Why You’re Doing Everyone Else’s Job (And How It Creeps Up on You)

[00:15]
James: What are we talking about today, then?
Jimmy: Today we’re gonna talk about why capable managers gradually absorb work that just isn’t theirs, how it’s costing you and your teams, and how to break the cycle—without becoming that person, the unhelpful, negative one.

[00:35]
James: I have never been accused of accumulating work, mate.
Jimmy: No. But I bet you’ve looked at your to-do list and thought, Some of this actually isn’t mine.

[00:43]
James: Well, this is very true. That is very true.
Jimmy: You’ve got slides to present that don’t make sense, a tsunami of emails you didn’t ask for, project meetings you’ve been invited to—and somehow you’re the bottleneck.

[01:12]
James: Very true. And it just keeps going. If I look at my to-do list today, after this call, there’s an article I have to write for someone—only because I promised I would. It’s not something that’s gonna make a damn bit of difference to me at all.

[01:30]
Jimmy: So that’s what we’re gonna talk about: why good managers slowly become the most overworked person in an organisation. It’s incredibly hard to stop once it starts. James, apart from your current post-corporate life, when have you felt like you were accumulating work that wasn’t yours?

[01:51]
James: Interestingly, at this precise moment, I’m busy batting off work that isn’t mine. I’m involved with a nonprofit, and they’d love me to be more involved. There’s a part of the work that needs doing, and nobody’s putting their hand up for it. You can see the guys willing me to volunteer. But if I do, I won’t be able to do something else. It’s so easy to get sucked in.

[02:23]
Jimmy: Therein lies one of the problems, James—it’s easy to get sucked in. You feel good about it, but what does it stop you from doing?
James: Oh, true. And once you’re sucked in, it’s one thing doing something for someone, but stopping? That’s like renewing a commitment. It’s a bad thing to do. It’s like a ratchet—once you get in, it just ratchets up, a little bit more and a little bit more.

[02:53]
Jimmy: It becomes the norm. Your core role might be to run a team, but then you take on all this other stuff around the periphery, and all of a sudden, that’s not extra—that’s part of your job.
James: Yeah. Let me give you another example, a more tangible one.

[03:13]
Jimmy: Yeah.
James: At one point, I was responsible for capacity management for a large contact centre. Capacity management is closely linked to the finance budget—particularly for a call centre, because all your money goes on labour. The finance guys? They’re accountants. They don’t see it that way. They were faffing about with the budgeting process, and everyone in the operation was getting irate. So I stuck my hand up and said, Give it to me, I’ll sort it out. Budgeting’s just a process, right? We were providing 80% of the data anyway, so it made sense for me to run it. I did it for one year—bit of a pain in the arse, but we got it done. But the next year? Oh, James, you do that, don’t you?
Jimmy: Yeah.
James: Nothing to do with my flipping job. I’m not qualified to be an accountant. Budgeting’s nothing to do with me, but I put my hand up for it—and consequently, I was tarred with that brush until I left.

[04:22]
Jimmy: My example: once, the CEO asked me to run a project across their UK business. It was absolutely nothing to do with my core role. I felt good about it, but it turned out to be a thankless task. Nobody appreciated that I was going above and beyond, stepping outside my role, trying to help. All I got was months of absolute shit, trying to knit it all together.

[04:58]
James: Yeah.
Jimmy: Another example: in one organisation, I was running all the operations, tech, and data functions—stuff I’d done many times. But they had problems in marketing and brand. I was asked to look after those and help fix the problems. Took it on, gave the team support, and they fixed it. But there was no appreciation that I’d taken it on and sorted it out. That’s one of the problems—often, there’s a lack of appreciation for the efforts you do outside your core role.

[05:48]
James: Yeah. Another reason we take stuff on is when you feel the pain and nobody else is fixing it. Same organisation: I was doing capacity management, and one of the core systems fell over. It screwed us up endlessly, driving thousands of calls into the contact centre. Everyone was bitching at me: The forecasting’s wrong! The forecast wasn’t wrong—the flipping system had fallen over. So guess which muppet stuck his hand up to coordinate the effort to get it back up? I knew nothing about it. As far as I was concerned, it was a question of switching the damn thing off and on again. But it was causing me pain, so I stuck my hand up to fix it. It’s very easy to attract that type of work.

