There Are Only Four Jobs in the Whole World
2013-05-03 12:56阅读：
There Are Only Four Jobs in the Whole
World – Are You in the Right One?
For the past 30 years my company has been involved in creating over
2,500 different performance-based job descriptions that define the
actual work a person needs to do to be considered successful. Based
on preparing these performance-based job descriptions for jobs like
camp counselor at the YMCA, accountants and engineers from staff to
VPs, mid- and senior-level executives in industries ranging from
automotive and aerospace to construction and consumer products, I
can conclude that there are only four different jobs in the whole
world.
Everything starts with an idea. This is the first of the four jobs
– the Thinkers. Builders convert these ideas into
reality. This the second job. Improvers make this reality
better. This is the third job. Producers do the work over
and over again, delivering quality goods and services to the
company’s customers
in a repeatable manner. This is the fourth job. And then the
process begins again with new ideas and new ways of doing business
being developed as the old ones become stale.
As a company grows and reaches maturity, more of the work gets done
by the Producers and Improvers. However, without a culture of
consistent improvement, the Producers soon take over and
implementing change becomes slower and slower until it stops. Long
before this the Thinkers and Builders have left for some new
venture. Improvers soon follow to join their former co-workers and
hire new Producers to add some order to the newly created chaos.
The old Producers who aren’t continually evolving, learning new
skills and processes, are left behind to fend for themselves.
Maintaining balance across all four work types is a constant, but a
necessary, struggle for a company to continue to grow, adapt, and
survive.
Every job has a mix of all four work types dependent on the actual
work involved, the scope and scale of the role, and the company’s
growth rate. To ensure balance and flexibility, all of these four
work types should be taken into account when preparing any new
performance-based job description. Here’s how:
Producers: these people execute or maintain a
repeatable process. This can range from simple things like working
on an inbound help desk and handling some transactional process, to
more complex, like auditing the performance of a big system,
writing code, or producing the monthly financial reports. Producers
typically require training or advanced skills to be in a position
to execute the process. To determine the appropriate Producer
performance objectives, ask the hiring manager to define how any
required skill is used on the job and how its success would be
measured, e.g., “contact 15 new customers per week and have five
agree to an onsite demonstration.“ This is a lot better than saying
“the person must have 3-5 years of sales experience selling to
sophisticated buyers of electro-mechanical control valves.”
Improvers: these people upgrade, change or make a
repeatable process better. Managers are generally required to
continually monitor and improve a process under their
responsibility. Building, training and developing the team to
implement a process is part of an Improver’s role. Improvers can be
individual contributors or managers of teams and projects, the key
is the focus on improving a existing system, business or process. A
performance objective for an Improver could be “conduct a
comprehensive process review of the wafer fab process to determine
what it would take to improve end-to-end yield by 10%.”
Builders: these people take an idea from scratch
and convert it into something tangible. This could be creating a
new business, designing a complex new product, or developing a new
process. Entrepreneurs, inventors, turn-around executives, those in
R&D, and project managers are typical jobs that emphasize the
Builder component. Ask the hiring manager what big changes, new
developments, big problems or major projects the person in the new
job would need to address to determine the Builder component. An
example might be, “lead the implementation of the new SAP supply
change system over every business unit including international.”
This is a lot better than saying “must have five years
international logistics background and strong expertise in
SAP.'
Thinkers: these people are the visionaries,
strategists, intellects, and creators of the world, and every new
idea starts with them. Their work covers new products, new business
ideas, and different ways of doing everyday things. Ask hiring
managers where the job requires thinking out-of-the-box or major
problems to solve to develop the Thinker performance objectives.
“Develop a totally new approach for reducing water usage by 50%,”
is a lot better than saying “Must have 5-10 years of environmental
engineering background including 3-5 years of wastewater management
with a knack for creative solutions.'
Recognize that every job requires some mix of each work type. As
you select people for new roles it’s important to understand the
full requirements of the position, who else is on the team, and the
primary objective of the department, group or company. In the rush
to get work done, it’s easy to lose sight of this bigger picture,
emphasizing skills and experience over performance. This is how
Builders get hired instead of Improvers and Thinkers get hired when
Producers are required. While there are only four work types,
hiring the wrong one is often how the wrong work gets done.
