St. Louis Business Journal
Work Satisfaction is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

By Anna Navarro

May 2004 - People who expect to have satisfying jobs usually do.

The reason is simple.  If you believe in your gut that satisfying work is achievable, you are likely to go after it.  If you experience hurdles along the way, (as we all do) you are likely to see them as temporary bumps on the road to your goal and keep moving.  If you take a job and it turns sour, you'll do the work required to get out of it and find something more to your liking.

If, on the other hand, you believe work is drudgery, you are more likely to be resigned to bad jobs, and less likely to do the work involved in finding a job that makes you happy. As a consequence, you are more likely to have a job that isn't satisfying.

Joe was a mechanical engineer who worked for a company that cranked out drawings for the fast food and convenience store industries.  The job had long since lost interest for him.

He came to see me largely at his wife's urging. Though he showed up for our meetings, he kept telling me he didn't think it would work. Despite his reluctance, we were able to identify that he was interested in solar energy.  Following this ray of light (no pun intended!) we started to explore the possibilities in the field.

Some very preliminary research revealed only one local company that identified itself as doing solar designs.  It was a very small firm employing perhaps three people. That was all Joe needed to call it quits.  With a resounding "I told you so!" he stopped all efforts to find work he'd be happier doing. 

Etta's story is an intriguing contrast to Joe's, especially since she, too, was interested in solar energy development.

She was a single parent, the mother of two children, and working full time as an in-house architect for a retail store chain.  Like Joe, she churned out detailed drawings and specifications and found the work repetitive and boring.

Her first attempt to move in the solar direction  was to make a case to her employer about the potential long-term savings of solar designs. They weren't interested.

She then explored architectural firms in her area to see if any specialized in solar design.  She found a few that did some solar design, but none that specialized in it.  They primarily farmed their solar work out to engineers, and though they weren't altogether satisfied with this arrangement, they didn't have enough work to hire someone to do it full time. 

At this point, she considered acquiring engineering skills and working for an engineering firm that did solar work.  But as she looked into this she realized she'd miss the aesthetic aspects of architecture too much.  And that she'd have to go through too steep a learning curve to "re-engineer" herself. 

Then I suggested to her that she might be able to put together several part time jobs in architecture firms, and provide the solar specialization they needed.

She took a good look at her budget and decided that if she could put together enough work to cover 75% of her current income, plus pay for her own benefits, she'd be willing to take the leap, counting on the belief she could get back to her current income within a couple of years.  She talked to her parents who said they'd be willing to provide a safety net for a few months if she got in trouble.

It took her a few months to find enough part time work to make the change.  Within a year she was working for several firms, including some that were located in other cities.  Eventually she became a valued subcontractor to many architectural firms.  Her income soon exceeded what she had made in her prior job.  A bonus was that she was able to work from home, which gave her much more flexibility for childcare.

The similarities and differences in these two individuals and how they handled their situations has always struck me.

Bottom line, work satisfaction is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Not because the mere act of believing you can get what you want leads to work satisfaction, but because if you believe you can attain it, it can make you more willing to invest time and effort to go after it.  And it's that investment, including the emotional risk of going after what you want, that leads to a fulfilling work life.  And to many of life's other treasures.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that trains independent career strategists and consults with individual clients.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.