Do you take pride in doing what you do well or at least trying to?

[The Newswire]

So, Forrest Black and I just went for coffee. Well, it was Starbucks, so he went for coffee and I went for ice water and conversation. I was just reading a thing about how Warren Buffet built his business and wanted to talk about some of the interesting ways he approached things. So we...

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[mystoo]

I don't have the most fabulous job in the world, and it doesn't take a huge amount of brain power but it's what I do and I do it well. Better than most actually and yeah, I do def. take pride in a job well done.

[Mr Karl]

so is berkshire hathaway an insurance company?

[Amelia G]

so is berkshire hathaway an insurance company?

Nope. It started off as a troubled I guess textiles company of some sort. Warren Buffet hoped better management could turn the company around, but it didn't work. It no longer makes anything fabric-related. It is just sort of a holding company which owns shares, often controlling shares, in other companies, including a number of insurance companies.

[Chiqadee]

I don't have a great job. And I go off on this job once I clock out. But while I am working...I do my best job. If I am going to do it, I do it to the best of my ability. That is what I get paid for. I slap on a smile and am the nicest fuckin person in the world. It's called work ethic. I have noticed that a lot of people do not have this any more. Just the other day I had to fire someone. And she actually said 'I get paid only 8.00 an hour so you only get 8.00 an hours worth'. What the hell is that suppose to mean? You agreed to this amount and you knew the job requirements.WTF?!

[Rockwulf]

I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do isn't nice.

[Chiqadee]

Aww...don't say that TeddyWulf. Some things you do are nice.

[Deadly Envy]

Eh... Pride can really mess you up.

I've watch too many people think they're on top of the world only to take some nasty tumble and do a face plant. So this made me very caution about being pride of what I do.

I had a lot bad experience where I'd bust my ass on something only to have it not turn out to be good enough. So I tend to be extremely hard on myself and never speak for myself and let others be the judge.

Dunno if that is too good for me or not...

[Rockwulf]

Aww...don't say that TeddyWulf. Some things you do are nice.

Not when I find out who made that picture...

[Chiqadee]

Even TeddyWulves need hugs.

[VoltaireBlue]

anything worth doing is worth doing well. I take an enormous ammount of pride in everything I do, not just my job.

[Mindgames]

It depends on who you work for. Those of us who can decide our own options have the luxury of taking pride in what we do, but if you're a faceless drone in a corporate chain without the faintest possibility of a promotion, why bother? Pride takes effort and a desire to make the job (i.e. the company) look good to others. Why expect people to go the extra mile for a corporation that wouldn't piss on them if their company-issue hat was on fire?

[Chiqadee]

It depends on who you work for. Those of us who can decide our own options have the luxury of taking pride in what we do, but if you're a faceless drone in a corporate chain without the faintest possibility of a promotion, why bother? Pride takes effort and a desire to make the job (i.e. the company) look good to others. Why expect people to go the extra mile for a corporation that wouldn't piss on them if their company-issue hat was on fire?

Because most companies do promote within. Also, when it comes time for that raise, it makes a diffrence. You get asked 'How come I only got a 10 cent raise, and Joe Blow got a dollar?'. Joe Blow took pride in his work and did it to his full potential.
I don't care if the company would piss on me if my company hat is on fire. I am smart enough to put it out. But you better pay me for what I am worth. Plus, if I am injured by my firey hat while at work....WORKMAN'S COMP!!!

[Amelia G]

It depends on who you work for. Those of us who can decide our own options have the luxury of taking pride in what we do, but if you're a faceless drone in a corporate chain without the faintest possibility of a promotion, why bother? Pride takes effort and a desire to make the job (i.e. the company) look good to others. Why expect people to go the extra mile for a corporation that wouldn't piss on them if their company-issue hat was on fire?

