So to start off, I am currently in therapy because I am such an extreme perfectionist that it is causing a lot of unhappiness in my life. One of the big areas that this affects is my work life. I have a decent job that I’d like to humbly think I’m good at, but I believe it’s mostly because of my anxiety which is crippling.
SO my therapist and I were talking today and she asked me a great question, to which I added the idea of asking others in my career field to help compare and show that I am being unreasonable on myself:
What separates an excellent employee from a good employee?
I broke it down into three categories when I gave my answers: percentage of missed deadlines, percentage of time late to work, and percentage of the time mistakes are made (while being an avid learner still, as I am very young myself).
Of course we also had “very good” ,“satisfactory”, and “unsatisfactory” categories but I assume that’s too much to ask for everyone’s opinions. If you care to answer for those too, I’d be so grateful and it would definitely help me but if not just the big picture is fine.
The point of the exercise was to show me that it doesn’t have to be 0% negatives and 100% positives all the time to be excellent because perfect doesn’t exist, however since my therapist isn’t in architecture and doesn’t know the culture she could not help me further.
Thank you very much for your time and for helping me grow and to become healthy.
The problem is, and maybe your therapist will not tell you this because they want to milk you for more money, that you are taking your work way too seriously. You are seriously in therapy because of your work perfectionism? Take the chill pill and enjoy life a bit. Architecture isn't going anywhere.
you gotta let your man bun down bro and not sweat the little things. I have made my fair share of fuck ups through out life. Take them as lessons learned. There have been some fuck ups where I thought I was going to get let go. Things like this used to bother me now I just don’t care anyone. what is the worst thing that happen? You get fired cause you made a mistake... well if you arent allowed to make mistakes and grow as an invidiual at a firm it is the wrong place for you. obviously try your best and if there are areas you can improve on you work on that... no one is perfect. Life is too short to take this profession too seriously.
If your given a task and don’t know how to do it, you don’t come back and say “I don’t know, or how do I do this.” You’d say “should I do it this way?”
If you mess it up you say how your going to fix it.
Boom your better than 90% of employees, notice how you don’t need to know everything or be perfect.
I read something like this once -- "An employee's job is to make their boss' life easier." I wish I could remember where I found this so I could give credit because I think about it often. Whenever I run into a difficult choice, I think about all the ways I could respond and pick the option that I think will make my boss's life the easiest.
For instance, if I find an issue with our design, I'll always propose a solution and ask for feedback rather than just ask them how to solve it. You probably won't have the right solution all the time but whenever you do, it takes that weight off of their shoulders. Plus, you can only get better at problem-solving by problem-solving.
If I'm working really hard on a deadline but I still feel like I'm falling behind, I'll ask for help. I don't worry about looking lazy or incompetent because I AM working hard and I've identified and started to solve a problem before it gets out of hand.
I speak up when I have something to contribute to the conversation. I think about ways I can do things more efficiently. I share tips with my coworkers and help them when they need it. I set deadlines for myself so my boss doesn't have to micromanage me. I take care of myself by eating well, sleeping well, exercising, and taking time off when I'm feeling burned out or sick so that I bring my best self to work.
(Ok I don't ALWAYS do all these things as well as I'd like but you know...)
It's never a black and white way to operate but if I am doing everything I can do to make my boss' life easier, I am the best employee I can be.
Jan 24, 19 8:51 pm ·
·
randomised
I truly like the bit about making your boss's life easier, I'll try to keep that in mind.
Jan 25, 19 3:26 am ·
·
Witty Banter
This is a fantastic post, particularly "An employee's job is to make their boss' life easier."
It isn't about being on time or missing deadlines (though the former helps your case, the latter is never a junior staff member's problem) it's about thinking one more step ahead than your peers. About finding a problem you don't know how to solve and coming up with a couple plans of attack for your supervisor to review. Its about being smarter. And yes, hard work helps, but ill take the best Jr person in my office for 40 hours a week over any "average" Jr staff for 80 hours a week.
Missed deadlines because you're slow, delinquent, or because the deadlines are unreasonable?
Late to work? The last guy I hired was immediately fired after showing up late on days 1 AND 2. "Sorry I'm late." "No problem, you don't work here."
