Are You Really Pumping a Dry Well or Did You Find Your Purpose?

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023 (No comments yet)

Are You Really Pumping a Dry Well or Did You Find Your Purpose? – The Geek Professor

"I think you're pumping a dry well here..."
(Image used under Fair Use doctrine)

When the Brady Bunch 1995 movie came out, it was a snarky jab at the characters and stories of the famous 70's sitcom of the same name. Overall it was midly humorous and mostly forgettable to me with one exception: the house gag.

It's long been a joke online that father of six, Mike Brady, was supposed to be an architect and had designed the house they lived in, yet somehow there was only one bathroom for 9 people. Taking that gag further in the film, there were several points where Mr. Brady was pitching architectural designs to clients at work. Each time, the model on the table – regardless of the client's needs – was just his family home with a few gas pumps outside (for the series of gas stations), a menu board outside (burger restaurant), and so on. At one point, a frustrated client pulls the boss close and says, "I think you're pumping a dry well here".

In my recent experience being jobless in the worst market in decades, that gag has come to mind frequently. You see, as I reviewed nearly 20 years of professional experience, I noticed a pattern. Every role I've worked had deficiencies in onboarding, documentation, and cross-team collaboration. And in every role I've worked, I always applied myself to training, teaching, and process improvement – to the greatest degree I was allowed or could get away with. Education and awareness was my Mike Brady house; my "dry-well".

Stop pumping the well?

In the movie, Mike lucks out when a client loves the concept for a series of fitness centers (to his boss's utter bafflement), but this is real life and we're not going to find success by pitching the same concept over and over… or will we?

In strictly literal terms, architecting without any consideration for your client is foolish, but was that really the problem? Mike could have fought against his talents, his focus, his passion — or he could lean in and just find the right outlet. What if, instead of a dry well, what you found is your jam? Your anthem? Your life rhythm? Is it really something you should suppress? Could you even if you tried?

I'm not suggesting that anyone quit their job and live as a starving artist, but can you course-correct even just a little bit? Though I only managed to find one role in my career where I could express my purpose fully, no team resented that I tackled our outdated security tracking, improved our standard operating guides, or went out my way to investigated and addressed communications breakdowns between clients, other teams, and execs.

Obviously, not everyone's passions will lend themselves to their current roles the way mine tended to: fair enough. But does that mean there's nothing you can do?

Channel and focus!

Maybe you can't weave your purpose into your current role, but does it make sense not to tap into that font of power? How many times have you heard "work a job you love and you'll never "work" another day in your life". There's something to be said for mining veins of passion: you might work longer and harder than anyone else on that task, but it won't feel like it. When you find joy in music, teaching, doing, learning, showing, or whatever it is that you do, it doesn't drain you the way a "job" will.

If not your current job, can you do side projects? Something to flex that talent and help build it? Something that might eventually help you build a "side-gig"? Can you volunteer? Can you find any way to make your passion part of your life in a meaningful way? Because if you do, you build skills, experience, a portfolio, personal connections – all things that might lead you to future roles where your purpose is you MAIN role, and not some desperate side-effort.

I don't know what your life situation is; what your struggles are; your limitations – I would never presume to judge. All I'm saying is that if you can find your "Brady House" and lean into that passion instead of away, you may find success and joy you didn't realize were possible. At the least, isn't it worth putting some thought into?

Ask yourself:

What productive/useful/meaningful thing do I find myself constantly drawn to? In the quiet moments, when people leave me unsupervised, what do I find myself doing?
If that thing seems unproductive and useless, ask: is it really? Do you argue on Reddit? Where? How? Are you actually showing a talent for debate? For social media engagement? Something else?
How can I channel that energy and passion into something people might pay for? Not "quit my job and open a dojo" type, but maybe something you can start small. Not just for the purpose of caution, but in validating that this is something you really have a love of (and just a passing fascination).

This kind of introspection and investigation is not easy, but I believe 100% that it is worthwhile and – whether it actually leads you to better things or not – it will give you the strongest foundation possible for reaching for the future you want to see.