| Most everyone's job, at pretty much every company, is to make life easier for their coworkers. Let's say you're asked to build a signup-with-facebook button. The task is not to build a signup-with-facebook button. The task is to make it easier for people to sign up. Presumably the signup-with-facebook button is a good way of doing that. At least some people in the company think it is. But the task isn't to get more signups either - it's to gain an audience - potential sources of revenue. Your company wants to gain the revenue because, well that's what companies do. Companies aren't people. Doesn't matter what the company wants. But your co-workers want to gain revenue because either it will make their work lives easier (less pressure. Possible promotions) or their personal lives easier (bonuses. Raises. More PTO. Less stress at work). The Facebook button was never the job. The job was to make your co-workers lives easier. If you keep your head in the weeds and view the sign up button as "the job" - you'll be surprised if you build it, it underperforms and you don't get recognition or rewards. But if you view "the job" as making lives easier for those around you - and optimize to do that well - then you'll be surprised much less often by the results of your work. Even if there are some surprises Higher powers might still make decisions that throw you under the bus. Though this is essentially outside of your control. Regardless of how good at your job you are. This has one exception - If you are at a non-profit organization full of selfless people. Then the actual job might be to make the biggest impact regardless of the well being of your coworkers |