# Basing your level of effort on what other people do **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844 "2019-07-30T00:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/22 "2019-07-30T13:26:39Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > The typical experience I’ve had in my professional career is that my definition of quality work is way, way higher than my employer’s definition of quality. When this happens - in my experience - the part that exceeds the boss’s definition of quality is simply ignored and not valued or rewarded. At best. At worst, they start taking me for granted. Some actual examples: > > There was the place where I was a senior level software engineer and part of my job was tier 2 customer support. If a customer had an issue that our customer service team couldn’t handle, it was passed over to me to solve. The manager of the customer service team had a “falling out” with the director so he backed off to bare minimum work and let his team do the same. The management team at this place was so conflict avoidant that they didn’t fire people, which became clear to everyone. Instead of disciplining the customer service team, retraining or whatever it took to get them to do their jobs correctly, me and my fellow tier 2 engineers started having to do tier 1 customer support as well as tier 2 and our normal project work. That went on for years - I left that place before the customer service team did. > > Then there is the issue of performance reviews, and I’ve had this experience at a few jobs. I’m a good worker and get consistently “exceeds expectations” ratings, except perhaps the first year when I’m learning the job. Despite that track record, I’ve never been promoted, not even minor rank promotions like Engineer 3 to Engineer 4. In performance review meetings, I’ve heard the following things out my manager’s mouths that are motivation killers: > > “You really exceeded expectations again, but we’re only allowed to have one person at that ranking each year and since you got it the last two years I had to give it to someone else this time.” > > “Your performance has been outstanding but I’m not allowed to rank people higher than a four (on a scale of 1 to 5).” > > “Your performance has been outstanding! Congratulations, you’re getting a 2% raise!” > > So in summary, it’s entirely dependent on the company culture and the management style as to whether I give my best performance or not. This seems to imply that you would only give your best work if it was noticed by the company and/or management. I’m talking about self-worth, where you do a good job to satisfy yourself, even if your fellow employees are not doing a good job. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/23 "2019-07-30T13:28:19Z")
Well, re-read the paragraph about the Tier 1/Tier 2 support. I was doing my best work to satisfy myself and found that I then got handed the work of another team. Not because I was good, but because they were too spineless to solve the problem. I don’t take pride in being taken advantage of, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/24 "2019-07-30T13:30:42Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If you want to get ahead, if you want to go far in your career, my advice is to drink and be comfortable in bars. Who you know is waaaaaay more important than what you know, IME … This is definitely true for fast climbs. When it comes to advancing ideas or your overall career, the peeps in charge will just naturally cotton to the people they know. And folks tend to leave the hierarchy behind when they enter places like bars or the smoking area. A clique forms and before you know it, being the guy who sits at the desk and never takes a break becomes the one management doesn’t feel they know well enough to trust. Been there. HOWEVER, as someone who skews heavily toward the “what you know” category, acumen has paid off in spades in the long game. When our office closed it didn’t matter who you knew–your job was just as gone as mine. Outside the office I was known as “…they guy who did X, Y, Z. Lots of fun to talk to on the phone, but nobody knows what he looks like.” Job search was easy, it was just a matter of linking my unextraordinary mug to the resume’ & reputation; and I had cred with my former coworkers when it came time to recruit them into the new organization. As for the OP: I am a moody bitch. Sprint, chill, sprint, chill, sprint–win by a nose. If I think the employer is making a reasonable effort to give me the tools to meet their goals, I am inspired to crush it and drag people up with me. But if “the beatings will continue until morale improves” then I can be a total dog until they get their shit together. But to be fair, I do have a conscience and don’t dally for long. Typically when things are slow or broken I start doing my own thing, rethinking what the company is doing, and just move in that direction on my own. Eventually they catch up and either smack me down or adopt what I’ve been doing. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/25 "2019-07-30T13:43:31Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Well, re-read the paragraph about the Tier 1/Tier 2 support. I was doing my best work to satisfy myself and found that I then got handed the work of another team. Not because I was good, but because they were too spineless to solve the problem. I don’t take pride in being taken advantage of, thanks. Did that additional work cause you to stay later than everyone else without getting more pay? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/26 "2019-07-30T13:47:40Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Your new question barely makes sense for me because I am pretty much always the only person doing what I do Well, then the question doesn’t really apply to you, does it? > [@](#): > > When you open a door, do you always “do it to the best of your ability”? :dubious: Half-assing stuff is not a behavior I want to impart to my children. To answer your question, yes, I open the door to the best of my ability. I don’t open it just enough to squeeze through. I open it fully, enter or exit, check to see if anyone is coming through after me and hold it for them. If not, I let it close on its own. Unless it sticks open for some reason, at which point I use my awesome door-closing skills to make sure it is closed. