Updated April 25, 2023
Signs You’re Too Smart for Your Job
Smart for Your Job- Being smart is okay. But when you don’t know or realize you’re smarter than you think, that’s not good. In this article, we will try to see whether you are too smart for your job or not.
What would be the benefit of knowing you’re smarter than you think?
First, you can start your search for the job you need to be smarter. You would ask why you would do that. Is further growth possible if you don’t realize you are too smart in your career? If not, why stay to be doing the same thing day in and day out? Only for money? If only monetary benefits drive you, then chances are that you have yet to see the big picture of your career. We’re not here to criticize you; we want you to open your eyes and know who you are.
Secondly, if you know you’re smarter than you think, you will leave behind your complacent zone of safety and do something that will give you growth, expand your career, and suit your skills.
Thirdly, you would stop demeaning yourself for being better and be you without any shame or doubt. You don’t need to feel bad because you’re smarter. Rather find a job that aligns with your skill sets and expands your career in a better direction.
Some Signs
Let’s look at the signs that may help you finally accept who you are and help you make better decisions.
1. You feel bored every day
If you feel that every day you reach your office and when you get to work, you feel bored. There are two basic reasons for which you can feel so. One, you didn’t sleep well the previous night. Second, you find your work too easy. The first reason will only happen sometimes. But the second reason can. If the second reason keeps happening, figure out you’re too smart for the job or the task. You need something else. You can only do the same thing again and again for money. Being smart has its issues. Getting bored is one of them.
2. You finish your smart task too early
This is related to the previous one. If every day, whatever work gets assigned to you gets finished too quickly, you need to ponder. When your colleagues take hours to complete one task, you spend everything quickly! The remaining hours will be well-spent if you finish the assigned tasks quickly. Isn’t it something you should think about? If this scenario happens most of the time, you are smarter than you think. And most certainly you need to think about your job. You can always go to your boss and ask for more work, but if you do it every day, your boss will feel threatened about her position. Instead of doing that, figure out a way to use your intelligence in some other place. You can use your smartness and get a better job, or you can start your own consulting business to teach people how to get things done quicker!
3. You figure out things much quickly
You will certainly be in a team if you’re in a job. And if you see that you understand everything at one time, whereas your team members are taking hours to understand one simple thing, you should think about who you are. If it happens, you’re smarter in your team. Leadership guru Robin Sharma says, “If you’re smarter in a group, change the group.” Take his advice and do the same. If it’s possible to change the team, do that. Because you should always be associating with people who are smarter than you. If not, then your growth will stall, and you will not be able to fulfill whatever career goals and aspirations you have for yourself. Find a new group or find a new job. A whole world of opportunities awaits you.
4. No vision of the founder
What if, to your utter surprise, you realize you’re smarter than the company’s founder? The best option is to recognize that you’re too smart and find a new founder who is smarter than you. If you find that you’re smarter than your founder, don’t think it’s arrogance; maybe you know better than her or are smarter than who he is. If you find this scenario at your workplace, ask whether your founder has any vision for the future. She would say something vague and ambiguous. A better option is to leave the job and find something that aligns with your smart skills and intelligence.
5. You don’t see any growth in this job
This is big. The chances of you being smarter than your founder are rare. But the exception is always there. No matter what, the most common sign that you’re too smart for your job is to realize that you are not growing in your job anymore. Every day you come to the office, and you do the same position repeatedly. You ask your boss for better work, but no one listens to you. What would you do in this case? Find ways to improve your skills at your current job, even when the growth opportunities are bleak. That will give you some time to search for a new job. Once you get a job that fits your skills and will allow you to grow, be smart enough to grab the job. Don’t waste time thinking about whether or not you should let go of your current job. Remember, you’re getting decayed if you’re not growing in your career. Do you want that for your career?
