The First Step to Happiness: Don't Be a Basil Fawlty!

John Cleese once said that he based the character, Basil Fawlty, on a real hotelier he encountered who was totally unsuited to his occupation. He had a dislike of guests. He reacted to every request or enquiry as if it was an unnecessary and unwanted intrusion into his life. He seemed oblivious to the fact that his business existed in order to provide services to guests. He did not see that satisfied customers are what every business owner wants. Likewise, he had no patience for his staff. He failed to grasp that managing employees is an integral part of managing a business. In short, he was the last person who should be in the hotel business. He never seemed happy.

Many people are unhappy because they are in occupations for which they too are unsuited for one reason or another. The term 'a square peg in a round hole' sums up the situation. Happy people are usually people who enjoy what they do, even if the work generates a certain amount of stress at times.

How does it happen that so many people are unhappy in their work? Surely you would apply for a job only if you wanted it and you would be offered it only if you satisfied the organisation that you were suitable?

� Often you do not fully appreciate what a job entails until you are in it.

� Recruiters have to work on limited information and anyway they make mistakes like everyone.

� Jobs evolve with time, restructuring and technology.

On top of these factors, there is the Peter Principle. This states that people are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. You were an ideal assistant widget-maker but a hopeless chief widget-maker. I will resist the temptation to illustrate this with examples from the World of politics.

To understand this, it is important to recognise that a chief widget-maker does not spend much of his time making widgets. He supervises, organises and makes strategic decisions about the making of widgets. Many a good cook, mechanic, research scientist, teacher or engineer has been unhappy at becoming less hands-on after promotion. Some who have set up in self-employment have found that running a business required different skills from doing the central task.

What can you do about it, if you are in such an unhappy situation?

1. Change your job.

2. Learn new skills.

3. Analyse the content of the job and see if there are parts that suit you and parts that do not. When I worked in accountancy, I used to enjoy dealing with the big picture issues of financial management. I also enjoyed auditing, which involved investigating and problem-solving. What I did not enjoy was the minutiae of book-keeping.

4. Try to arrange your work to minimise the time spent on the less enjoyable parts. Perhaps a chat with your boss would help. If you are self-employed, outsourcing certain elements might be the answer.

Life is not all about work. Not for all of us. You may be surprised to find that the same issues apply to your family or social life. I have never been any good at ball games. I can neither throw nor catch, kick nor bat, with any accuracy. My father wasted a lot of time and effort trying to help me to overcome these 'deficiencies'. Fortunately, for both of us, he was not as obsessive as some parents and wanted me to be myself rather than a junior version of himself. Not all children are so lucky. Some continue into adulthood trying to be someone else to please parents, teachers, peers or whoever.

I love horses. Riding has given me a huge amount of happiness. Nobody ever tried to force me to ride. It was just in my nature. What is in yours?

This applies not only to work and sport. Some people try hard to socialise, when they much prefer a quiet night reading or watching TV. Others, particularly women, try very hard to deny that they are not family-people. They do not like children. They do not want to spend a lot of time playing with them. They feel guilty every time they opt out by leaving the kids with someone else.

What about Church? Here is a special application of all this for Christians. Read what St Paul says about spiritual gifts in Romans 12, I Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 4. Get it? Do not beat yourself up if you do not have all the gifts or any particular one. The lists are not defined as exhaustive. Use what you have. Be the person God made you to be. If your church does not accept or value you or your gift, find one that does.

In summary, if you are unhappy because things are not as you would like:

� The first thing to do is to change the situation.

� That may be easier said than done. So accept it. Admit to being who you are.

� Enjoy being yourself.

In case you were wondering, I enjoy writing.

JOHN HARVEY MURRAY
After studying Economics and Accountancy at Bristol University, John worked in accountancy and audit in several types of local authority prior to becoming Insurance Officer at St Helens Council where he achieved considerable savings in the cost of insurance and risk, which results compared favourably with those of other authorities, according to independent sources. This was achieved by improving claims-handling and risk management as well as by restructuring the insurance programme. John also made changes to the Council's insurance tendering process in order to obtain the best value for the money spent on premiums.

He is currently self-employed as JHM Risk Management Services, offering risk management and liability claims-handling services to businesses and other organisations, to enable owners and managers to save time and stress as well as money.
He writes and speaks on various topics and has published a historical novel under a pseudonym. He is currently working on a modern detective novel.

John is a member of the accountancy body CIPFA and is a Specialist Member of the Institute of Risk Managers.

Tel. 01925 445215
http://www.jhmriskmanagementservices.co.uk
http://www.johnharveymurray.co.uk



 By John Harvey Murray


Article Source: The First Step to Happiness: Don't Be a Basil Fawlty!