Mistakes: Stupid errors that you should know better? Failure to pay attention? Repetition of the same error? Lack of knowledge/experience?
This is a tough profession, lots of learning on the job, lots of pressure to perform, varying amounts of guidance. You're trained to design, put your skills to work and analyze your situation.
Perfection is the state in which things are they way they are and are not the way they are not. Therefore the world is perfect. Don't confuse that with ideal, fair, healthy, or anything else.
Jan 24, 19 9:19 pm ·
·
Non Sequitur
Also something that helps is to pick up a phone and call the contractor, consultant, city inspector, etc... instead of throwing a passive-aggressive email out to some random admin and call it a day.
You have to do what it takes, not what is convenient. Sacrifice is part of the profession - it comes with game
Jan 24, 19 10:04 pm ·
·
Non Sequitur
No you don't. If you're asked, and agree to, sacrifice anything without due compensation, you're a fool.
Jan 24, 19 10:43 pm ·
·
JLC-1
what non said - I was asked to go to the office on a sunday because the clients were from the middle east and their "weekend" is on our monday; I said I was going to work from home, which I did, presented to the client on monday, he liked my scheme better than the official PA but it was more costly so they passed. A week after a was fired because some shitty excuse. I moved to where I am now and been working with the same firm for 10 years, wayyyyyy better than those posers.....you do what it takes to advance yourself, and if your goals are not aligned with the company, better leave. or be kicked out, severance was juicy.
Good Employee : Percentage of missed deadlines=0; Percentage of time late to work=0; Percentage of the time mistakes are made=5
Excellent Employee : Percentage of missed deadlines=0; Percentage of time late to work=0; Percentage of the time mistakes are made=1; PLUS... goes above and beyond what is asked of them, pushes themselves to find ways to deliver a higher quality product/service. An enthusiastic commitment to the success of the project; A willingness to sacrifice when necessary.
There's very little room for error in our profession, but lots of room to set a high standard for oneself. Perfectionism becomes a problem when it prevents someone from finishing a given task.
I think the way you broke it down initially isn't the right way to think of it. First of all, deadlines missed should be zero. Because when you realize that you're going to miss a deadline, you should immediately ask for help and work with your boss to figure out how to get the work done on time. At least on my team we just...don't miss deadline. Ever. Being late to work is frankly not that relevant in my world - come in when you need to come in to work effectively with the team and get your work done and be present at whatever meetings you need to be in. I'm not going to police butts in chair.
Mistakes are a more interesting category. We all make mistakes all the time. What separates bad/good/excellent is how you deal with it and how you learn from it. First of all, do everything in your power not to make the same mistake more than once. If you mess up, you learned something. I'll never forget the things I've learned from the times I've messed up - that's what experience is and why it's important.
The last piece is problem solving and seeing the road ahead - "make your bosses (or client's) life easier" is a good phrase to keep in mind. If you find a problem, spend a few minutes thinking about how you'd solve it before you bring it to your boss. Approach issues as "I've found that we have an issue with X, and I was thinking maybe we could do A or B to fix it?" rather than "there's an issue with X, what do I do?". Certainly there are times where you'll have no idea and that's OK, just own it. Also, do NOT spent hours and hours working up plan variations to solve a "problem" you saw that may or may not be a problem - that's even worse than presenting problems with no solutions. Better to say "I've noticed an issue with the toilet room layouts, I was thinking maybe we could try adjusting this wall over to fix it?" BEFORE you do all the work. Then you boss can make the call of whether or not there is a problem and also intervene if they have a quicker or better solution.
You need to have over the horizon radar to catch things before your boss does - If they find problems in the Revit file and or drawings before your do, then you weren't doing your job. Also, don't leave until your work is done - none of this " I'll do it tomorrow" Because other things will come up - that's a draftsman work ethic
Jan 25, 19 6:22 pm ·
·
Steeplechase
No, that’s a lousy work ethic that doesn’t understand time management. Projects take more than a day and proper rest and time away from work is important to maintaining
quality productivity.
Jan 25, 19 6:33 pm ·
·
bowling_ball
Xenakis, you're so clueless it actually hurts me to read your words. You're a low level employee, not a martyr. You should take the lead from the original poster and get some therapy. I highly recommend it (seriously).
