Quiet Quitting While Still Exceeding Expectations

00:00:00.000 | All right, Jesse, what's our first question here?

00:00:02.580 | - All right, first question is from

00:00:04.260 | Little Better Than Average.

00:00:06.260 | In the era of quiet quitting,

00:00:08.120 | the new normal is to just do the bare minimum.

00:00:10.740 | Does this mean that showing even a little bit

00:00:12.860 | of initiative and willingness to do more important work

00:00:15.500 | can now set you apart from others?

00:00:17.460 | - I have two parts to my answer here.

00:00:20.680 | I mean, first, let me just address this idea

00:00:23.780 | that we're in an era of quiet quitting,

00:00:26.920 | where quiet quitting is so ubiquitous

00:00:28.880 | that it's just assumed that most people around you

00:00:31.140 | are doing this.

00:00:32.260 | That, of course, is nonsense.

00:00:34.300 | The thing about internet movements

00:00:36.760 | is that because they're leveraging

00:00:38.500 | the amplification effects of internet distributed

00:00:42.700 | and algorithmic curation,

00:00:43.920 | they have a way for those who are plugged into it,

00:00:45.780 | they have a way of making internet trends

00:00:47.700 | seeming universal.

00:00:49.000 | Everyone is doing this.

00:00:51.360 | Everyone is feeling this.

00:00:52.380 | We see this on topic after topic, right?

00:00:55.460 | So, like, you're plugged into,

00:00:57.780 | let's say you're plugged into med Twitter

00:01:00.920 | during the COVID pandemic.

00:01:02.280 | Suddenly in your mind, like, all of these

00:01:05.920 | particular possible terrible things around COVID

00:01:08.960 | are happening everywhere.

00:01:10.240 | And it's only by the grace of God

00:01:12.320 | you've survived being outside for 10 minutes

00:01:14.520 | because the internet makes these things seem totalizing.

00:01:18.480 | Let's say you're in political Twitter,

00:01:20.640 | you're really plugged in the conservative Twitter,

00:01:24.920 | and it makes it feel like, or independent Twitter,

00:01:28.780 | it makes it feel like essentially 80% of the populace

00:01:32.580 | has been canceled.

00:01:33.860 | And there's almost no one left,

00:01:35.780 | and there's marauding bands of cancelers,

00:01:38.020 | and you're a day away from it,

00:01:39.220 | 'cause it totalizes.

00:01:40.060 | It makes it seem like this is happening everywhere.

00:01:41.900 | Well, same thing for a trend like quiet quitting.

00:01:44.140 | I'm sure the actual number of people

00:01:47.140 | who would say, "I am doing this,

00:01:49.460 | "I'm purposely pulling back,"

00:01:50.500 | is a relatively small percentage,

00:01:52.300 | and has no real large effect on,

00:01:54.180 | let's say, the dynamics of your particular workplace.

00:01:57.320 | But the internet, if you're plugged into,

00:02:00.120 | let's say, TikTok,

00:02:00.960 | makes it seem like everyone is doing this.

00:02:02.120 | So that's just a side commentary on internet movements.

00:02:05.640 | That's not to say, by the way, that it's not important.

00:02:07.600 | I think internet movements play a good signaling purpose.

00:02:10.080 | Like quiet quitting's importance is not that,

00:02:12.240 | "Oh my God, everyone's doing this now.

00:02:13.600 | "What's gonna happen to the economy?"

00:02:15.080 | Because of course, that's not what's happening.

00:02:16.880 | It's importance is there's a real signal

00:02:19.120 | that's being amplified here.

00:02:20.800 | So there's an actual unease or dis-ease

00:02:22.960 | that this particular generation is having with work

00:02:25.180 | as they're trying to figure out

00:02:26.160 | the role of work in their life.

00:02:27.460 | That signal's important,

00:02:28.900 | and it's important to amplify that signal.