[06:52]
Jimmy: Yeah. But you do have that hero complex, don’t you? That plays into it.
James: Well, it plays to your ego. I remember vividly, about 15 years ago, one of the senior guys said to me, I always come to you, James, ‘cause you’re one of the heavy lifters. Oh, heavy lifter—that sounds good, doesn’t it?
Jimmy: He was taking the piss, James.
James: King-size smoke, but yeah, it plays to your ego. You just take stuff on and on and on.

[07:20]
Jimmy: But I think you often end up compensating for your boss’s inadequacies.
James: Oh, I remember this well.
Jimmy: Yeah. I used to surround myself with people who were very good at things I wasn’t. That meant I’d put a lot on their shoulders—whether it was analysts like you, James, or people good at writing decks. If there was stuff I wasn’t good at, I’d lean on others. To this day, my skills in PowerPoint and Excel are poor because I surrounded myself with people who were good at it.

[08:09]
James: It should be noted to anybody listening: I am the podcast help desk. Twenty minutes ago, I was showing Jimmy how to save bookmarks on his browser tab.
Jimmy: And what a difference it’s made.

[08:17]
Jimmy: So we’ve got lots of examples of where we’ve been guilty of taking on extra work outside our core roles—and some of the impacts, both positive and negative. But it does creep up on you.

[08:30]
James: Yeah. But there are a lot of patterns. The classic one—I’ll just do this. Like my budgeting process and your branding process. All of a sudden, because you’ve done it once, everyone expects you to do it forever. You’re standing there with your hand up, and everyone else is taking a step backwards.

[08:54]
Jimmy: Another pattern: performance punishment. You perform well, and automatically, all the work comes to you. It’s like when you were a kid, James—did you ever get asked to do the washing up, and you did it really badly in the hope you’d never get asked again?
James: Yes.
Jimmy: It’s the same thing. You do something really well, and they keep coming back. Whereas the person next to you, who does a shit job, never gets asked again.

[09:24]
James: Well, this comes back to my ego point. Because you think it’s good for you. But there’s also the question: What’s in it for me? I had a boss once who got a bigger job but no more money. He asked his boss, What’s in this for me? Where’s the money? And his boss said, Oh, there’s no money, but there’s a lot of extra scope. To which he replied, Yeah, but you can’t eat scope, can you?

[10:20]
Jimmy: And I think you often feel pressure from above. Sometimes you want to help your boss out. We’ve worked for bosses together and been happy to help because of what we got in return. But sometimes, you’re getting nothing in return, yet you still feel that upward pressure—that you’ve got to deal with the issues your boss has.

[10:44]
James: Yeah. Another pattern is almost learned behaviour from the people around you. They stop trying before coming to you. Chris—who’s probably listening—once said to me, I haven’t really done this properly, James, ‘cause I knew you’d tell me to do it differently after I showed it to you.
Jimmy: There’s a lesson for you: don’t be such a micromanaging prat.
James: Sometimes people won’t do the job because they know you’ll do it anyway. Another example: my sister-in-law. Whenever there’s a family problem, she picks it up, starts telling people what to do, and gets irate because we’re not doing it to her liking. So we all back away. And because we always back away, whenever there’s a next problem, she picks it up again. It’s a reinforcing loop.

[11:59]
Jimmy: Yes, there’s some good in it, but there are clearly patterns to it.
James: Oh, I’ve got another pattern. Do you ever get involved in a situation where everyone’s tossing a discussion around the meeting room, and you just think, For fuck’s sake, give it here?

[12:26]
Jimmy: Well, it’s the old saying: If you want something done, do it yourself. But there’s a definite danger to that.
James: Or people become reliant on you because they know James will always fix it.

[12:43]
Jimmy: It doesn’t always have a negative impact, but it can. It can bring you extra stress, frustration, annoyance, extra hours. But it can also unlock a variety of opportunities. It can make you feel important.
James: Yeah. And there’ve been a lot of jobs I’ve been given after putting my hand up for something else. So there’s a huge upside to it. It’s about intentionality—choosing the things that will help take you where you want to go, not just cherry-picking the easy stuff.