Jan 26, 19 11:36 am ·
·
Non Sequitur
There is nothing so important that it can’t wait 24hrs.
So much BS in here I have t think 90% of the respondents have never had an employee.
A good employee thinks, doesnt necessarily have to be smarter than anyone.
They should be dependable, resourceful, and self-starting. Talent is much less important than diligence, hard work, ambition, willingness and ability to learn and ask the right questions at the right times.
A good employee thinks like an owner, thinks about adding value both to the work for the sake of the firm, but also for the client.
Thats all--they dont need to be super talented, brilliant or the most creative. I thin all or most of those things are really just products of the aforementioned anyway.
The longer I work in this profession the more I feel that perfectionists don’t do well in architecture. Being rigorous is valuable; being a perfectionist is crippling. One of my former bosses used to always say that perfection is the enemy of done, that resonates with my current thinking. (When a project runs really smoothly then sure, be a perfectionist)
I think you need to ignore specifics, as circumstances require unique action. For example, missing deadlines is usually bad. However, quite often it may not be your fault or within your ability to prevent. And sometimes, it’s important that you intentionally miss a deadline to make sure something seriously wrong doesn’t go out into the world. If each has its place, how can you use this as a quantifiable metric? I don’t think you can, or should. Being able to make the call or do the best you can under each of these circumstances is a quality of an excellent employee.
My outlook on it has nothing to do with specifics. I like to evaluate myself with a question: Am I doing a better job than can be reasonably expected? And I apply this to everything. If most of the time your answer to that is yes, and it’s honest, then you’re an excellent employee.
As an architect myself, I've been on the brink of severe depression many times and got back to normal without taking any medicines or visit to a therapist.
Okay what separates excellent employee from a good employee? First of all, you should think that what’s the reason for asking such question? I don’t find any gravity in that question and it’s quite an ambiguous one.
I strongly believe that no matter how excellent your work is, someone will point out minor errors and blow it outta proportion. This applies to every profession, media and press criticize Leonardo diCaprio and even Martin Scorsese. The press will someday criticise Maria Sharapova and other sportstars. And they do!! Statues are not built for critics!
I strongly recommend you to do guided meditation. It has worked wonders for me.
I suggest Tara Brach and/or Sam Harris. Their meditations are available for free on YouTube.
Another thing that has truly helped me is journaling. Use a spiral notebook, avoid digital mode. Capturing all your good and bad thoughts in a 2D paper prison is amazing. I've been doing it since last 129 days out of which 20 days I skipped totally.
Okay, coming back to the question, I believe that an excellent employee will deliver the project on time, seeing things AS they are, not WORSE/GOOD than they actually are. He will be able to maintain a close work/life balance..., okay, okay, okay, okay, that balance goes haywire in architecture, but hell yeah, we can at least come at least close to it.
Just realize that, if you die today, someone will replace you on that office desk in a matter of few days. Life is beyond architecture man. Our desk job is a path to a better life, not the other way round.
Think broader. I'm 29 years old and I wish I had started journaling and meditation as a teenager. These two tools are magically magnificent, and hell effing yeah, they effing work super effectively.
Some books I’d recommend you to read or skim through….
Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I have just gone through their summaries on various websites and YouTube and major quotes. They’re truly awesome. Not spiritual probably, but total fact based.
Cheer up pal.
Jan 27, 19 11:38 am ·
·
cipyboy
I'm starting to feel the effects of stress being a newly hired lead designer being asked to stir a new path for the whole firm from their old ways, which is a tall order.
I've managed a few people with different levels of experience/ talent. For me the 2 most important qualities are a positive attitude and dependability. Maybe i'm jaded, but no one is perfect and i don't expect anyone's work to be impeccable. Everyone makes mistakes, a good employee deals with those mistakes before they become real issues. Any decent office should have some QA/QC checkpoints in place so some dumb mistake doesn't become a major catastrophe. Tho even the best offices and teams will sometimes have a catastrophe now and then; It happens...
I personally do not like working with perfectionist. I like to work with people who 'are on the team' which means understanding what the project goals are and understanding your role in the overall effort. Which usually has nothing to do with spending 60 hours a week in the office sitting in-front of your computer drafting. If it does you're on the wrong team.
