Realizing A Job Well Done

There are plenty of joys that people find in their everyday lives. Love and friendship, for instance. Or marriage, watching your child graduate. And don’t forget candy bars. Who doesn’t like eating a candy bar? No one – candy bars are inherently joyous.

But well near the top of that list of joys is the idea of a “job well done.” It’s one of the cornerstones of life, and essential when it comes to work. No one wants to do a job poorly, but it’s easy to fall prey to cutting corners and putting forth the bare bones effort necessary. That’s not a recipe for doing a job well.

This past week’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act was monumental. And I’m not interested in looking at the politics behind it, dissecting the science behind how the Justices voted, or its implications on this year’s election. I’m just interested in how, for me, it means a job well done.

Two years ago I found myself interning for a Senator’s office on Capitol Hill, answering phone call after phone call from angry California constituents. Many were mad about the bill, many were madly in support of it, and many were just flat out mad. It was a wild experience, and seeing the Supreme Court uphold the work I was tangentially a part of is gratifying. It tells me that all those phone calls I worked through, the people I helped understand bits of the legislation, all of that was a “job well done.”

Fast forward to today, and our Austin Office is seeing similar validation, another “job well done." We just completed supporting Freescale Semiconductor’s Technology Forum (FTF). I’m a youngling in this office, and with only two months under my belt I was juggling whatever support was necessary for me on a case-by-case basis. Getting to do that allowed me to witness how our Austin Office works, and the great job it does in its work. A few adjectives to describe my observations come to mind:

• Diligence, in terms of researching before reporter pitches
• Endurance, because putting on a successful event isn’t for the meek
• Persistence, as in the follow-ups conducted leading to sizeable amounts of quality coverage
• Consistency, in tracking and reporting of event coverage
• Level-headedness, as they all kept level heads and smiles amidst the stress a big event brings.

I’m not qualified to speak as to the specifics of what all was being worked on behind the scenes for FTF because, quite frankly, I’m still learning the ropes here. But I can recognize a “job well done” when I see it. Seems to be pretty standard operating procedure here at the LPP office in Austin.