What is the perfect job?  I’m playing Perfection Game with myself.  If I were to give my job a perfection rating, the criteria would be:
  • I do great things with great people–my personal vision. I’m not doing mediocre things, and I’m not doing things with mediocre people. Everything else derives from this vision. (My vision and a lot of the rest of this list are inspired by McCarthy BootCamp, Core Protocols, NVC, Open Space Technology, and more.)
  • We are aligned on our vision. Our work has purpose. We are aligned on our goals. We are passionate.
  • We bring our full selves to to work every day. We don’t distinguish between “work self” and “home self.”
  • We bring our best selves to each other every day. We always offer our best to each other, and we get the best from each other.
  • We feel. We accept that we are human and that humans feel emotion. We don’t leave our emotions at home. We fully feel our emotions. We share what we feel with each other. We share what we feel despite cultural work pressure not to.
  • We have integrity. We don’t drop our ideals under pressure. We do what’s right, even when it’s inconvenient, unpopular, or will get us fired. We do it because we want the best result, all the time.
  • We are courageous. When we notice that we’re not bringing our best, we call it out, no matter how afraid we are. When we don’t know something, we say so. When we hear a scary idea for improvement, we try it, even though we look foolish.
  • We are bold and kind. We are honest and empathetic. We use different voices for different situations: angry voice when we’re angry, gentle voice when we’re nurturing.  (Inspired by Nicola Dourambeis)
  • It’s OK to be a maverick or a rogue. We trust that you’re aligned with us, and that you’re helping us get the best result.
  • We support each other. When we share feelings or vulnerability, we listen.
  • We listen to each other and to our customers. We listen without judging. We make eye contact. We empathize. Only after fully listening do we offer help or make decisions.
  • We have fierce conversations. We are direct and kind.
  • We inspire.  We inspire each other to do our best all the time. We inspire our bosses and customers with our great results.
  • We are effective and efficient. We use Core Protocols to get the best results fastest.
  • We are masterful. We bring years of study and practice together to produce things of excellence.
  • We are well trained, follow great principles, and use great practices. Under pressure, our reflexes get us the best results.
  • We are proud of our work. We value our craft. We are artisans. When we produce something that we wouldn’t be proud of, we fix it.
  • We experiment and explore. We make mistakes and learn. We always improve.
  • We are learning and getting paid for it. We love learning and we do it every day. (Inspired by Chad Holdorf)
  • I travel. I experience and explore new people, new places, and new cultures. In doing so, I explore and better understand myself.
  • There is variety in my work. I am never bored. If I’m bored, I find something else to do.
  • I lead people to get the best out of themselves. I teach and consult, guide and coach.
  • I have wide and deep influence. My actions have positive impact on a large number of people.
  • People value what I do. They express their value in different ways: emotional connection, money, gratitude, and more.
  • The positive consequences of my work are obvious. It’s easy to connect what I do to people’s success. In business, this means it’s trivially easy to observe and measure my impact on the bottom line: I help bring money in, and I help keeps costs low.
  • I am responsible for great outcomes, and I have complete autonomy and self direction in how to achieve them.
  • When I ask for help, people help me. It’s OK to express vulnerability. I don’t get punished for not being master of everything.
  • My coworkers ask me for help, and appreciate the help I give them.
  • My coworkers tell me what I do well, and what I don’t do well. They offer help on the things I don’t do well, but they don’t force help on me.  We play Perfection Game (a Core Protocol) often.
  • I get paid well. I get paid enough that I don’t have to worry about money, and I can just do great work.
  • We love working together. It’s fun. We are happy.
  • We make silly jokes and laugh together.

What would your perfect job look like? Want to join my team and create the perfect job together?

(Thanks to Elinor Slomba for inspiring and editing.)