6. The job doesn’t motivate you to be more than you are
Motivation comes from within in most cases. Author Daniel Pink gave a presentation proving that compensation can’t motivate workers anymore. You need something else. You need drive, passion, willingness to work, and growth opportunities. If you go to the job for the sake of money, you won’t be satisfied doing the job at all. And when that happens, realize you’re too smart for your job. Often smartness is defined as arrogance. But the smartness is not arrogance; it’s an ability to do things as fast as possible without allowing any room for error. Do you think professionals like speed, quick response, little or no errors, efficiency, knowledge, skill, and an ability to do things much faster than others? If you have all of these, you’re smarter than you think. You shouldn’t waste your smartness on something that doesn’t motivate you to be more, to help more, and to leave your mark on earth.
7. There’s no mentor around
To be smart, you need someone to guide you. And that someone should be smarter than you. Everyone needs a mentor to be what they want to be. But what if you find no one in your organization who can guide you to be your best self? What would you do then? You may only find someone better than you in your domain for two reasons. One, organizations need to hire more smart people. And that’s why you’re smarter than everybody. Second, the organization has yet to make plans for expansion or growth. It has become complacent with its present success, and all it is doing is a maintenance job, not a ‘growth job.’ How would you grow in an organization which doesn’t think about growth? Leave the organization or do something else within the same organization. Finding a mentor is important. But when you don’t see any in your organization, it’s time to think about who you are.
8. You see everyone around you has been doing the same job
In many IT and construction firms, you would see that people have been doing things for years. Still, they come to the office every day and keep on repeating the same old stuff again and again and again. Be aware if you see your boss and colleagues doing the same thing. If you’re new to this organization, you will soon fall into the trap of becoming “too comfortable”.They can’t do the same things again and again, every day, day in and day out. They need variety, they need growth, and they need something that will stir their grey matter. If not, they can only stay in the organization for a short time. Smarter you are, and new things you need every day. Realize that about yourself, which is the biggest sign that you’re too smart for your job.
9. No-one talks about solving any issue or a problem
Upon establishment of an organization, there is a reason. It sustains solving one or many problems. If it doesn’t solve any problem, the organization has no reason to exist. How would you know that the organization is no longer solving any problem? Look at its people. Are they solving any problems? Do they manage to solve any problems? Are they taking charge of changing some processes to improve the bottom line? If not, you better leave the organization and join a new one. Solving the problem is one of the best things to look for when you want to know whether your organization is growing. If the organization is growing, you will see that people within the organization are solving problems daily, and not only that, they also help others solve issues. If you don’t see any of it in your current job, leave the job and search for something else.
10. Profit is more important to the organization
Profit is the only measure of success was believed by traditional management gurus. But things have changed drastically. In today’s world, profit is not the only measure of success. An organization that measures its success only on the foundation of profit can only last for a short time. For example, if you see that any organization needs to be more focused on profits, the attrition rate will increase, people won’t be happy working there, and everything will soon fall apart. In that case, you won’t be able to say if you think differently. In that case, you’re not only smarter but also deserve a better workplace. Smartness is not in following what the management says; rather, it’s doing things in a manner that astounds even the direction of the organization.
11. No one is learning new things
Smart people don’t come out of the womb. They become smart by learning new things each day. But suppose you’re part of a team or an organization that needs to understand or focus on learning as its core focus. In that case, it’s better to leave the organization and join one which perceives learning as the company’s most important business. Peter Senge, the author of The Fifth Discipline, says that – Every organization should be a learning organization. If you’re not learning, you’re decaying. And if any organization doesn’t learn, but you are learning every day, there would be a different mismatch. And you can’t stay in an organization for a long time if your values and those of the organization are incompatible.
These are the 11 ways you would understand it’s time to let go of your current job and search for a new one. Moreover, if you realize that you’re too smart for your job, why stay? Yes, definitely. If there is room for you to find something else within the same organization which will allow you to grow and get associated with people who are smarter than you, you’re at your liberty to do so. But if not, don’t stay just for the sake of money. If you visit just for the money, then after a few years, you will realize that you’re not growing anymore; sadly, you have become one of those who keep on doing the same thing again and again, day in and day out.
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This is a guide to Signs You’re Too Smart for Your Job. Here we have discussed the basic concept with 11 signs which may help you finally decide to accept who you are and help make you better decisions. You may look at the following articles to learn more –
