The obvious death of a maximizer

We all have to face it, humans are maximizers an they always will be as we are hard-coded to always want more. It doesn't seem to really matter what it is but while we find something attractive to us, we want to increase the amount of it we have. This is obviously true for economic value but it goes across anything that we take pleasure in.

In a class today, my client was telling me about an employee who was complaining about not earning enough, which is obviously a common complaint around the world. The thing with this person is that they do the absolute bare minimum of work to scrape through to earn their salary yet, are asking for a pay rise. This person is also conveniently always ill just before holidays and at peak production times.

They are a maximizer.

What they are maximizing is their 'time not working' and they go out of their way to make sure they do not do anything extra that they need not. They know every right and workplace entitlement and never make any concessions, even for the colleagues that work next to them if in need.

My client then told a story of her mother who was planning to return to work part-time before going back full-time after recovering from an injury. One of her mother's friends advised her on all the government benefits she could receive instead of going back to work. The friend didn't realize that she wanted to work, not sit around being supported.

There is a problem with these kinds of maximizers as while they continually get what they want 'the maximization of time not working', they also miss out on other things that they want. Things like pay rises, promotions, network, social engagement and of course a host opportunities that they are not considered for because either they do not know about them or they are not considered worthy of the offer.

There are a lot of people who want the value of promotions and hard work provided but aren't willing to do what is required. They have a conflict of maximization desire where they want to maximize their returns but also maximize the minimization of effort they put into get it and maximize free time. Minimizing effort or maximizing free time will never actually maximize returns as there is still potential to get returns. It is fine if one is satisfied with the return on their effort but, many aren't.

I find the same thing in other areas also where people are maximizing an area that doesn't necessarily get them to where they want to be in the long term. They want a higher return and then spend their time trying to game the system in order to squeeze a little more out of the tube while there are boxes of it in the cupboard next to them. If instead they spent their time doing a little more work they would likely better serve their return desires.

Each of us has to live with the consequence of our actions and there is consequence to maximization of free time if what is earned doesn't satisfy the desired amounts. When it comes to probabilities of opportunity in workplace environment, the chances of a time not working maximizer getting promoted over someone who maximizes their return through work is slim to none. This creates an ever widening gap between the two positions in not only earning, but future potential to earn also.

While one is adding earning and likely the possibility to save or invest, the other is placing a ceiling on their earnings that will be ever lowered by inflation. I completely understand the premise of, work smarter, not harder but if one doesn't understand the opportunities lost if the only factor to classify "smart" is a reduction of work in a job without using the added space to take other opportunities, how smart is it?

If we are all maximizers of some sort and what we are trying to maximize is going to cost us a future position we might also want, we are not acting in congruence, and our actions will never get us to where we want to be. It is this conflict of wants that is the real issue that holds us back and while some maximize their present moment at the cost of their future experience, others maximze the future at the cost of the present moment.

Coming to terms and accepting that not all positions can be maximized goes a long way to clearing up and creating a hierarchy of needs and wants and, what we are willing to do to satisfy them. once we have a better understanding of ourselves and our actions, we no longer have to suffer the internal conflicts we impose on ourselves.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]