Back to Dear Lucy homepageI have been working in marketing for fifteen years and have always been a bit of a Stakanovite and I’ve always been successful. A year ago my husband and I bought a derelict house and since then I have been a project manager on that - with the result that the effort I put into my job has gone down by half. To my amazement no one at work has noticed. My latest appraisal was my best yet. The house is now done, and I am wondering, did I waste all that effort? Is it OK to continue to coast? The thought makes me feel a little guilty. Should it?
Marketing executive, female, 41
Lucy’s Answer
By accident you have stumbled on something rather important. There is no direct relationship between how much effort one puts in, and how well one does. The more nebulous the job and the more senior you are, the more this is true.
You have managed things well by putting the spadework in early. By digging industriously for 15 years, you have made your bosses imagine your commitment to the job is beyond question. It may take them a further 15 years to notice that it is not.
It’s not surprising that they’ve noticed nothing so far. Nor is it surprising that, on the contrary, they think you are going from strength to strength. Various readers suggest this is because you seem more relaxed, or are working smarter, or because hard work is inefficient. I don’t agree; I think it is because the appraisal process is dodgy. Instead, I’d be inclined to trust your appraisal of yourself: that if your effort is down by 50 per cent, the value of the output is down too.
If you manage things properly, you can go on getting away with this for ages. I know one senior manager in your industry who keeps up his visibility by sending occasional e-mails to important people in the organisation, and every quarter coming up with a really good idea. The rest of his time he spends playing tennis.
You ask if you should feel guilty about slacking. The answer is no. You are not cheating anyone, and if your employer is happy with what you are now putting in, that should be enough.
The only reason to return to your old Stakhanovite ways is if you miss the work. If slacking is making you dislike your job because you hate doing it half-heartedly, you should either redouble your efforts or – better still – buy another derelict house.
