Work/Life Balance and the Law of Unintended Consequences

You may be inclined to think this is just another rant from some grumpy Gen-X'er complaining about how unmotivated and lazy Millennials are. In reality, my experience with Millennials has been really positive overall.....the ones I've been around have been bright, focused, and learn fast. Hey, no matter what anyone says, every generation has lazy people, so I don't like to generalize, but, if I did generalize.......the one thing that seems different between now and "back in my day" is the concept of work/life balance among young professionals. I've actually been surprised by the importance placed on lower work week hours, little or no weekend work, and an unwillingness to alter personal plans for work emergencies in the twenty-something crowd. Hey, I get it. They call it work for a reason, and if you can get by with 8-5, Monday through Friday to free up more time to hang out with family and friends or go on vacations, there's logic in that. Today, the importance of work/life balance has been touted in magazine articles, self help books, etc, to the point it probably seems like an obvious thing to you, and in theory, I'm a big fan of the idea. I'd just like to offer up an alternate position that too much focus on the "life" part of "work/life"  early in your career can potentially have longer term impact, so bear with my lecturing for a few more paragraphs and we'll see if I can convince you I'm not just trying to get extra labor out of you.......

If you believe Malcolm Gladwell's proposition in his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success, it takes 10,000 hours of practice (or doing) to master anything. That's a widely disputed number, and if you listen to other people hawking other books, there are techniques to reduce that time significantly, but the fact is, even the "naturals" in sports, music, and business have worked harder than their peers to achieve the phenomenal results that leave us in awe. It's not all genetics. Why does that apply to my work/life balance discussion? The special machine industry is very experiential. Even with all of the vast knowledge you will gain reading my blog posts, there really isn't a substitute for being exposed to all the gadgets and techniques and trials and tribulations you will see in your daily work life. And yes, you would accumulate the same knowledge in ten years that you maybe could get in five or six if you throw yourself into work for an extra 10 hours a week or go on special assignments that involve long hours in crappy plants, so what's the rush since you're not retiring anytime soon anyway? Maybe I'm still not selling the idea to you just yet. But here's where the math comes in...........

Going on a ski vacation is fun. Spending Saturdays mountain biking is better than spending them designing brackets. Who doesn't want to leave at 5 and meet up at the local watering hole with your friends or go for a run to stay in shape when the sun is still out? You're (probably) a degreed engineer making some pretty good coin, so why not enjoy life while you're young and free? Well, the main reasons are that kids are expensive and retirement is something that isn't even crossing your mind right now, but it will someday, and you'll want it to be fun and carefree. Here is how your compensation will likely go in your career: initially, no matter if you work extra hours or not, in your first few years out of college, if you are bright, hard working, and have a positive attitude, you will probably get pretty decent raises on a percentage basis. You show potential, so they'll want to incentivize you to stay around. But, that will only take you so far. Into your mid twenties, solving problems, being the go-to person to get things done, and yes, being willing to go the extra mile when it comes to travel and hours worked will keep you on the plus side of the raise curve. And it will also start to get you put on "succession planning" lists for more meaty technical positions or management roles. Because, by your late 20's and early 30's, promotion is your surest way to keep getting raises that are higher than average.

The bottom line is that you are an investment to your company and your manager. If you are a top performer, you'll go later into your career before your raise becomes the company standard cost of living adjustment (referred to as COLA, and trust me, it happens to just about everyone). Mathematically, the idea is to be building that foundational salary so that when you do kick into COLA life, 3% is at least 3% of a larger number. Because if/when you do decide to have a family, that's when you really want a work/life balance so you can financially afford to be there for all those ball games and dance recitals and all the things parents complain about but really love.

That's my pitch. At least with the current shortage of engineers in the US, the days of managers demanding 60-70 hours a week are virtually over (I guess a change in the economy could change that, too), so if you think my argument is old school thinking that has no place in modern society, or if you don't plan on the traditional family life at some point, ignore all this and enjoy the beach. You likely won't see any direct repercussions for maintaining a work/life balance that a generation ago would have been unthinkable. But just remember, whether it's 10,000 hours or 6,000 hours or 4,000 hours to become an expert, the faster you get them in, the better positioned you will be for what your career throws at you, which means it may be worth forgoing happy hour nachos to lay under a machine and figure out why that slide is deflecting more than it should, even if you're not getting paid for those extra couple of hours.....it could pay off much bigger in the future if you've distinguished yourself from your peer group by knowing more sooner.