They Don't Know What You Do

Kyra writes her Notes from the Cube . . .

It seems hardest when they don't really know what you do.

Yes, there is a "job description" that you fit in to - but does any job that isn't robotic "fit" perfectly?

I was hired to type reports. Within a month they discovered I can work with spreadsheets: set them up, create formulas, etc. Now, "typing" has more analysis and planning than keystrokes.

The problem is that they don't understand the underlying reasoning behind the spreadsheets - they only want the results. As a result, they still consider this part of "typing" and judge my work by output, not content.

Scarier still, they don't seem to understand how much I control their results: if I change the formula, the analysis reads differently - but because they don't understand the underlying reasoning, they don't follow through with a consistent above-and-visible reasoning.

"I want a Return On Investment worksheet" is the order.

"There are at least 3 different ROI formulas," I answer.

"Use the best one. Don't overcomplicate things: it's only typing."

Tap. Tap. tap.