What separates an excellent employee from a good employee?
So to start off, I am currently in therapy because I am such an extreme perfectionist that it is causing a lot of unhappiness in my life. One of the big areas that this affects is my work life. I have a decent job that I’d like to humbly think I’m good at, but I believe it’s mostly because of my anxiety which is crippling.
SO my therapist and I were talking today and she asked me a great question, to which I added the idea of asking others in my career field to help compare and show that I am being unreasonable on myself:
What separates an excellent employee from a good employee?
I broke it down into three categories when I gave my answers: percentage of missed deadlines, percentage of time late to work, and percentage of the time mistakes are made (while being an avid learner still, as I am very young myself).
Of course we also had “very good” ,“satisfactory”, and “unsatisfactory” categories but I assume that’s too much to ask for everyone’s opinions. If you care to answer for those too, I’d be so grateful and it would definitely help me but if not just the big picture is fine.
The point of the exercise was to show me that it doesn’t have to be 0% negatives and 100% positives all the time to be excellent because perfect doesn’t exist, however since my therapist isn’t in architecture and doesn’t know the culture she could not help me further.
Thank you very much for your time and for helping me grow and to become healthy.
The problem is, and maybe your therapist will not tell you this because they want to milk you for more money, that you are taking your work way too seriously. You are seriously in therapy because of your work perfectionism? Take the chill pill and enjoy life a bit. Architecture isn't going anywhere.
good to be a perfectionist as a pa. bad to be a perfectionist as ca.
you gotta let your man bun down bro and not sweat the little things. I have made my fair share of fuck ups through out life. Take them as lessons learned. There have been some fuck ups where I thought I was going to get let go. Things like this used to bother me now I just don’t care anyone. what is the worst thing that happen? You get fired cause you made a mistake... well if you arent allowed to make mistakes and grow as an invidiual at a firm it is the wrong place for you. obviously try your best and if there are areas you can improve on you work on that... no one is perfect. Life is too short to take this profession too seriously.
an excellent staff member gives the PA just a little more and a little better than what is expected. No need for bullshit therapy.
If your given a task and don’t know how to do it, you don’t come back and say “I don’t know, or how do I do this.” You’d say “should I do it this way?”
If you mess it up you say how your going to fix it.
Boom your better than 90% of employees, notice how you don’t need to know everything or be perfect.
whats tougher than being a nitpicky perfectionist is working for those that are
I read something like this once -- "An employee's job is to make their boss' life easier." I wish I could remember where I found this so I could give credit because I think about it often. Whenever I run into a difficult choice, I think about all the ways I could respond and pick the option that I think will make my boss's life the easiest.
For instance, if I find an issue with our design, I'll always propose a solution and ask for feedback rather than just ask them how to solve it. You probably won't have the right solution all the time but whenever you do, it takes that weight off of their shoulders. Plus, you can only get better at problem-solving by problem-solving.
If I'm working really hard on a deadline but I still feel like I'm falling behind, I'll ask for help. I don't worry about looking lazy or incompetent because I AM working hard and I've identified and started to solve a problem before it gets out of hand.
I speak up when I have something to contribute to the conversation. I think about ways I can do things more efficiently. I share tips with my coworkers and help them when they need it. I set deadlines for myself so my boss doesn't have to micromanage me. I take care of myself by eating well, sleeping well, exercising, and taking time off when I'm feeling burned out or sick so that I bring my best self to work.
(Ok I don't ALWAYS do all these things as well as I'd like but you know...)
It's never a black and white way to operate but if I am doing everything I can do to make my boss' life easier, I am the best employee I can be.
I truly like the bit about making your boss's life easier, I'll try to keep that in mind.
This is a fantastic post, particularly "An employee's job is to make their boss' life easier."
It isn't about being on time or missing deadlines (though the former helps your case, the latter is never a junior staff member's problem) it's about thinking one more step ahead than your peers. About finding a problem you don't know how to solve and coming up with a couple plans of attack for your supervisor to review. Its about being smarter. And yes, hard work helps, but ill take the best Jr person in my office for 40 hours a week over any "average" Jr staff for 80 hours a week.
