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ONE OF MY MOST enjoyable jobs was in training and development. This involved creating lesson plans and conducting classes for the insurance company where I worked.
One mantra in the training department was “define done.” When we ran a training program for another part of the company, our department manager would stress that we needed to find out the internal client’s definition of “done.” In other words, what would the client require or expect our department to deliver so that the client would be satisfied with our service? The client might be looking for us to, say, train 50 insurance underwriters across the country or to teach employees a method that reduces work errors.
The concept of “define done” is also useful if you’re getting ready to retire or thinking of leaving one job for another. Knowing what you expected from a job will help you to know when it’s time to move on. If this criterion isn’t identified, workers might later regret leaving a job because they feel they left certain things undone.
When I lost my job at age 64, I didn’t feel I was done with my career. I’d read how difficult it is for workers 60 or older to find work. This didn’t bother me much because I was used to hunting for a new job after losing my old one. These experiences were always difficult. But at age 64, my lack of fear gave me the courage to pursue my final job.
I’d researched how my Social Security benefit would be calculated and what earnings are used in the formula. With this information, I could decide what salary would increase my lifetime Social Security earnings. If my new annual salary was greater than that in my lowest earnings year, that low year would drop out of the calculation. This information gave me the framework I needed to negotiate my final salary. The only benefit I needed was a 401(k). I already had health insurance coverage through my wife’s job.
The upshot: My focus was getting a job offering an adequate salary, an acceptable commute and a good 401(k). One job met all three goals, but I was hesitant to accept the firm’s offer. I had applied for a different job at the same company 15 years earlier and didn’t get it, plus I didn’t like the reputation of the company’s CEO. Still, I took a chance and accepted the offer, and ended up staying until I was nearly 70, my desired retirement age. I consider 70 to be a good “done” age.
The company let me go three months before I turned 70, but thanks to the negotiated severance package, vacation pay, a Christmas bonus and profit sharing, I was able to hold off on beginning my Social Security benefit until I turned 70. I had met my goal, so I felt comfortable calling it a career.
My advice: Whatever you’re looking to do—perhaps volunteering, a full-time position or a part-time job—define what “done” means to you. If you don’t, there’s a risk you’ll overstay your welcome in your supervisor’s eyes or your own.
Willie Mays was a great baseball player. But in my opinion, he didn’t define his “done” and continued to play well beyond his days of greatness. Had he defined when it was time to retire, he could have walked out on top and felt satisfied with his career.
We all need to define our “done.” Otherwise, we could find ourselves giving up on a job too soon—or continuing to do something that no longer brings us the joy it once did.
I look at the Wille Mays analogy differently. These days, great players sign lucrative long-term contracts, and in baseball unlike the NFL, contracts are guaranteed. So if a player is injured or just no longer at the top of their game, they still get every dollar owed to them.
As a tenured professor who can’t be fired except on grounds of gross misconduct (which also, by the way, could void a baseball player’s contract), I get to stay as long as I want to and make the nice salary I’ve built over the years while climbing the ladder—whether or not I’m at the “top of my game” or as productive as I used to be.
Now, whether I SHOULD take my employer’s money in that way is a different question. There are baseball fans who think their team’s washed-up expensive player should retire and save their team money, too.
I’m guessing Willie stayed for money. He may have been making more in his last year than he made in his first 10 years in the league. When Willie started his career, ballplayers played for chicken feed. At the end he may have been making 100k/yr which is nothing today, but was meaningful then.
Willie and the Mick were bigger than life as a kid.
Enjoyed the article David. At first I thought you might be going for a “don’t quit until your done” message and was internally thinking “no need to stay longer than necessary.” You got there too, better stated than I just did.
Great read! One of my favorite projects I worked on in the plant was revamping our training program. I still enjoy training employees.
Now I want to check out a Willie Mays biography. I’m curious why he played as long as he did. I don’t subscribe to the belief an athlete should necessarily leave at the top. Like us older workers the aging athlete can contribute enormously on the bench, in practice and mentoring their last few years. They can often contribute and payback the game in a variety of ways more than they did in their “prime”.