Doing to do or doing to improve?

Struggling implies improvement. You don't struggle with something to maintain your abilities. You have to struggle to get better. Using my organization as representative of most complex, bureaucratic organizations, organizational rewards are not reliably the result of a big struggle. Organizational rewards come from getting things done. I got something done today. It's the kind of thing that I'll note on my annual review. It wasn't a struggle. It was aggravating and frustrating, no doubt, but there was no meaningful expansion of my skills and abilities. It's something that needs to get done and I got it done. That's what my organization wants me to do.

I shouldn't be rewarded for simply getting things done. That's not enough. I should be rewarded for making the organization smarter and more capable. That will allow us to get new things done, things that we can't do now. We shouldn't be satisfied with simply cranking out the same things using the same approach over and over again. My annual review shouldn't be a list of things that I got done for the year. It should be a list of what I've done to expand our capabilities. Right now, I have to couch things that I do to improve our capabilities in the context of getting something done in order for them to really count on my review. Shouldn't their value be recognized outside of the project context? My manager is almost exclusively focused on meeting project milestones. That's a valid way to manage the group, but that's a poor way to the lead the group. We'll never get better focusing on meeting other's expectations. Some fraction of our effort must be towards getting better.

Simply getting things done is too passive. The order comes in and you execute it. Don't question, challenge, or demand to know why your doing something. That's not your job. Just do it for crying out loud! This is why I hate project management. Breaking complex tasks down into more manageable chunks is great for efficiency, but it robs the process of meaning. It takes the individual out of the process. You don't need to bring your heart and soul to work when you're simply cranking through tasks. The project gets done, but nobody involved is much improved by their effort. We should never be satisfied by a project that has no impact on the quality of the organization, regardless of its impact on the bottom line.