That Randy Brown

Three Types of Work

I suppose there are three types of work.

Operations work: routine work--work that is patterned on some cadence: maintanence, upgrades, trash runs, dishes and cooking--the stuff that literally keeps the world working.

Project work: working incrementally toward a goal or against a list until that list is gone. Paying down our debts, building a shed, knitting a scarf, most software development.

Support work: working for people. Lots of service and medical work. Primarily oriented toward being available for people that need help. Request comes in, respond to request. Sometimes called interrupt work--usually because it interupts project work.

Just like there are three bypes of work, there are probably three types of workers.

Some people love routine and maintenance, even if they don't love the content of the routine. They may not love cutting grass or collecting trash, but they love the routine of it. I am not one of these people--this is the work I seek to automate. I imagine zookeepers are at least somewhat appreciative of these kinds of days.

Some people love projects. They work against a goal in incremental steps until the goal is met. The work is often variable or partially undefined, with a clear end state defined. I am one of these kinds of people. I love the progressive change toward completion of a project.

Some people do like helping others. medical workers, zookeepers again, IT helpdesk people that aren't completely over it. People that deliver meals on wheels.