00:02:30.820 | So that's where internet movements are important,

00:02:32.680 | is that they amplify signals that might be meaningful

00:02:35.260 | to shifts happening in the culture,

00:02:37.020 | but we have to be careful

00:02:39.100 | because the tendency or human wiring

00:02:40.780 | is to receive it as if this thing is happening universally.

00:02:44.060 | So you can be worried about COVID

00:02:46.020 | without thinking that you're probably

00:02:48.860 | gonna be the last person alive in your town.

00:02:50.860 | You can be worried about things like cancellation,

00:02:52.940 | without also having to believe

00:02:54.220 | that you're like one day away from it,

00:02:56.340 | and most universities have lost

00:02:57.940 | half of their faculty to canceling.

00:02:59.460 | So this is the tension of internet movements.

00:03:01.940 | They can amplify messages,

00:03:04.920 | but that amplification mechanism

00:03:08.480 | can deceive us in the feeling like these trends

00:03:10.480 | are way more universal than they really are.

00:03:13.060 | This is a bit of a divergence,

00:03:14.220 | but just a little bit of internet culture chat.

00:03:15.780 | So what about this particular question though?

00:03:18.480 | If people are average,

00:03:21.980 | do I have to do just a little bit more to stand out?

00:03:23.980 | Yes, this is true.

00:03:24.980 | And we don't need quiet quitting

00:03:26.060 | for this to be an effective dynamic.

00:03:27.440 | This is something I've talked about for years,

00:03:29.780 | especially if you are entry level

00:03:31.660 | in a knowledge work setting.

00:03:33.860 | You do not have to be a superstar on a national scale

00:03:40.040 | to quickly get ahead.

00:03:41.980 | You have to just be a little bit better

00:03:43.580 | than the other young employees at your same employer.

00:03:46.240 | And that's not as hard as you think.

00:03:49.340 | And in particular, there's two things you can do

00:03:50.940 | that will almost always make you stand out.

00:03:53.460 | One, deliver.

00:03:56.340 | So people trust you not to drop the ball.

00:03:58.340 | If they ask you to do something, you do it.

00:04:00.300 | And you get it done by the time

00:04:01.220 | you said it's gonna get done.

00:04:02.060 | And they don't have to worry about bothering you

00:04:03.660 | and sending you follow up messages and saying,

00:04:05.940 | sometimes Cal does this, sometimes Cal doesn't.

00:04:08.580 | They trust you're gonna get things done.

00:04:10.300 | It's not that hard to do, but it's pretty rare.

00:04:13.700 | And that gets noticed.

00:04:15.660 | A quick test about whether or not you're succeeding

00:04:18.740 | on that particular property.

00:04:20.520 | Do the people you work for send lots of follow up emails

00:04:24.420 | or chats after they ask you to do something like,

00:04:26.500 | hey, how's this going?

00:04:27.340 | Have you done this yet?

00:04:28.160 | If so, that means they don't really trust you.

00:04:30.460 | If they don't, then you're probably doing this right.

00:04:33.320 | Number two, exceed expectations.

00:04:36.700 | You don't need to be a perfectionist,

00:04:39.500 | but just when you get a task,

00:04:41.300 | think like, what do they really need here?

00:04:43.740 | What are they really looking for?

00:04:44.660 | Let me make sure I get them what's really gonna help them.

00:04:46.940 | Like, what is the,

00:04:48.560 | why did they want me to pull out these quotes?

00:04:50.860 | Oh, they're trying to put together this marketing message.

00:04:53.500 | My boss is putting together this whatever.

00:04:55.620 | And so what would really make that succeed?

00:04:57.060 | Well, let me pull out some better, let me call up a client.

00:04:59.780 | I know what he needs.

00:05:01.480 | And so let me make sure that like,

00:05:02.740 | I'm really meeting those expectations.

00:05:04.740 | You don't have to be perfectionist.

00:05:05.660 | It's not like you're knocking down the park.

00:05:07.580 | It's just that we know when Cal turns something in,

00:05:10.020 | it's gonna be what we need.

00:05:11.360 | It's gonna be good.

