Is Making Your Own Job Obsolete Such a Bad Thing?

There are a bunch of changes going on within my team, but not everyone is excited about them.

I, for one, am ecstatic. Coming from a quality and process improvement perspective, there are so many areas that can be enhanced. Many processes are ineffective and inefficient. Applications were built in haste and are very buggy; even the slightest misstep could be a nightmare to troubleshoot and clean up. Perhaps most troubling however was that the change process was in major need of an overhaul, which was decreasing team morale and was continually a festering source of stress over the years. Essentially, these issues resulted in high turnover of quality workers, especially within my team.

Fortunately, a new manager was brought in who seems hell-bent on fixing all of our team’s problems. His first objective was to discover and note all the issues our team has experienced in our day-to-day activities. Next was to create specific groups of 3-4 team members to fix those issues. In my opinion, it’s great because we have management backing to make our jobs easier. What’s not to love about that?

“Well,” says one, “what do we do when we fix all the problems? We have to save some work for us or else we’ll be out of a job!” And there’s where I shake my head in disbelief. First of all, it’s not like all of our problems will be fixed anytime soon. Technical and process issues are relatively simple because they only require research and tweaks here and there. But often these can be the symptoms of cultural and organizational issues, which are much more difficult because they are much more complex, require a large amount of management buy-in, and attempts to solve them are normally met with heavy resistance.

Second, for argument’s sake let’s say we have fixed every last problem of our team and basically eliminated our positions. While some co-workers are focusing on the end result, I’m focusing on how we get there, gaining as many skills as I can handle along the way. The small groups give me a chance to hone my management skills. I can sharpen my technical skills by enhancing tools and digging through transaction logs. I just can’t imagine a scenario where our team becomes obsolete before a management position I’m qualified for opens up. Wouldn’t leadership want us to use that same formula for success in other problem areas within our organization?

Okay fine, doomsday scenario: what if we actually were that successful. Imagine we solved all of our team’s problems and improved everything we could. And for all that hard work, management rewarded us with pink slips instead of promoting us or finding us another position. What now? Well, we can then put all of these newfound skills and abilities to work somewhere else! What kind of company would pass on candidates with superior technical skills, proven management skills, and were so good at their previous jobs that they literally ran out of work? I figure if all else fails, with that kind of track record our team could at that point start our own consulting firm and make some serious bank.

I realize that some guys on my team have spent quite a few years at my current company and are used to the way things are. They may have a family they need to worry about, or they simply want to do what they were hired to do: work tickets, troubleshoot the symptoms, and go home. But that’s not what I got my MBA for. I want to make things better for the organization, to improve how it operates and how it conducts business. I want to relieve stress both on us and the end user. I want management and other groups to be amazed at what our team was able to accomplish with just a little effort and empowerment. In sum, it would be a win-win for everyone.

And that’s why making your own job obsolete might be a good thing. The way things are progressing, improvements may be coming whether we like it or not.

Very catchy title. It seems that there are all types of people in this world. As frustrating as this can be, it is what is needed to make the world turn. You seem to have the mindset to be in management. If everyone thought like you, you wouldn't stand out as the management type, you would be just another ambitious employee. Just as someone has to sweep the floors of a multi-billion dollar company, someone has to do the troubleshooting (certainly not you for long).

Lastly, this maybe a great opportunity to improve soft skills and coerce the other employees to move in your same direction. Use whatever it takes, compliments, food, money, etc. They may not realize that you are leading them off a "cliff" but they will be appreciative when they realize you were really pushing them up a mountain.