Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

That job is a “meat grinder.” It has chewed up several people. Stay away. Or do we simply need to reframe the situation?

While writing this, I have spent much of the past week(s) looking at the help wanted ads and talking to several companies about their job openings. Several of the job openings can fairly be labeled as “meat grinders.” Look at the recent past and you see that several people were in the job for less than a year and left it for something better. That job grinds up people and pushes them out the door.

Stay away from meat grinders.

Or perhaps we can reframe the situation. Instead of “meat grinder” we might say:

• People have used the job as a springboard for other opportunities. Instead of “meat grinder” it’s a “springboard.”
• People have used the job to learn what they want in life and move to that desired place. Instead of “meat grinder” it’s a “life goal learner.“

We could go on with these reframes. It is all in the mind. And, come to think of it, the mind is one of the best places to be.

And one final reframe, it would be fascinating to learn what it is about the job that has caused people to leave quickly and then reverse those fortunes into something else. The “meat grinder” becomes “a prime place for learning and reframing.”

We are able to choose. Let’s not forget that.