My problem working for both big and small companies has been that I always try to bring my A game, but most company structures don't reward people going the extra mile. It makes me unhappy to phone my work in though because I take pride in what I do, even if not everything I do is vital to the world continuing to turn on its access. For example, I worked briefly at Barnes & Noble some time between 1996 and 1998. One more bookseller on the floor was not maybe the world's most important job and it certainly paid poorly, but I always did my absolute best to help people and straighten books and such and I felt good when I helped someone find what they wanted or made a rack of publications look good and easy to find stuff on.

[Buster Friendly]

My job is so easy that not doing it to the best of my ability is just demoralizing. Which leaves me to wonder about my lazy, lazy, lazy co-workers. I don't get it. We're paid well to do very little, why try to get away with less? I don't do everything perfectly, but I am one of the best there, and I fix my mistakes ASAP. (I fucking hate having to fix the mistakes of others. I fucking hate being fucked over by lazy shits, when the job is so fucking easy anyway.)

Pretty much once I get the hang of a job, I try to do it as best I'm able. Which drives me nuts sometimes because sometimes you're put in impossible situations.

[jonny.illuminati]

i don't always succeed... but i always try to do my best... i take pride in doing whatever i have to do well...

[eviltwin]

I believe in doing my best. I want my employer to know I cannot be easily replaced. The only job security in my field is to make the company more money than it costs to keep me, and to be available whenever there is work to do.
I hate looking for work, but I know that I can tell any potential employer that they can contact anyone I have worked for in the past, and I take pride in that.

[soma_stardust]

as someone who's known an EXCELLENT starbucks employee... this is just shameful. he takes an amazing amount of pride in his work, even though it's a shitty job. he actually took the time to learn about coffee and brewing processes, etc. etc. but the customers still treat him like dirt, as does the management. so it kind of goes both ways, but he does every job he takes with the utmost pride.
as for myself, i do everything i can to achieve perfection in anything i do. which ultimately becomes too much for me to handle, at which point i break down and give up on whatever. sometimes i physically - or mentally/emotionally - cannot do my best, but i try. or i try to try. i have severe anxieties that get in my way. i stress about idiotic things. and i demand too much perfection from myself without the discipline to achieve such perfection. finding the balance is what i need to aim for. harder than it sounds... :/

[mystoo]

My job is so easy that not doing it to the best of my ability is just demoralizing. Which leaves me to wonder about my lazy, lazy, lazy co-workers. I don't get it. We're paid well to do very little, why try to get away with less? I don't do everything perfectly, but I am one of the best there, and I fix my mistakes ASAP. (I fucking hate having to fix the mistakes of others. I fucking hate being fucked over by lazy shits, when the job is so fucking easy anyway.)

Pretty much once I get the hang of a job, I try to do it as best I'm able. Which drives me nuts sometimes because sometimes you're put in impossible situations.

Yeah, that's pretty much my situation as well. Easy ass job, lazy ass co-workers. I don't mind helping people but after a while most people just tend to expect that I always will. I have my own job to do people! Of course that job is fixing everyone else's mistakes so I'm not allowed to complain about that. It makes me really angry to know that while I'm busting my ass, the person next to me is getting paid the same wage to dick around all day. When the lay-offs come, I'm hoping they'll be the ones to go.

[Rockwulf]

In my new job I replaced an idiot that they had to fire so for the first few weeks I've been doing nothing but cleaning up her messes and putting out her fires. It's so fucking frustrating. And the woman I work with keeps saying, "Well she was blind in one eye." As if that makes my life any easier. Bitch, you're blind in one eye, don't get a fucking office job where you have to read small print all day!

It's frustrating but my boss is the kind of guy who's always saying thank you and telling me I'm doing a good job. A little recognition goes a long way toward good morale.

[TheDeathKnight]

One of the keys to job success, as well as personal peace and relaxation, is not taking that kind of shit too seriously. I have dealt with people screaming and freaking out before, and I know that if I got caught up in it, or took it personally, I would have gotten fired from several jobs. But I just do what they say they need to to have done, and do my best. Arguing with assholes really doesn't get you anywhere. It's just a waste of time. And it makes you look bad. The people I feel the worst about, are the poor people working at the airport over the holidays. They get people SCREAMING at them all day long. People totally freaking out.

