Though many factors can account for workplace unhappiness, a major cause identified by the survey is that “fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.” This number has been steadily decreasing from the mark of 61% recorded in 1987, the first year of the survey.Īs Lynn Franco, the director of the Board’s Consumer Research Center, notes, this is not just about a bad business cycle: “Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend.” job satisfaction, released earlier this year, found only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. The latest Conference Board survey of U.S. The results of this experiment, unfortunately, are not pretty. We can think of the past forty years - the post-Parachutes era - as a vast experiment testing the validity of this hypothesis. For simplicity, I’ll call this the passion hypothesis. Let’s summarize Bolles’ insight as follows: the key to a fulfilling career is to first figure out what you’re passionate about, and then go find a job to match. “What color is my parachute?”, we now ask, confident that answering this question holds the answer to The Good Life.īut when we recognize that this strategy is not self-evident - and in fact not even all that old - we can begin to question whether or not it’s actually right.Īnd when we do, it’s dismaying what we find… What began as a quip jotted down on a blackboard grew into the core principle guiding our thinking about work. This story is important because it emphasizes that one of the most universal and powerful ideas in modern society, that the key to workplace happiness is to follow your passion, has a surprisingly humble origin. The book that began with an one hundred copy print run and a clever name has since become one of the bestselling titles of the century, with over 6 million copies in print. Uncertain employees craved guidance, and Bolles’ optimistic strategies resonated. It was also, however, a period of extreme workplace transition as the post-war industrial economy crumbled before an ascendant knowledge work sector. “, the idea of doing a lot of pen-and paper exercises in order to take control of your own career was regarded as a dilettante’s exercise,” Bolles recalls. The premise of Bolles’ guide sounds self-evident to the modern ear: “ out what you like to do…and then find a place that needs people like you.” But in 1970, this concept was a radical notion. The initial print run was one hundred copies. Looking for a catchy title, he re-purposed his blackboard one-liner. Noticing a lack of good advice on the topic, Bolles self-published a 168-page guide to navigating career changes, which he handed out for free. Two years later, Bolles lost his job as a priest and was shuffled into an administrative position in the Episcopal Church, advising campus ministers, many of whom were also in danger of losing their jobs. The line got a laugh, but as Bolles recalls in a 1999 interview with Fast Company, “I had no idea it would take on all this additional meaning.” To remind the group to return to this topic, Bolles jotted a clever phrase on the blackboard: “What color is your parachute?” Finally, seal the trap in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the trash.In 1968, Richard Bolles, an Episcopal priest from San Francisco, was in a meeting when someone complained about colleagues “bailing out” of a troubled organization. Once the trap is full, pour more soapy water down the funnel to make sure all of the wasps are stuck. The bait will attract the wasps, and then they’ll get trapped when they fly down through the funnel. Finally, place the trap outdoors and wait for it to fill with wasps. Don’t use honey or you could end up attracting honey bees. If you’re putting the trap out in the summer, add vinegar and jam to the bottle since wasps will be attracted to sugar in the summer. If you’re making the trap in the spring, pour some meat grease into the bottle since wasps look for protein during the spring. The dish soap will make it so the wasps can’t fly out of the water. Next, pour water into the bottle until it’s about 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the bottom of the funnel, and add a few drops of dish soap. Tape the cut edges of each half together. Then, turn the neck of the bottle upside down, and insert it into the bottom half of the bottle to create a funnel. To make a wasp trap, first find a 2-liter plastic bottle and cut the top off just below the neck.
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