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Achieving Strategic Underachievery |
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Written by Karen Woodward and MJ Daugherty
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Last week we introduced the concept of Strategic Underachievery, the art of not giving too much of ourselves to the corporate world. Some people who want to write/direct/design/whatever get jobs as waiters or baristas or dog walkers, and some get “day jobs” - jobs that we don’t care that much about, but pay the bills. While at these jobs, one must master the art of strategically underachieving: knowing how to avoid accidentally earning a promotion to a top executive position, yet still doing enough to keep from being fired and/or bored to the point of wanting to jump out the nearest window. It is harder than you might think.
In no particular order, we have put together some rules for Achieving Strategic Underachievery:
1. Head down. When people are talking about work that needs to be done, feign being so engrossed in whatever work you are currently doing that you can’t hear what people are talking about.
2. If Head Down isn’t an option, try Wait a Beat. When work is being doled out, wait a fraction of a second before volunteering your services. For example:
“Who wants to read this script?”
Wait a Beat.
Achiever: “I will!”
Strategic Underachiever: “I’ll give it a second read if you need one.”
Hence, you appear to be a team player, and yet have not committed yourself.
3. Let go of your ego. People often define themselves by their jobs, especially in Hollywood. If having a job title that will impress people at parties is important to you, strategic underachievery may not work for you. It can also be tough if you are the type of person who needs to prove that you are intelligent and capable, and can’t stand to be treated as if you aren’t. It can be a humbling experience, but if you can remember that you are more than your day job, and can look on it as a trade-off, you’ll be fine.
4. Fly under the radar. Be polite and professional to everyone. Stay out of office politics. Don’t say negative things about the higher-ups. Share just enough information about your personal life with your co-workers to be sociable. In short, keep a low profile.
5. Be discreet. Remember, you are not being paid to work on your own projects. Always get your day job-related tasks done before you work on your own projects in the office (assuming you are in an environment in which you can do that at all). If you have finished everything on your to-do list, filed every scrap of paper, and made sure that your boss doesn’t have anything else for you to do at the moment, most people won’t mind if you use the down-time to work on a personal project. But some people might mind. So be stealthy and use solid judgement. And, it goes without saying, be prepared to drop whatever you are doing immediately if your boss needs you for any reason.
6. Work like a ninja – swift, silent, and skillful. Note that there is a huge difference between being swift and being sloppy. That’s where the skillful part comes in. If, however, you can accomplish a task in five minutes that your boss expected would take fifteen, well, there’s no harm in not sharing that information. Not if you then use that extra time to get something else done, thus shaving ten minutes off of your to-do list. If you are able to efficiently accomplish the tasks that you are being paid to do during the day by prioritizing and planning a little bit, you’ll rarely be asked to stay late. And that means more personal time that you can spend on your own projects.
7. Find a day job that you actually like. Many people will take a job that they hate just because it will pay the bills. That’s a huge mistake. A soul sucking job is going to do just that, suck the soul right out of you, leaving you nothing to give to your outside projects. Unless your last name is Spielberg, you are likely going to be stuck playing this balancing act for a long time, probably for years. So why not make the best of it? Look for something that you find intellectually stimulating (or at least interesting enough that it won’t put you to sleep), and a good working environment with people who you don’t mind spending eight hours a day with. There’s another upside to doing something you like. If, God forbid, your creative endeavors don’t pan out in the long run, you’ll already have a back up career in the works.
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About the Editor
I spent (too) many years working as an assistant and am now familiar with every single job title in Hollywood. Despite what you’ve heard, I was a good assistant, well known for yelling at bosses, stealing food out of conference rooms, having long-winded conversations while on mute, and helping other assistants cover their asses. One screw up no one discovered was the time I set up a huge client meeting only to realize that I forgot to tell the client. I have a master’s degree in Media Studies from Syracuse University which is totally worthless, but useful in holding over people’s heads. In real life I'm a freelance writer covering television and new media, and a content writer/content manager at a company that creates and manages celebrity websites.
Despite my sarcasm and overall bad attitude, I'm a very nice person. Email me at
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