Jobs to be Done, a Non-Traditional Application

"Jobs aren’t just about function—they have powerful social and emotional dimensions." The HBR Magazine, September 2016

Aug 26, 2022

Asking what they do…

Ask a coworker what they do; you can imagine their response.

Ask a peer at a bar what they do; you can imagine their response.

Ask a friend of a friend what they do; you can imagine their response.

Now, to switch it up a bit:

Ask a person on the street what they do; do not imagine their response. Seriously, go ask them and listen. (Separately, when was the last time you talked to someone on “the street?” What even is the street – the street your residence is located at, your local thruway, someone you pass in a parking lot? A future topic to ponder…)

Ask a child what they do; do not imagine their response - ask ‘em!

Ask a student what they do.

The difference between me and you…

The summer after 9th grade, Rich Homie Quan unleashed the summer anthem, “Type of Way.” He was known in the industry as a one-hit-wonder. Being the anti-pop follower, I bucked his one-hit-wonder denomination on his behalf. Instead of deeming him a one-hit wonder, I spent hours listening to his past mixtapes and future releases. One song was called “Differences.” He rapped in the chorus “the difference between me and you.”

How different would the first three responses and subsequent responses be from the latter three? According to my anecdotal research, very different.

When I have asked peers, coworkers, and friends of friends, the vast majority of the time, I get a response akin to “I work in…” and “I work for…”. Full stop; that’s around ~80% of interactions. (Note: the other 20% answer as the following groups typically answer – see the following.)

Now, the other three “categories” of persons (people on the street, children, students) with activities they complete: “I study and explore…” “I help…” or, as my five-year-old cousin states “I sometimes go crazy.” The difference between these groups is stark. As Rich Homie Quan raps, “Venn diagram; compare and contrast!”

Normalization of Jobs as an Identity

Imagine a scenario where your coworker answers the way my five-year-old cousin answers; indeed, the coworker might very well be deemed crazy. It is important to realize our perception of what people do (and what is considered crazy) is as permanent as the longest running TV show; even if it has been going on for 5+ decades, it is still a recent invention in human history.

Only after the 1990s did less humans work outside of agriculture than within (source). Before that, the differentiation of our jobs was not our identity. If so, we would all be the same. As Michelle Alexander examines in The New Jim Crow, an individual’s identity is defined repeatedly through their environment; in the case of their examination, Michelle uncovers how the creation of an undercaste extends a person’s prison label beyond prison, at times, creating a need for them to embrace the stigma to cope. Interestingly, our traditional definition of who we are is not rooted in our definition of a job, but it can be rooted in a definition of society, such as a “prisoner.”

We can see that equating “what we do” to our job is a new phenomenon; not a permanent one attached to our human species. If jobs have not provided our identity, why have they now?

“Professional” Jobs, Solely Based on Professionalization

2022 in NYC is an interesting, borderline wild time – work from anywhere is dead for many and replaced by a renewed emphasis on showing up. Executives are preaching wellness to a choir of objectified “lazier” workers, while NYC-based financiers march to their offices to become more productive, more learnt, and more professional. The trend of the Great Resignation (which I refer more aptly to as the “Great Reshuffling”) exacerbates this trend; if you do not like your job, leave it. Leave it, many say, to find a job that fits you better, with regards to perks and pay (many times, interest, is seemingly left out of this consideration.)

If we do not see eye-to-eye with our firm, it is best to leave. If not, we succumb to their stereotype; their identity is directly, and solely, weaved with our own identity, let alone professional life.

For example, I have heard countless conversations that deride rival firms’ (across industries like consulting, banking, tech) cultures: “of course that’s true; they are so stuck-up,” or “what else do you expect from xyz company?” Conversely, I have heard defenses of company culture that go beyond defensible. “Everyone cheats.. you think others are any better?” or “we work harder… it’s really that simple.” Employees of one company break down employees of other companies while building up their own coworkers, all because of the depositor of their bi-weekly direct deposit source.

The Manhattan and professional services societies (and the combination of both) I am a part of construct a narrative that one’s worth, and ultimately identity, are linked to one’s job.

A Simple Machine; One Opportunity for Output

The concept of machines, simple and complex, was one I never even exposed to in science classes. Fortunately, I learned about it through a book my home had titled “100 World Inventions.” The grouping of six simple machines, classified by Renaissance-era thinkers, captivated me. The machines’ abilities to increase human potential, primarily through leverage, also had the magnificent effect of increasing my imagination regarding how the world works. They work by using leverage to multiply force in one area with the intention of more user-defined output in another area. For example, the (class 1) lever below shows force applied downward, a fulcrum in the middle, and the rock load moving opposite the direction of the applied force.

Read About Simple Machines | Science for Kids | Grades K-8 — The six simple machines

When we define ourselves by our one, salaried, full-time job, we do fulfill a task at hand. We give a listener valuable information, insight, and introspection into our lives. We offer our ranking, our skillset, and our past experiences – all related to our job. This is valuable to the listener, albeit to a limited extent. Just as a lever is only useful in certain applications, so too, is defining ourselves by our job.

If a job is the sole definition of our lives, we limit ourselves to operating as a simple machine; our job becomes the only, magnified output of ourselves.

A Complex Machine; Multiple Opportunities for Output Based on Multiple Inputs

Compare this to the definition of a complex machine: the combination of multiple simple machines. In effect, the leverage from multiple, simple machines multiples together to create an end-use previously unconceived. A bike, for instance, incorporates wheel and axle, lever, and pulley. In reality, our job is only one, and not the only, machine in our lives. Therefore, our lives are not separate, simple machines; they each embody a relationship akin to complex machines.

Rather than have your job define you, your job can be part of defining who you are. Take the following example, based on my own experiences:

“I love spending time outside in the warmth, being with others and nature, learning, exploring, and adventuring. I believe climate change and decarbonization are the biggest problems facing the world; I do my best to make sure we are tackling them. For example, I consult for companies embarking on the energy transition during the day, while taking trips around the globe to better learn the experiences others face by such impacts. “

This is very different than what I could answer (and have answered, if at a job-specific networking event):

“I work for xyz consulting company, helping energy companies in their energy transition by creating innovative products and services to lower carbon and costs, while increasing customer happiness.”

Up until very recently, I only imagined my job would define me. I did not realize a wider realm of possibilities of my life’s definition. I grew up seeing my Dad work nine hours each day at his one, full-time, salaried job that provided our family’s single source of income and gave him his circle of friends. Even when I worked at my first few corporate internships, I did not envision an alternate possibility of defining myself with work – a job identified me and nothing more could rise to such a strong definition.

Over the past several years, I began to understand this is not the only possibility. Whenever my aunt and grandma ask about my job, it makes me smile. In fact, I become humbled. (They mean well when they ask, they do!) They (unintentionally) ensure my one, salaried, full-time job does not define me, and instead, is merely one part of who I am. I realize my life is a complex machine as my job provides one definition of who I am but comes nowhere close to explaining who I am holistically, and where I have to grow. What I do is constantly evolving. Right now, I envision it as:

G and the World

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