To Quit or Optimize? That is the question.
The Sustainable Ambition View:
Leaving a company, role, or job isn’t always the easier or optimal path. When making that choice, embrace the liminality, knowing that change requires effort.
Why it matters:
I don’t want to minimize the Great Resignation nor its positive impact on companies raising wages (especially in those industries where wages have been depressed for too long) and improving employee experience. Yet, I think the media hype often doesn’t present the nuances and reality behind the numbers. Who is resigning and why? There isn’t a mass exodus across all industries, and yet there are good reasons why some are jumping in certain sectors, like food service and retail, or due to family circumstances (e.g., working mothers).
The problem in painting a broad picture is that it can glorify the act of changing jobs, when in fact changing jobs can be hard or lead to suboptimal outcomes.
A path worth considering before making a move is to see if you can optimize where you are now before incurring job switching costs.
Behind the thinking:
There are costs to change. Adam Grant shared research that shows satisfaction, energy, and belonging drop for over a year when changing jobs, while work-family conflict increases.
Speak up before you leave. For better or worse, we are not always top of mind or the first priority for our bosses, as shared by this week’s podcast guest. If your work isn’t working for you, be bold and courageous and ask for what you need and want before you leave. We often don’t ask for the growth opportunities we’re seeking or the flexibility we need only to realize that our senior leaders didn’t realize we were unhappy. We have to speak up for ourselves and make our needs known to get them addressed.
What to optimize? Up your happiness at work with PERK (Purpose, Engagement, Resilience, Kind), based on research from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Take their quiz and get tips on what to do next.
But if you aren’t feeling it, change. I loved how in this podcast episode Ina Garten in conversation with Katie Couric shared that if you “aren’t in the right stream,” switch course. I’ve had that experience—where I was trying to follow a path but kept bumping into the shore or getting stuck in a pile of rocks. I wasn’t flowing with the opportunities I was going after; I wasn’t flowing with the job I was in; or I was finding myself resisting the work at hand, which is so not me. If you’re not feeling it, try something that is calling your attention now and gets you back into the flow.
And if it’s bad, move on. To be sure, if you are working in a toxic work environment, which contributes to burnout, get out. Or if you are burned out and need a break, responsibly negotiate taking a break in some way.
What’s next? Ask yourself:
Optimize: Is there good here? Can my job be optimized? What do I need to ask for?
Quit: How can I plan for my change to ensure I progress myself towards a better fit, not burn bridges, and support and sustain myself and those around me through the transition?
Making a job change isn’t effortless. It takes attention and energy. In truth, optimizing takes energy, too, but avoids switching costs. To be sure, if you are truly unhappy, make a move. But if there’s some good in where you are at, consider if optimizing is worth exploration and the effort.
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