Missed deadlines because you're slow, delinquent, or because the deadlines are unreasonable?
Late to work? The last guy I hired was immediately fired after showing up late on days 1 AND 2. "Sorry I'm late." "No problem, you don't work here."
Mistakes: Stupid errors that you should know better? Failure to pay attention? Repetition of the same error? Lack of knowledge/experience?
This is a tough profession, lots of learning on the job, lots of pressure to perform, varying amounts of guidance. You're trained to design, put your skills to work and analyze your situation.
Perfection is the state in which things are they way they are and are not the way they are not. Therefore the world is perfect. Don't confuse that with ideal, fair, healthy, or anything else.
Also something that helps is to pick up a phone and call the contractor, consultant, city inspector, etc... instead of throwing a passive-aggressive email out to some random admin and call it a day.
You have to do what it takes, not what is convenient. Sacrifice is part of the profession - it comes with game
No you don't. If you're asked, and agree to, sacrifice anything without due compensation, you're a fool.
what non said - I was asked to go to the office on a sunday because the clients were from the middle east and their "weekend" is on our monday; I said I was going to work from home, which I did, presented to the client on monday, he liked my scheme better than the official PA but it was more costly so they passed. A week after a was fired because some shitty excuse. I moved to where I am now and been working with the same firm for 10 years, wayyyyyy better than those posers.....you do what it takes to advance yourself, and if your goals are not aligned with the company, better leave. or be kicked out, severance was juicy.
Who's a good boy?
You need to flip these questions upside down and ask instead what makes a creative professional happy in their career.
Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.
Old timey video, but definitely worth a spin.
A few grand, annually.
Good Employee : Percentage of missed deadlines=0; Percentage of time late to work=0; Percentage of the time mistakes are made=5
Excellent Employee : Percentage of missed deadlines=0; Percentage of time late to work=0; Percentage of the time mistakes are made=1; PLUS... goes above and beyond what is asked of them, pushes themselves to find ways to deliver a higher quality product/service. An enthusiastic commitment to the success of the project; A willingness to sacrifice when necessary.
There's very little room for error in our profession, but lots of room to set a high standard for oneself. Perfectionism becomes a problem when it prevents someone from finishing a given task.
I think the way you broke it down initially isn't the right way to think of it. First of all, deadlines missed should be zero. Because when you realize that you're going to miss a deadline, you should immediately ask for help and work with your boss to figure out how to get the work done on time. At least on my team we just...don't miss deadline. Ever. Being late to work is frankly not that relevant in my world - come in when you need to come in to work effectively with the team and get your work done and be present at whatever meetings you need to be in. I'm not going to police butts in chair.
Mistakes are a more interesting category. We all make mistakes all the time. What separates bad/good/excellent is how you deal with it and how you learn from it. First of all, do everything in your power not to make the same mistake more than once. If you mess up, you learned something. I'll never forget the things I've learned from the times I've messed up - that's what experience is and why it's important.
The last piece is problem solving and seeing the road ahead - "make your bosses (or client's) life easier" is a good phrase to keep in mind. If you find a problem, spend a few minutes thinking about how you'd solve it before you bring it to your boss. Approach issues as "I've found that we have an issue with X, and I was thinking maybe we could do A or B to fix it?" rather than "there's an issue with X, what do I do?". Certainly there are times where you'll have no idea and that's OK, just own it. Also, do NOT spent hours and hours working up plan variations to solve a "problem" you saw that may or may not be a problem - that's even worse than presenting problems with no solutions. Better to say "I've noticed an issue with the toilet room layouts, I was thinking maybe we could try adjusting this wall over to fix it?" BEFORE you do all the work. Then you boss can make the call of whether or not there is a problem and also intervene if they have a quicker or better solution.
Hope this helps.
You need to have over the horizon radar to catch things before your boss does - If they find problems in the Revit file and or drawings before your do, then you weren't doing your job. Also, don't leave until your work is done - none of this " I'll do it tomorrow" Because other things will come up - that's a draftsman work ethic
No, that’s a lousy work ethic that doesn’t understand time management. Projects take more than a day and proper rest and time away from work is important to maintaining quality productivity.