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/27 "2019-07-30T13:49:27Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > This seems to imply that you would only give your best work if it was noticed by the company and/or management. I’m talking about self-worth, where you do a good job to satisfy yourself, even if your fellow employees are not doing a good job. As others have said, you seem to be trying to conflate two areas that simply aren’t linked. The only part of my self-worth related to my job is honoring the agreement we have - that I do the job to certain standards for a pre-determined amount. I wouldn’t feel better about myself because I did more than my co-workers, or bad because some are better. Besides, the employer can arbitrarily change the standards for what’s a good job. Would I suddenly be a crappy person because they raised the quota to something I couldn’t achieve? A gripe I had with a former employer is that they “coached” the bottom 5% of performers, even if they had met the employer’s quotas, as part of creating a “high performance culture.” ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/28 "2019-07-30T14:31:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I don’t think I can think of a single job I’ve held in which I worked “to the best of my abilities.” Nor can I think of a job I’ve had - at least since college - where I wasn’t in the top 25% of producers (generally much higher) by any measure. Nor can I think of a job I held where increased effort would’ve been acknowledged in the form of commensurate pay/promotion. > > I’ve consistently been in positions where I am paid salary for what is essentially piecework. And TPTB aren’t interested in my ideas for improving the processes. The employer and I struck a bargain - they will pay me X, for me to produce Y amount of work of Z quality. If my abilities would allow me to produce 2Y amounts of work of Z+1 quality, why should I, unless my pay is increased? > > I was in one job with approximately 25 similarly situated workers, and I was doing 14% of the output. My work was as high quality as anyone else’s by any measure. Yet I was taking long lunches, surfing the net, never staying late… As far as I could tell, the SOLE reward for doing more work was being assigned more work. All the while (as noted above) being called on the carpet for any fleeting shortcoming or transgression. So the OP might feel best if he produced 20% of the group’s output? 25%? > > Me, I woulda felt like a sap, and wouldn’t have respected myself. I remember having a discussion w/ my boss, when she told me my doing a lot of good work would not get me a promotion. I asked her why I should do a single piece of work more than the average of my co-workers + 1. She said, “Respect.” I responded that there was the kind of respect that folds and you can put it in your wallet. > > The OP’s mind apparently works differently than mine (and others). Not sure why he is unable to understand that. > > For the OP - are there any limits? Do you work through your breaks/lunches/leave time? Do you volunteer to work late and come in weekends? I mean, you COULD, if you wanted to “do the best job you can.” You’ve really NEVER had a job where you could earn more by doing better work? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/29 "2019-07-30T14:33:31Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > … > Half-assing stuff is not a behavior I want to impart to my children. To answer your question, yes, I open the door to the best of my ability. I don’t open it just enough to squeeze through. … Had a call from my youngest the other day. She is a project manager at a tech firm - doing quite well in terms of assignments, pay, promotions. She said she feels like she is stealing her pay, because she isn’t DOING anything - just making sure other people do their jobs. I asked what kind of hours she is putting in. She said basically 9-4:30, w/ min computer work over weekends around deadlines and such. But she said she is by far the best PM their firm has, and her boss’ clear favorite. So - what more is she supposed to do, just because her innate skills/abilities/personality make a job seem easy for her, that others struggle at? > [@](#): > > If everyone else in the warehouse gets away with only packing 15 pallets per day, would you change to only pack 15 pallets per day, or would you continue to pack 16 pallets, knowing that is what they are paying you for? Consistent with my prior comment that I would produce the average +1, I always try to be in the top half - more likely the top quarter - just to avoid being an easy target. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/30 "2019-07-30T14:41:45Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > You’ve really NEVER had a job where you could earn more by doing better work? All of my post school fulltime work has been as a lawyer, with most as a long-time (30+ yrs) gov’t employee. Admittedly, my experience is restricted. In a private firm, there was the HOPE that if you put in more and more hours, that eventually you MIGHT make partner. But in reality, associates were tools for the partners’ benefit. A big shake-out in the profession around that time in which entire hiring classes fired served as proof. I decided relatively quickly that I did not care for the lifestyle - or the work - sufficiently to see if I could make partner. I can easily imagine a sole practitioner or partner in a very small firm might see the direct effect of increased effort on earnings. But I’ve never been the entrepreneurial type. In the gov’t, pay is pretty set, and bonuses are miniscule. The ability to play politics and dumb luck has generally (always?) impressed me as far more important in upward mobility than the quality/quantity of work. I’ve never been a good politician - just a damned efficient and productive worker. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/31 "2019-07-30T15:16:18Z")
