THE RAT, THE RACE, AND THE CAGE
a
simple way to guarantee job satisfaction and success
by
Thomas N. Ellsworth
Smashwords Edition
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Published on Smashwords by:
Premier
Digital Publishing
Los Angeles, California
The Rat, the Race, and the Cage
Copyright 2006 – 2011 by Thomas
N. Ellsworth
ISBN: 978-0-9832929-6-8
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.
Quotes by individuals, including business leaders and historical figures, were taken from a collection of quotations compiled and presented by GIGA® (www.giga-usa.com).
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* * * * *
For
C. Bernie Mills II
•
He reached out to me and we became good friends over twenty years ago.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Author’s
Note
Introduction
Chapter 1:
The Concept
Chapter
2: The Rat
Chapter
3: The Race
Chapter
4: The Cage
Chapter
5: The Boss and Compensation
Chapter
6: Your Personal Career Compass
Chapter
7: Putting it to Work
Additional
Readings
Personal
Career Compass Worksheet
* * * * *
First of all, I would like to thank my wife, Kim. She is a “Proverbs 31” woman. She is the mother of my two daughters and is everything that I am not...and that’s a pretty good thing. She was the first editor of the manuscript. Kim taught 5th grade and proved that those of us in business—who think we are the most important part of society because we invent new products that help consumers spend more money and make companies more profit—are wrong. She helped shaped tomorrow’s citizens even as school budgets were cut and parents in two-income households abdicated their responsibilities to bring up good children. And she did so without coffee. Way to go, Sweetie. I love you.
I also extend thanks to Harold Taber, the director and spiritual center of the MBA mentor program at Biola University, in which business executives are paired with MBA students on a one-to-one basis. Harold founded the program and recruited me to be one of the mentors. It has been a rewarding experience, and in the process I found a wonderful mentor and friend. Thank you, Harold.
If you are thinking about getting your MBA and seek a Biblical-values-based institution, look no further than the Crowell School of Business at Biola University in La Mirada, California. Visit www.Biola.edu or call the dean, Dr. Larry Strand. You might even meet Harold.
My career has benefited from mentors who drove me to set higher standards and not accept mediocrity at key points in my life. One man stands out in a big way. H. C. “Chip” Graves IV didn’t give up on me or allow me to give up on myself during tough personal times in the late 1990’s. Thank you for everything, Chip.
This thank-you list would not be complete without a big nod to Ken Stockman, serial entrepreneur and founder of Dynamic Healthcare Systems. He and I have discussed our own careers and The Rat, the Race, and the Cage at length. We are both startup company guys who play bad golf, sometimes worse than others.
Finally, special thanks go to bestselling author James Scott Bell, a friend and spiritual brother. Jim showed me how to write a great book proposal and taught me the perils of the publishing industry.
Unfortunately, I am unable to personally thank my dad. He passed away in 1996 at the all-too-young age of 61, but he had more influence on this than I can describe. My brother, Matthew, my sister, Linda, and my mom will see more than a glimpse or two of “Big E” on the pages of this book. I am blessed with a great family and wish we lived closer together.
A final thank-you to everyone not mentioned who has encouraged or helped me along the way. I’m simply outta time and need to move along.
Best regards,
Thomas N.
Ellsworth
* * * * *
The goal of this book is for readers to use The Rat, the Race, and the Cage to guide their career decisions and achieve greater levels of job satisfaction and success in the process.
In a world of plagiarism and lies by authors, which have wrought scandals and caused pain to publishers, readers, and even Oprah, let me make a point from the outset. The Rat, the Race, and the Cage came to life after years of managing people and thinking about my own career decisionmaking processes. I created Garrison, the main character, and the story of how I helped him just for this book. It’s an approachable, entertaining example for the reader to see how to utilize The Rat, the Race, and the Cage.
While there may be some vague resemblance to actual people or companies, again, Garrison and his story are fictional. The true story of my development of The Rat, the Race, and the Cage is one of incremental steps that took place in my life over the course of many years.
* * * * *
Unless you have been in a coma for the last few years, you know the so-called “new economy” died a horrible, messy death. It was a veritable swan dive from the penthouse to the street. The old economy came back. Well, actually, it never left. It had just been ignored, to the peril of many people and businesses. Now our economy seems to be perpetually in an angry and unpredictable mood. This situation will likely not change for a while.
Corporate accounting scandals, layoffs, downsizing, outsourcing, expensive budget battles going on forever in Congress, a massive recession, and the pendulum swings in our elections have wrought sweeping changes upon every sector of the workforce. This new reality has forced millions of the employed and unemployed to rethink their career plans.
For the vast majority of people, a 25-year career with a single company culminating with the presentation of a gold watch (well, gold-plated) is not going to happen.