00:05:12.200 | It's not gonna be, hey, I did the task, man.

00:05:14.460 | Why are you on my back?

00:05:15.300 | Like, technically I put some quotes down.

00:05:17.260 | You know, like this guy did,

00:05:18.560 | this client did ask me where the bathroom is.

00:05:20.840 | That is technically a quote.

00:05:22.760 | Get off my back, quiet quitting.

00:05:25.680 | I'm worth more than my labor.

00:05:27.040 | I'm a human being.

00:05:28.120 | Just meet the expectations you're looking for.

00:05:31.700 | You do these two things,

00:05:33.400 | in about one year, you're gonna,

00:05:35.640 | your path is going to angle upwards much quicker.

00:05:39.680 | It's not hard, but it's rare.

00:05:41.840 | Of course, the question is why,

00:05:44.360 | like why bother advancing quickly when you're new to a job?

00:05:47.640 | I mean, isn't that just playing into, you know,

00:05:50.060 | the sort of exploitative dynamic of capitalism

00:05:53.300 | or something like that?

00:05:54.200 | The reason is, is because when you advance quickly,

00:05:56.180 | you build career capital.

00:05:57.360 | Career capital is what gives you control over your career.

00:06:00.140 | Career capital is what's gonna set you free.

00:06:02.140 | Career capital is what's going to allow you

00:06:03.860 | to decide what you want your working life to be like,

00:06:06.700 | mold it towards what resonates and away from what doesn't.

00:06:09.260 | It is the only way to make your job work for you

00:06:13.740 | and not the other way around.

00:06:15.800 | The things that make great work great is appealing.

00:06:19.800 | It's in demand.

00:06:20.960 | You have to have something to offer in return.

00:06:23.800 | So if you don't like aspects of work,

00:06:27.940 | you don't like this thing or this boss or these hours,

00:06:31.400 | you can't complain your way out of it.

00:06:33.760 | You usually can't quit your way out of it,

00:06:35.900 | but you can career capital your way out of it.

00:06:37.740 | You become so good, you can't be ignored.

00:06:39.520 | And then you use those skills as leverage and say,

00:06:41.580 | not today, now I'm doing this.

00:06:43.360 | Now I'm doing that.

00:06:44.280 | I'm going over here.

00:06:45.240 | I'm freelancing.

00:06:46.060 | I'm renegotiating my contract.

00:06:47.280 | I'm going to this company that just specialize on this,

00:06:49.440 | fully remote, and I only check in once a week.

00:06:51.840 | All of those types of things that you could use

00:06:53.840 | to take control of your career

00:06:55.120 | are returns on investment of career capital

00:06:58.400 | gathered by you being good and advancing quickly.

00:07:00.640 | This is the quickest way to get to career capital

00:07:02.400 | if you're new.

00:07:04.000 | Be reliable, don't drop the ball,

00:07:05.760 | deliver past expectations.

00:07:07.260 | Do those things for a year.

00:07:09.200 | Your trajectory goes fast.

00:07:11.160 | Just remember, as you build your capital,

00:07:12.920 | don't wait too long to invest it.

00:07:14.520 | I actually have an article,

00:07:18.400 | might be out by the time this comes out,

00:07:20.200 | of a quiet quitting article I wrote for The New Yorker

00:07:23.240 | that we were fact checking it and copyediting it.

00:07:26.920 | So I think it's ready.

00:07:27.760 | So it's probably, it's kind of like a year

00:07:29.400 | in review style article.

00:07:30.360 | So probably, I don't know,

00:07:31.600 | but probably by the time you hear this podcast,

00:07:33.900 | I'll have a quiet quitting article

00:07:35.920 | you can find at The New Yorker.

00:07:36.760 | And if not, then, you know,

00:07:37.800 | it'll be like in the new year or something.

00:07:40.320 | I've been thinking a lot about quiet quitting recently.

00:07:42.440 | (upbeat music)

00:07:45.020 | (upbeat music)

Quiet Quitting While Still Exceeding Expectations

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