My experience in govt work is a little different than **Dinsdale’s**. Being known as the hardest worker on the team usually does not result in monetary rewards, but it can mean you have some leverage when it comes to work assignments. Like, if you have a reputation for being a half-asser, you will likely be stuck with the tedious tasks that any zombie could do rather than the high profile tasks that are more emotionally rewarding and impressive on a resume. But ultimately, it comes down to how effective you are at what you do, not how hard you work. I have a couple of coworkers who work very hard, but the work they turn out isn’t all that great for all the time they spend on it. The guy who spends two weeks crunching numbers with a calculator when everyone else uses a pivot table in Excel isn’t going to get any extra props. He may feel like he is doing a better job than the lazy slobs with all their new-fangled tools, but at the end of the day people only care about the results. They don’t care that you worked harder than everyone else. They don’t care that you loved the assignment more than everyone else. They just care about the result. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/32 "2019-07-30T15:17:05Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > If everyone else in the warehouse gets away with only packing 15 pallets per day, would you change to only pack 15 pallets per day, or would you continue to pack 16 pallets, knowing that is what they are paying you for? So, I’m being paid $X to pack 16 and my coworkers are being paid $X to pack 15. Seems to me that the market rate for pallets is $X for 15, not $X for 16. If I was a business, I’d be looking to renegotiate my contract, and only have to provide 15 for my price, just like all my competitors. Because I’m not a business, I’m told to provide 16 because: > [@](#): > > I’m talking about self-worth, where you do a good job to satisfy yourself a concept that doesn’t apply to businesses. Businesses don’t enter into agreements to augment their internal feelings of self worth. They don’t over-deliver in order to make themselves feel better, they don’t pay workers more because they have the ability to, they pay more or deliver more if the market requires them to. If you’re asking would I provide 15 or 16, I’d probably go for 16 because providing good value to your business partner is good business, and can benefit me when business isn’t so good. But I’m not doing it out of the goodness of my heart, or to fulfill an internal need, it’s just business. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/33 "2019-07-30T15:17:43Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Well, then the question doesn’t really apply to you, does it? > > Half-assing stuff is not a behavior I want to impart to my children. To answer your question, yes, I open the door to the best of my ability. I don’t open it just enough to squeeze through. I open it fully, enter or exit, check to see if anyone is coming through after me and hold it for them. If not, I let it close on its own. Unless it sticks open for some reason, at which point I use my awesome door-closing skills to make sure it is closed. But there’s limits, right? I mean, some of this is pride–and I get that. I always want to be excellent at work. I get a lot of satisfaction out of it–and sometimes I fail to meet my responsibilities to my son and my family because I put being the best I can be at work doing what I love. I work with a guy who basically barely meets expectations. His attitude is very much “My son gets my time. I’m not going to cut into parenting time, period–work gets my 40 hours and if I can’t get it done in that, I don’t do it.” And he is a great dad. Is his attitude less ethical than mine? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/34 "2019-07-30T15:23:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Having said that, when the economy sours, employees who exceed performance requirements are more likely to be retained, and employees who just toe the line are more likely to be let go. Every employee sets their own standards for how secure they feel about their financial situation, and how hard they want to work to achieve a greater sense of security. Actually being friends with higher-ups is usually a much better source of job security than doing a job well; the owner’s favorite will get retained even if Joe the Competent doesn’t. And if you’re trying to hit ‘performance requirements,’ very often those are based on metrics that have nothing to do with how much effort you put in, but with how well you do at gaming the system. Tech support jobs are notorious for this, where very often the people who have the best performance metrics are those who game the system - the person who closes customer calls at the least excuse and lets someone else deal with it when they call back gets good numbers, while the person who actually tries to solve problems has excessive call times and bad ticket closure rates. > [@Slash1972](#): > > This seems to imply that you would only give your best work if it was noticed by the company and/or management. I’m talking about self-worth, where you do a good job to satisfy yourself, even if your fellow employees are not doing a good job. I work to get paid because I need money to do the stuff that I’m actually interested in. My sense self-worth has nothing to do with my job, the job is just a requirement to live in society as we know it. I like doing a decent job at things, but I’m not going to knock myself out trying to do the best I possibly could - I’d rather have my energy for me, and not work unpaid overtime or stress over the job in my off-time. This is a bit of exaggeration for me since I like my current job, but if I was working some kind of restaurant, retail, or factory job it would be 100% true. How many people would really keep doing the exact same job for the exact same employer if they won the lottery and didn’t need the money? Especially people working as wait staff in restaurants or moving pallets in warehouses? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/35 "2019-07-30T15:28:24Z")