[13:41]
Jimmy: But it does have an impact on you, on your job. We’ve all worked with people who put all their focus on projects and neglect their core role. All of a sudden, you’re there to manage a team and deliver results—but your results are crap because you’re contributing to project meetings instead. It can limit others’ capability, their chances to learn. It encourages the wrong behaviour. But equally, when you’re seen as the reliable one, that can make you popular—in a superficial way.

[14:24]
James: It’s a mixed picture. It needs managing.
Jimmy: So if it has a mixed impact, James, why do you think it’s so hard to stop? Because it can be a bit like a drug—the extra work, the extra glory, the extra projects.
James: Well, I think a lot of it is emotional. It links to your self-identity. We want to be seen as the hero, the safe pair of hands. So from that perspective, it’s really difficult to stop because it plays to our own perception of self-worth.

[15:20]
Jimmy: It can give you a sense of control. You get invited onto projects because they’re going to impact your area. When you’re on those projects, it feels like you’ve got a say. It also avoids short-term pain. I’ll pick up this process, I’ll fix this problem, I’ll do this piece of work because others won’t, or it won’t be done well enough. In the short term, happy days. In the long term, it becomes part of your job—maybe not what you signed up for.
James: And it does protect your reputation. But nobody’s asking you to do these things. You’re sticking your hand up for them. So it makes you feel like you’re protecting your reputation.

[16:20]
Jimmy: And ultimately, you feel valued, helpful, important—things that are core to our DNA.
James: But the key question is: What am I afraid of? What will actually happen if I don’t step in?

[16:43]
Jimmy: Frequently, the answer is nothing. But let’s have a discussion about some of the ways you can think about this—some shifts you can make without becoming a completely different person and alienating everyone.

[16:57]
James: Yeah. The key one for me is just pausing. Before you pick something up, sit back and take the time to think rather than diving in with both feet.
Jimmy: Your initial gut reaction will always be to say yes, but the pause can help. Another thing: try to make some of the stuff visible. A lot of the extra work—the project meetings, the invisible tasks—often goes unnoticed until it causes a problem. Then you’re addicted, and they’re addicted, and it’s hard to get off. So try to make the work visible from the outset. Discuss who should be doing it, why it should sit with them.
James: Does it even need to be done at all?

[17:51]
Jimmy: Have those conversations. Do they need someone at every project meeting, or just a point of contact?
James: Another one for me is to resist the urge to rescue everything. When something comes to you, sit back and ask, What has been done so far? rather than saying, We need to do this. It’s almost like returning the problem to people.

[18:17]
Jimmy: Just on that rescue point—we love to be the rescuer, don’t we? It’s that hero complex. In the short term, it feels really good—a big hit of dopamine. But in the long term, it can absolutely wreck your performance.
James: Another thing: you think you’re being helpful, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Jimmy: It’s the old saying, isn’t it, James? Teach a man to fish. Rather than do the job for them, show them how to do it so next time, they can do it themselves. Or do you just keep doing it every year?

[19:14]
James: There’s an interesting point here. Helping could just as easily mean pissing people off. I’m sure, with hindsight, there were people in finance thinking, What the hell is he doing jumping up and down on our budgeting process? We should be doing that.
Jimmy: And in my example, where the CEO asked me to run a project across the UK, nobody wanted the project. By default, nobody wanted me. All I did was put myself in a position where I was making myself incredibly unpopular.

[19:57]
James: Think about the opportunity cost. If there’s a pile of something smelly and brown, nobody’s going to stop you from cleaning it up. They’ll all be very grateful. But that comes at an opportunity cost. What could you have been doing instead?
Jimmy: Every yes is a no to something else. And often, that no is: Are you focusing on your core role? Are you getting a great job out of the team or unit you’re responsible for?

[20:41]
James: Have you ever heard of this American business professor who talks about givers, takers, and matchers?
Jimmy: I’m intrigued, James, but I’m worried about the avenue you’re taking.
James: No, not like that. The theory is there are three types of people: givers (who always give their time and help), takers (who always take), and matchers (most of us—we match the behaviour we receive). If a giver gives to you, you’ll give back. If a taker takes from you, you’ll start taking too. The theory goes that in the short term, takers always win because they’re taking. But because most people are matchers, if you start taking, soon people will take from you. It’s a zero-sum or worse game. Givers run the risk of suffering if they’re always giving, but the trick is to be selective about where you help.