[nathanmbailey]

All the jobs I've had I've done my best at, and every time it's backfired. Instead of replacing the lazier fucktards with more people that want to work, they just relied on me more and let them get away with just about anything. That and I'll take a lot of crap in the name of an extra few bucks in my pocket, including taking extra shifts and working way more hours than I should (legally for 3 years of my previous working experiences). But at the same time I've had the jobs with supervisors that would actually thank me.

I worked at a Speedway gas station. Yeah, low pay and a pretty boring job, but even as angry as I usually was at that point in my life, I greeted every customer with a smile, made small talk with them, and always made sure there was a fresh pot of coffee, the restrooms were clean, and the inside of the station was clean. And my boss was nice as hell to me because of it. She'd let me take packs of smokes without buying them (usually a pack per shift) and the already imposed free fountain drinks and coffee were the shit to begin with.

Fast forward to now. I love fixing helicopters. Only problem is, I look at it differently than other people. I work on the radios, navigation, flight control systems, and basically anything with electricity going to or from it. I'm basically a glorified helicopter electrician (avionics mechanic is the actual term). I see tasks as puzzles, and some are routine, but some get pretty frustrating and complicated. As soon as an issue comes up I go out and start working. Unfortunately, not everyone I work with does, so it puts attention on me. That in-turn makes them try to make me actually work at getting promoted, which I don't really want right now.

Simply put, I take pride in what I like to do and even the stupid chore-like tasks I'm told to do. It gets me in good with a lot of people that cut me slack and help me out, including a lot of pilots. But at the same time, it gets to a point where people expect too much from me. Pride is a dangerous thing.

[Morning Glory]

Pride is a sin and it goeth before a fall.

[Bacchus88]

those who own their own companies, almost given that you take pride in what you do. Its mine and ill be damned to let anything happen while it is under my care...

Even when I did not work for myself, I did the job to best or some over my ability. I am not person to take second... Give me a few years and I will be running the place or running something.

[Raza]

I all but run on pride. Often the idea that I'm doing something well is more of a motivation than whatever it is I'm trying to achieve on a practical level.

I don't see how it's dangerous, either. The worst that can happen to pride is collapse, which at the very worst puts you back where you'd have been without it; and while that may feel bad by contrast, it's is probably still the more interesting experience. Pride is a huge motivator, which in turn helps you do things to justify itself. It's an upward spiral.

[EeyoreTheClown]

It depends on the job. Once, I was working at a Wendys, and for the first month, I tried to take my job seriously, and do as well as I could. Then I saw the night shift manager skateboarding through the store with a 40 ounce of beer in his hand, and began doing no more work than was required to avoid notice. I simply couldn't take what I was doing seriously, knowing how my direct supervisor was acting himself. On a side note, after we would close, the dishwasher would routinely dismantle the faucet in order to combine its screen with a potato to make a pipe with; he would blow the pot smoke into the fan above the grill to keep it from lingering.
There have been other times when I needed to make money to go to a new town. At these times, I would start a shitty job with the intent of quitting as soon as I received my first paycheck. Needless to say, at these jobs, I was not a model employee. Neither was anyone else that I could see, so it was hard to feel guilty about it.

[VoltaireBlue]

I like your former co workers style.
I think fast food should be the exception. I worked at a togos(like subway but better)when I was 17 and totally fucked off at that job.

