Each week I go to my credit union to deposit the contents of a Ziploc bag – somewhere in the hundreds of dollars, generally. It’s the weekly “take” from my small (ok, very small) creative business. I know there are more efficient ways to do this, but getting the twenties, fives, ones and even quarters and dimes safely into my business account, is sheer pleasure. I love the physicality of depositing my hard-earned money.
My experience with this start-up reminds me of my waitressing days, when I would leave the restaurant at midnight, my greasy pockets stuffed with small bills. Talk about satisfaction! Each dollar fairly and fully earned with sore feet to boot.
But small bills are small. They don’t exactly cover the waterfront.
And, so, I hung up my apron, finished school and sold my brain to big organizations for a few decades. This is what I learned:
Brain + organization = bigger paycheck.
Thanks to direct deposit, my pay flowed invisibly into my account. It was great – what that money could buy – but the satisfaction level often left something to be desired. On dull days in my big office, I would think heretical thoughts of waitressing. Despite the inevitable rude customer and food fights in the kitchen (I kid you not), why was that job so satisfying?
After 30 years in the labor market, here is what I have concluded. One, satisfaction requires a tight connection between work, compensation and efficacy, defined as the capacity for producing a desired result or effect. Though I have made some important contributions with my brain, or so I would like to think, the efficacy level left a lot to be desired. Writing talking points for other people did not exactly add up to a “raison d’etre.”
Two, work satisfaction sky-rockets when I get more of my whole self involved: hands, feet and both sides of my brain. From business strategy to book-keeping, and from creative energy to customer service, every cell and muscle gets a piece of the action. Love it!
Third, big organizations ultimately don’t need you; you are as replaceable as a machine part. In contrast, if I leave my business, it folds. Every dollar a customer gives me says I am doing something right, so come back tomorrow.
Now, I hope to do a lot more right, get more dollars and grow this little puppy. I do like to eat. And a new outfit would be nice.
But, for now, the satisfaction that comes from efficacy is rich enough.