[22:32]
Jimmy: So in this example of getting overloaded, the givers are the people who just take on work, always saying yes. But the art is taking on work when the cost to you is low and the return is high.
James: For example, I love playing with numbers. I enjoy analysis. If someone’s got a problem with data, I’m happy to have a look because it’s easy for me, I’m good at it, and it’s valuable to them. Whereas if I stick my hand up to do a project that I can do but that sucks the life out of me—that’s not a good use of my time.

[23:27]
Jimmy: I’m glad you clarified that, James. When you started talking, I wasn’t sure where you were going.
James: I don’t wanna know what you were thinking.

[23:41]
Jimmy: Apart from how you tackle these issues practically, I think changing how you think about this is important. Otherwise, you just get in this cycle of I’m taking on work, I’m taking on work—and you take the burden yourself, get none of the credit, and your core role slips.
James: Yeah.

[24:06]
Jimmy: I think shifting that mindset is important—remembering that the job isn’t just to be the most useful person. It’s to build a team and an organisation around you that doesn’t need you.
James: Because if it needs you for everything, it’s gonna fail.

[24:29]
Jimmy: So shifting from I’m the core, I’m the hub, I’m the centre of everything to I’m here to make an environment that makes these people successful—that flips it.
James: Yeah.

[24:42]
Jimmy: Apart from changing how you think, just think about the balance. Are you being intentional about what you’re taking on? Are you focused on your core job? Are you getting value out of the extras? Are you getting the right level of support with your team without them becoming dependent on you?
James: Yeah. And what I’d say to build on that: What does good look like? Does good look like you doing everything, or does good look like you teaching other people to do it?

[25:27]
Jimmy: When I started my career, good looked like me being able to do everyone else’s jobs better than them.
James: Yeah.
Jimmy: Then I realised that wasn’t sustainable. Later, good looked like our ability to teach.
James: And with teams, the most powerful thing isn’t to say This is what you need to do or I will do this—it’s to say How can I help? Because often, people are all over it, and they don’t want your help.

[26:19]
Jimmy: On a similar vein, when you step back and let people get on with it, does the world actually fall apart? I remember when I was sent away on an exec course, and the team had to step up and be independent. When I came back, everyone was like, Don’t come back into my space now. We don’t need you to step back in.
James: I do remember. It was good.

[27:03]
Jimmy: So the fact is, stepping back, everyone did a better job than me breathing over their shoulders.
James: So go on, summarise the dangers of taking on too much work.
Jimmy: It happens to everyone, by stealth, from a place of good intentions. You wanna be helpful, you wanna be important. But often, it gets in the way of you, your team, or others delivering on their core role.

[27:32]
James: And just to pile in: we talked about intentionality. But being really clear in your mind about what your core role is and what’s important to you is key.
Jimmy: We’ve discussed practical changes and mindset shifts to help you manage it. But it’s all about being intentional and getting value out of work—not just always putting in and taking on new stuff.

[28:03]
James: Very good. Just one other point: if you send this to my sister-in-law, I am gonna fucking kill you.
Jimmy: I’ll send it to all your sister-in-laws, just to be on the safe side.
James: Make sure you get your bases covered.

[28:17]
Jimmy: So hopefully, this episode has resonated with you, given you some food for thought, maybe some ideas for how to manage your workload differently. And if you see anyone around you struggling with this, pass the podcast on to them.
James: Super. Speak to you later. Cheers now.

[28:36]
Speaker 2: We cover a whole host of topics on this podcast—
Speaker 3: From purpose to corporate jargon,
Speaker 2: But always focused on one thing: getting the job done well.
Speaker 3: Easier said than done.
Speaker 2: So if you’ve got unhappy customers or employees, bosses or regulators breathing down your neck—if your backlogs are out of control, your costs are spiralling, and that big IT transformation project just keeps failing to deliver—
Speaker 3: We can help.
Speaker 2: If you need to improve your performance, your team’s performance, or your organisation’s, get in touch at Jimmy@jobdonewell.com or James@jobdonewell.com.