I’ve had depressing jobs (I did exactly what was expected of me) and exciting jobs (I put extra effort, but enjoyed doing so.) If I was loading 16 pallets / hour and everyone else was doing 15, I might approach management **if I had discovered a more efficient way to load**. (I would hope to get some reward for enabling that firm to do better.) I had one part-time job where my co-workers told me to slow down, because I was ‘making them look bad’. (I soon found another job.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/36 "2019-07-30T15:47:18Z")
I remember early in my career when another hard worker was bitching about the slackers. I told him they were my favorite cow-orkers, because they made me look good if I simply did the minimum! > [@monstro](#): > > My experience in govt work is a little different than Dinsdale’s. Being known as the hardest worker on the team usually does not result in monetary rewards, but it can mean you have some leverage when it comes to work assignments. Like, if you have a reputation for being a half-asser, you will likely be stuck with the tedious tasks that any zombie could do rather than the high profile tasks that are more emotionally rewarding and impressive on a resume. I acknowledge there are all kinds of gov’t work. And I’m not advocating being a “half asser”. But in my jobs, management got to decide what was or was not challenging work, they got to decide who to assign it to, and they got to decide whether they considered the work product exceptional or not. So the “quality” component all depends on being in mgmt.'s good favor. Meanwhile, the boring grunt work (which is the vast majority) needs to get done, so if you show you are good at doing that, they’ll happily give you more and more. JME, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/37 "2019-07-30T16:05:40Z")
This is the primary reason why people should be paid based upon their individual contributions and productivity. This is a hard concept to implement within companies, because it requires either objective measurement criteria that employees can be measured by or critical 360 evaluations that avoids favoritism etc. If you know that the bar is low and that you aren’t going to get paid more even if you do more, there isn’t much incentive to outperform. But if you had trust that you would get paid more for higher productivity, most people would gladly take that on. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/38 "2019-07-30T16:06:44Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > No. > > Sure, you should do your work to the best of your abilities. > > However, you must not forget that your job is a business agreement, not a moral imperative. Ignoring this fact places the worker in a subservient position to the employer, when they should be peers engaging in a business transaction. > > Let’s say I’m working in a warehouse, and get paid $15/hr. I’m expected to pack and wrap 2 pallets of stuff in an hour, or 16 pallets per day. The fact that I figured out how to pack and wrap 20 pallets per day is irrelevant, I’m paid to do 16. > > If I wasn’t some pallet jockey, but was a ‘respectable’ business owner who provided packing and wrapping services, I’d be giving you 16 pallets per day for my daily fee, and nobody in business would expect me to provide 20 per day for the same fee. But, since I’m just a worker and not a business owner, the expectation is different. I’m supposed to have ‘work ethic’ and do the best I can do, work the hardest I can for my pay, regardless of what the arrangement (written or unwritten) is with the employer. Good post. I also do not see work as a moral imperative of any kind, requiring sacrifice on my part so my employer can have more for less. Fuck that. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/39 "2019-07-30T16:08:24Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Why is that one your “old” employer? I would’ve preferred to stay with him. Sadly, he chose not to relocate his business when I moved away. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/40 "2019-07-30T16:10:59Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > This seems to imply that you would only give your best work if it was noticed by the company and/or management. I’m talking about self-worth, where you do a good job to satisfy yourself, even if your fellow employees are not doing a good job. Why would you tie your self-worth to what you are worth to other people who seek to exploit you? > [@Slash1972](#): > > Half-assing stuff is not a behavior I want to impart to my children. To answer your question, yes, I open the door to the best of my ability. I don’t open it just enough to squeeze through. I open it fully, enter or exit, check to see if anyone is coming through after me and hold it for them. If not, I let it close on its own. Unless it sticks open for some reason, at which point I use my awesome door-closing skills to make sure it is closed. Me, I’m just opening a door. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844/41 "2019-07-30T16:17:32Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I work to get paid because I need money to do the stuff that I’m actually interested in. My sense self-worth has nothing to do with my job, the job is just a requirement to live in society as we know it. I like doing a decent job at things, but I’m not going to knock myself out trying to do the best I possibly could - I’d rather have my energy for me, and not work unpaid overtime or stress over the job in my off-time. This is a bit of exaggeration for me since I like my current job, but if I was working some kind of restaurant, retail, or factory job it would be 100% true. > > How many people would really keep doing the exact same job for the exact same employer if they won the lottery and didn’t need the money? Especially people working as wait staff in restaurants or moving pallets in warehouses? I think you have excellent priorities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basing-your-level-of-effort-on-what-other-people-do/837844.md?page=3)