• Hi, I’m Brad Abare

  I'm a make-it-happen guy working with big idea people. I design teams and orchestrate strategy so that great ideas I believe in get done.
  
  I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
  
  
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I’ve been on a book-reading binge with my Kindle! Next up, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (And Their Employees) by Patrick M. Lencioni. First things first, the title of this book is misleading. It appears the publisher—in all of their marketing wisdom—attempted to appeal to a mass audience of miserable workers. That may work for book sales, but it’s why I stayed away from reading it for so long. I don’t feel like my job is miserable so why did I need this book? Boy was I wrong.

Three Signs is really about how to help the teams that work for you have a fulfilling job and avoid the misery that often sets in with so many people in the workplace. The premise of the book is so simple you feel dumb for your delay in living out its wisdom. Somewhat empathetic to this, Lencioni affirms us with words from Samuel Johnson. “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.”

In typical Lencioni fashion, as he has done with his other books, Three Signs is a fable, so you’re soaking up the principles by learning and living them through a story. Simple. Genius.

Lencioni’s three signs are:

1. Anonymity: People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known.

2. Irrelevance: Everyone needs to know that their job matters to someone.

3. Immeasurement: Employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves.

The prescription to these three signs, in my own words that begin with the letter “m” so that I can remember, are:

1. Mingle
Getting to know your team on an individual personal basis is not just something to do when you’re waiting by the copier. It must be a part of everyday life. And not because some book said so, but because you genuinely care about the people you work with. If you don’t, quit attempting to lead or manage people.

2. Matter
Help each person on your team identify the people that care most about the work they do. For a waitress, it would be the restaurant customers. For the graphic designer, it would be the customer who buys their design work. These are not the end-result beneficiaries of the work, these are the immediate beneficiaries.

3. Measure
Identify the top 1-3 things that every person on the team can measure individually to know that they are succeeding in their job. For the waitress, it might be the amount of tips she receives and the number of compliments or smiles. For the graphic designer, it might be the amount of repeat business from the same customer or the number of compliments from the customer.

Mingle. Matter. Measure.

Excuse me, I’ve got a little work to do…

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