Xenakis, you're so clueless it actually hurts me to read your words. You're a low level employee, not a martyr. You should take the lead from the original poster and get some therapy. I highly recommend it (seriously).
There is nothing so important that it can’t wait 24hrs.
So much BS in here I have t think 90% of the respondents have never had an employee.
A good employee thinks, doesnt necessarily have to be smarter than anyone.
They should be dependable, resourceful, and self-starting. Talent is much less important than diligence, hard work, ambition, willingness and ability to learn and ask the right questions at the right times.
A good employee thinks like an owner, thinks about adding value both to the work for the sake of the firm, but also for the client.
Thats all--they dont need to be super talented, brilliant or the most creative. I thin all or most of those things are really just products of the aforementioned anyway.
The longer I work in this profession the more I feel that perfectionists don’t do well in architecture. Being rigorous is valuable; being a perfectionist is crippling. One of my former bosses used to always say that perfection is the enemy of done, that resonates with my current thinking. (When a project runs really smoothly then sure, be a perfectionist)
I think you need to ignore specifics, as circumstances require unique action. For example, missing deadlines is usually bad. However, quite often it may not be your fault or within your ability to prevent. And sometimes, it’s important that you intentionally miss a deadline to make sure something seriously wrong doesn’t go out into the world. If each has its place, how can you use this as a quantifiable metric? I don’t think you can, or should. Being able to make the call or do the best you can under each of these circumstances is a quality of an excellent employee.
My outlook on it has nothing to do with specifics. I like to evaluate myself with a question: Am I doing a better job than can be reasonably expected? And I apply this to everything. If most of the time your answer to that is yes, and it’s honest, then you’re an excellent employee.
Hey Ted.
As an architect myself, I've been on the brink of severe depression many times and got back to normal without taking any medicines or visit to a therapist.
Okay what separates excellent employee from a good employee? First of all, you should think that what’s the reason for asking such question? I don’t find any gravity in that question and it’s quite an ambiguous one.
I strongly believe that no matter how excellent your work is, someone will point out minor errors and blow it outta proportion. This applies to every profession, media and press criticize Leonardo diCaprio and even Martin Scorsese. The press will someday criticise Maria Sharapova and other sportstars. And they do!! Statues are not built for critics!
I strongly recommend you to do guided meditation. It has worked wonders for me.
I suggest Tara Brach and/or Sam Harris. Their meditations are available for free on YouTube.
Another thing that has truly helped me is journaling. Use a spiral notebook, avoid digital mode. Capturing all your good and bad thoughts in a 2D paper prison is amazing. I've been doing it since last 129 days out of which 20 days I skipped totally.
Okay, coming back to the question, I believe that an excellent employee will deliver the project on time, seeing things AS they are, not WORSE/GOOD than they actually are. He will be able to maintain a close work/life balance..., okay, okay, okay, okay, that balance goes haywire in architecture, but hell yeah, we can at least come at least close to it.
Just realize that, if you die today, someone will replace you on that office desk in a matter of few days. Life is beyond architecture man. Our desk job is a path to a better life, not the other way round.
Think broader. I'm 29 years old and I wish I had started journaling and meditation as a teenager. These two tools are magically magnificent, and hell effing yeah, they effing work super effectively.
Some books I’d recommend you to read or skim through….
Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I have just gone through their summaries on various websites and YouTube and major quotes. They’re truly awesome. Not spiritual probably, but total fact based.
Cheer up pal.
I'm starting to feel the effects of stress being a newly hired lead designer being asked to stir a new path for the whole firm from their old ways, which is a tall order.
I've managed a few people with different levels of experience/ talent. For me the 2 most important qualities are a positive attitude and dependability. Maybe i'm jaded, but no one is perfect and i don't expect anyone's work to be impeccable. Everyone makes mistakes, a good employee deals with those mistakes before they become real issues. Any decent office should have some QA/QC checkpoints in place so some dumb mistake doesn't become a major catastrophe. Tho even the best offices and teams will sometimes have a catastrophe now and then; It happens...
I personally do not like working with perfectionist. I like to work with people who 'are on the team' which means understanding what the project goals are and understanding your role in the overall effort. Which usually has nothing to do with spending 60 hours a week in the office sitting in-front of your computer drafting. If it does you're on the wrong team.
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
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