies would be that much stronger in the long run. Unfortunately, short sightedness is rampant.
Hi Lisa,
I just found your blog while searching for more artist’s blogs to read. First of all, I read your art quilt lens and enjoyed it. I used to make a lot of art quilts and was very obsessed with them, so it’s fun to get into present time about them now.
I am an artist too, a painter. I have been working on the concept of value, and it looks to me like that’s just what you’re hitting repeatedly here. Valuing one’s work, oneself, and so on. You are working for a large organization which won’t value the contribution and unique creativity of the individual. Ironic in a country built, literally, on the idea! But also sadly true. One thing I’ve noticed in my value search, is that the more I value what I do, the more value it has. And I can be more neutral of anyone who won’t value it. I just decide that 1) they can’t see it, or 2) they don’t value themselves or what they do, or 3) it’s just not for them, nothing personal.
Too bad for them that your manager and director don’t know value when they see it. I respect that you are a single mom, and have no criticism of your choices. I wish you the best in both your art and getting recognition for what you do. I enjoy reading your blog and thank you for writing it.
Olga’s POV reflects much of mine…have had similar experiences with variable quality in managers and executives, and I choose to view it as a learning experience (sometimes a pleasant and positive one, sometimes much less so.)
I haven’t gotten any better ideas about how to balance the demands of my day job with other parts of life (is there something uniquely overload-y about software companies?) but am grateful to get to struggle with the equation.
I guess it’s like your quilts — we piece things together as best we can to create something, perhaps beauty…and sometimes the act of being faithful to creative energy in spite of our overload, our confusion, is what’s most beautiful.
check out this website, lisa
http://fallingfruit.tv/consciousbusiness
it is a site dedicated to running a conscious business
i dont personally have a problem with people making money off the net, but I agree there are many different models. im sure you will find a fit good for you.
~Sue O’Kieffe
http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com
Okay, I know I look at things a bit differently, but I am a big believer that there is no such thing as truly passive income… The bloggers making money from their blogs, are not doing so accidentally. It is a real marketing effort. They are advertisers. After all, there is money to be made on selling someone on the idea, of making a passive income.
Having said that, I have also been in the corporate world, felt unappreciated and undervalued… but one day I had an epiphany — No matter how much I valued my own work, I was hired to complete tasks, and those tasks ranked somewhere on the priority list of people in higher positions in the company than I. In my opinion, large companies don’t hire people. They hire hands and brains to perform tasks. They dangle a carrot when they feel it needs to be dangled. I decided not to take it personally, and that really took a load off.
You all left great comments and I didn’t have time to keep up with them. Colin – I absolutely agree – I have a very clear exit strategy that I’ll write about in more detail some time.
Olga and Lori and Kris- I really like your point of view. Very healthy – I’m working at realigning my thinking also because I should not have let their behavior affected me.
Mimi – I agree – blogging is a lot of work – I put a lot of hours into this blog and if I wanted to turn it into a commercial affair – which I will not – it would take a huge number of hours. Hardly passive.
Nikki – definitely – my voice isn’t for sale.
Sue – looks interesting – I didn’t have time to look around much be sounds like a great place to work.
Sympathies to all those experiencing (or that have experienced similar), Patty, Alyson, Cynthia. it is amazing how much managers forget about what it’s like to be a worker bee.
Hoo boy, do I feel bad for telling you about that book! I ordered it from Amazon after reading an article about it in USA today, that’s what I get for not looking at the book before buying. I didn’t pick up on the boxing injustice, guess I don’t think much about atheletics so I skimmed over that. But I did start having trouble with it when I realized that he was proposing having products made overseas, esp. things like supplements and drop-shipping with no concern for the safety of products. That was right about when the Chinese food-additives scares started and I thought, who would want that kind of liability or responsibility for something that could make someone sick?
Anyway, I’m not into cutting corners or dishonest business practices. I’m just always looking for more ways to more effectively use my time, and try to make tasks I don’t like doing go as fast as I can. I guess I feel into the trap of promise of a quick fix, and put a few more bucks in that guy’s pocket, but I also never finished that book either. hmm, bad habit of mine to not finish books, or maybe a good decision to get off the boat when it’s not going the direction I expected?
Anyway, am reading a wonderful book about art journals that I will highly recommend, and just put it on my blog tonight.
Lisa, I actually don’t know how you do all you do! I think you’re amazing, and try not to worry about those pesky bosses. Usually when someone treats me badly, I really get mad, then later find out somehow that their life really stinks compared to my own. Then it doesn’t hurt as much.
How old are your kids, Lisa? I am also a Single mom/ fibre artist with kids 16 and 13. I love them to bits but I can’t wait for them to fly the nest some days. And when they do, I think I will probably take a year off, live on savings, and completely submerge myself in fabric, paint, colour, not to mention canoodle with other artsy folk. Eat when hungry, do laundry only when desperate, and sleep when exhausted.
But for now, we do what we need to, to make sure the family gets fed, watered and nurtured. That means crappy jobs (I’m in retail….;-( ) and not much of a social life. But as you wisely said, that is what is authentic right now. I am content knowing my decisions are the right ones for the moment.
So I pat you on the back, cheer you on, and I will continue to read your blog, it is comforting and inspiring……;-) Oh, I and I love your work, great colour combos….
Pam – other’s have recommended the book also. No time or money wasted since I listen to such books in my studio and get the book on tape from the library. I save all my $ for art books!
Lori – my kids are 11 and 15. I suspect you have the same thoughts I do – it’s great to have them around but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. What’s a social life? !