“The difference in the two jobs was night and day,” Caitland explained. “The higher paying job had a better title. Managing Director, I think. The other company had lower pay, a lower title, but the work was more interesting, more challenging, in the end, more satisfying.”

“What was it about the work that made it more satisfying?” I asked.

“The Managing Director job was just that. I managed and I directed. Actually, it was a glorified supervisor position. Very frustrating. I was supposed to make sure the work got done, but I felt like I was putting my thumb in the dike. I could easily see better ways to achieve the goals, systems that we could create to more effectively solve the same problems over and over. But my boss was resistant. He said that creating those systems would be a waste of time, there were always too many exceptions.”

“And why was the other position more satisfying?” I repeated.

“A lot less stress, even though we produced more than double the output of the other company. It’s funny, I never fixed a problem while I was there. I only focused on systems. I would fix the system and the system would fix ten problems. We seldom worked overtime, but were much more productive.”
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As we wind into this holiday season, Management Blog is winding down its publishing year. We will see you in January 2024. Until then, have a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with family and friends. See you soon. -Tom