That’s because my pay is calculated poverty.
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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sounds like the perfect amount of effort for a shitty paycheck that you still need. just enough to keep the job and stay out of 'trouble', but not so much that more is expected.
but not so much that more is expected.
This is my problem, I've been plagued with the curse of competence and an inability to keep my mouth shut. This leads me to accidentally volunteer for seemingly easy tasks that 'only require a bit of automation.....' and I lose weeks of time.
My current task is outside of the bounds of this chart (monthly task that would take days to do manually, down to a handful of hours). What do?
Automate it and tell NO ONE. Let them think it still takes days.
Sounds like upper management to me!
You get what you pay for
Someone's acting their wage.
When you do more than necessary, one or more of the following will happen:
- Your coworkers stop doing their most unpleasant tasks, knowing you'll pick up the slack.
- Your more ambitious coworkers start sabotaging you, viewing you as a rival to the next higher position.
- Your less ambitious coworkers start sabotaging you, cause your effort shines a light on how little they get done.
- Your boss notices unrest in his team and boots you to restore the peace.
Free career advice: Do the average team member's amount of the assigned work.
If you have the time and motivation to do more, use that to improve your efficiency through automation, self-study, researching methods that reduce friction, etc. If you're in a job that lend itself to automation, you will at some point be able to spend most of your time for studying.
Share your new tools with the team to help them.
When you feel limited by your role, apply somewhere else with your new skills.
Yep. And if you do automate a lot of tasks, don't tell your boss that it's now set to the "easy button." They will let you go because now they can get a cheaper person.
You forgot a couple: Do more than necessary and
Your boss expects you to do it all the time now for no extra compensation
If you stop doing more than necessary you are suddenly being lazy and not a team player.
You become too 'essential' in that position that promotions are pretty much off the table for as long as you work there.
I’d frame that. Hard to think of a compliment that tops that to be honest
I think the term they are looking for is "proportional"
"Calculated Mediocrity" perfectly describes my career ambitions.
"Just enough to pass to the next level" was my objective throughout my studies. This expression perfectly describes what I should be doing for my current employer...
My tactic is to maintain an average workload of about 70% of my potential, that way I'm relaxed and able to maintain my work on the bad days when I might not be 100% up to the task, plus I have the extra bandwidth for when SHTF so I can look like a hero. Apparently my 70% effort is more than enough because I've now had multiple bosses try to court me to return after I've left roles
"I've now had multiple bosses try to court me to return after I've left roles"
Describing them as courting you is an excellent use of the word
Sounds like you need to take your competence down a few ticks. Be more relaxed.
Nah then I'm bored at work, and I hate being bored at work. 70% is the happy medium between not overextending myself and keeping myself busy and engaged enough to both enjoy my work and impress my superiors
I feel you. I got bored on the weekend, so now as a result, I'm way ahead on work for the week. The good thing is I can compensate by napping and playing games during work hours the rest of the week. And not a guilty thought at all.
i call it sustainability.
My career path has been spectacularly De-railed by a series of company failures.
Now I drive a forklift.
Calculated mediocrity is my middle name!
Think of employees as independent corporations. They provide a service that aligns with their investors needs. Their investors are themselves, their friends, their families. Calculated mediocrity sounds like good business depending on what they’re getting paid.
We know we should pay you more, and realize that you know it too.
Do you pay your employees fairly, or funnel all the wealth to the top and investors? Why the fuck would you expect anything other than mediocrity??
What's the over-under that the salary was also "calculated mediocrity..?"
Does your friend work for Lumon or something?
Is that another way of saying
Ungrateful Slave...?
Hey, that sounds like exactly what I aim for at my work!
Is their friend my friend or me?