So, what is going to happen? According to leading career counselors, human resources (HR) experts, and labor analysts, most of us will make at least six significant job-change decisions between high school graduation and retirement. Furthermore, if the Social Security crisis and personal savings levels are any indication, most of us will be working until we are seventy...possibly longer.
With that in mind, is there a way to help you realize “Your Best Job Now” and make career the right decisions? I say there is!
In easy-to-understand terms, The Rat, the Race, and the Cage presents a way to analyze your job situation and build a “Personal Career Compass” with which to make better career decisions. I will present a simple model for understanding and organizing three components of your job: your function, the industry in which you work, and the company for whom you work.
First, we will analyze the function you perform every day. I call this “The Rat.” Next, we’ll explore the industry in which you work: “The Race.” Finally, we’ll take a look at the company for which you work: “The Cage.” After examining all three areas, we’ll plug it into The Rat, the Race, and the Cage model and analyze the results.
I’ll show you how to take those results and build your own Personal Career Compass. You’ll use it to find your direction with regard to the type of position, companies, and industries you pursue in the future. While you may be surprised by what the results say, you will be better prepared to optimize your future career path and job decisions. Change is not always easy. But small changes today will make a huge impact in the long run.
I have been discussing the concept of The Rat, the Race, and the Cage with various friends and colleagues over the past decade, and they encouraged me to promote the concept to a wider audience. Since you are reading this book, I obviously took their advice. I hope this book helps you to go for it and find job satisfaction and success.
* * * * *
“I am fed up with my job!”
I was listening to a friend as I sipped on a cup of coffee.
Garrison leaned back and flailed his arms. “I need to quit right now!”
I took a deep breath. “I hear you. Really, I do. But try to calm down so we can talk about it.”
He exhaled with a nervous chuckle, then sat back in his chair.
Garrison is a former employee of mine, a sharp marketing professional with a bright future. An affable guy, he never took life too seriously, well, except for his lovely wife, cute daughter, and the recently de-cursed Boston Red Sox. He is also serious about his work, and advancing within his chosen career is a priority. Whenever he considered a potential job change, he sought my opinion on it.
I smiled. “Tell me why you want to quit your job.” I braced myself for the inevitable flood of the same old tired reasons.
“My job stinks. Our company is being threatened by competitors. Nothing gets done due to bureaucracy. If I don’t get out of there soon, I think I’ll go nuts.”
I listened, looking as interested as possible, and said nice, supportive things, because that’s what friends and colleagues are supposed to do for those we care about. I really wanted to help him.
But to be honest, Garrison seems to have the same work issues arise again and again. He’s changed jobs twice during the last four years. Due to the relief of leaving the old job and the initial excitement of starting a new one, it typically takes a while for him to begin complaining. But, sooner or later, he starts griping about his new job and showing me his updated resume.
I asked Garrison what he liked about his current position.
“For the most part, it’s not too bad,” he admitted. “The product is fairly exciting. But I’d like to get to the next level. The opportunities, however, are severely limited.”
Next I asked how he felt about the industry he was in. He didn’t rave, but he was upbeat. “I recently went to Florida and visited my sister and her family for the holidays. They asked about my job. I really enjoyed telling them how the product I’m working on is impacting the industry.”
“Tell me more about the company you’re working for,” I prompted.
He sighed. “Last year we celebrated our three-year anniversary. But then we were acquired by a big corporation.” He shook his head. “They added our product to their line. At first, things went well enough. But we were soon treated like stepchildren, and it began to feel like we were moving in slow motion. With all the bureaucracy, decisions take forever.” He frowned. “The worst thing is the new management often pointedly reminds us who’s in charge. It’s irritating.”
I’d read about the acquisition in the local newspaper. On the surface it made a lot of sense. The economics were solid and the transaction was well received by analysts, investors, and others outside the company. Inside the company was a different story.
Garrison dropped his spoon into his half-empty cappuccino. “The guys at headquarters have no idea what’s really happening with our customers. We can’t respond to the market as quickly now. It’s silly. And sad! The position we carved in the market is what led them to acquire us in the first place, and now it’s slipping away.”
I wondered if Garrison was over dramatizing the situation. “There’s bound to be some adjustment whenever a change like this happens.”
He continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “The opportunities for advancement have disappeared too. We are in a hiring freeze and they’re talking about cutting jobs, which makes no sense to me. It’s sure not a very nice thank-you after three years of hard work.”
“Sounds like your exciting young company got swept into the rat race. I’m sorry.”
I encouraged Garrison to try to analyze the factors surrounding the acquisition. Of course there is dramatic change whenever one company buys another. But such tumult is usually temporary. And he could not control the decisions being made by the new management. I urged him to not allow this fact to cloud his thinking about the job he did each day. His three years with Upstart represented a time of professional growth and achievement. I told him he should be proud of what he had accomplished.