[Deadly Envy]

It depends on the job. Once, I was working at a Wendys, and for the first month, I tried to take my job seriously, and do as well as I could. Then I saw the night shift manager skateboarding through the store with a 40 ounce of beer in his hand, and began doing no more work than was required to avoid notice. I simply couldn't take what I was doing seriously, knowing how my direct supervisor was acting himself. On a side note, after we would close, the dishwasher would routinely dismantle the faucet in order to combine its screen with a potato to make a pipe with; he would blow the pot smoke into the fan above the grill to keep it from lingering.
There have been other times when I needed to make money to go to a new town. At these times, I would start a shitty job with the intent of quitting as soon as I received my first paycheck. Needless to say, at these jobs, I was not a model employee. Neither was anyone else that I could see, so it was hard to feel guilty about it.

Haha I had similar experience when I worked a real job. I used to work at Lowes'. Despite of having to spend most of shift outside in Las Vegas hot summer day collecting carts from parking lot. I never complained once about it and always do my job and get everything done on time and was very anal about it.
As the summer ended, I decided to ask for other position since I hated my job. They say they'll work on it with me and stuff. Stupidly of me... I truly believe them and listened to them. I keep up with my job until just end of winter. I was already getting unhappy about everything especially with how many new workers they were hiring but yet they will not give me a new position despite of my hard work. So I started to really complaining about it to all managers and everybody else, trying to get a new position.
Finally the store manager got fired because he was coming in only two or three days for may four or five hours a day and barely do anything. So I was really excitied about new manager coming in.
As summer get closer, not wanting to work through a hell summer again, I start to bothers everybody about new position everyday. Finally at beginning of the summer, they moved me to new position only to come to me two weeks later and told me that they cannot get anyone to do my old job. So they sent me back to my old position. After that I was just totally disappointed and stop trying any more and no longer care about my job.
Similar thing happened again once I got relocated. But I finally got new position but my manager was a man hating dyke. So of course she always get me and any other males workers in trouble for anything. She'd even stand at door and watch to see if we come in early enough to clock in on time and other stuff while major of the women didn't do a damn thing.
Eventually I and one of my friend and a female that I work with got fed up with the treatment so we decided to quit.
That's when I decided it's time to go back to school and moved to Calif.

[Bacchus88]

From the outlook of being a the boss, I try to help people that work for me. My guy Shed works out in the warehouse building doors. Came up ask if I would help him, with trying to get into a rental house. I called around, few people I do business with a got him into a nice place for cheaper. I am more than will to that for this person. He has been with me for 4 years now, he does an outstanding job. Good with costumers, comes to work on time, the quality of his work is beautiful.

From the boss outlook to me at least you have to retain good people even in these troubled times...

[Deadly Envy]

From the outlook of being a the boss, I try to help people that work for me. My guy Shed works out in the warehouse building doors. Came up ask if I would help him, with trying to get into a rental house. I called around, few people I do business with a got him into a nice place for cheaper. I am more than will to that for this person. He has been with me for 4 years now, he does an outstanding job. Good with costumers, comes to work on time, the quality of his work is beautiful.

From the boss outlook to me at least you have to retain good people even in these troubled times...

We need more boss like you.

This is Japanese's method. In Japan, if you're the boss, you're consider more as a "fatherly figure". Basically if you don't take care of your workers or help your workers and look out for their best interest, you could be fired. Unlike as in America where bosses who would step on their workers, treat them as piece of trash, and try to give them just enough to keep them around, then receive a ridiculous massive bonus worth more than all workers' pay combined. This practice is consider extremely uncool and greatly frown upon in Japan and even illegal in some way.

[karyn]

From the outlook of being a the boss, I try to help people that work for me. My guy Shed works out in the warehouse building doors. Came up ask if I would help him, with trying to get into a rental house. I called around, few people I do business with a got him into a nice place for cheaper. I am more than will to that for this person. He has been with me for 4 years now, he does an outstanding job. Good with costumers, comes to work on time, the quality of his work is beautiful.

From the boss outlook to me at least you have to retain good people even in these troubled times...

sounds like you really earn having good people work for you

[Mr Karl]

yes I do take pride in doing as good a job as I can .......could be because the people I work for are the best