Don’t Let Your Workplace Become Like “Groundhog Day”

It’s Groundhog Day, and as such I’d like to write about something which I feel is appropriate – not furry creatures who see their shadows, however, but of the 1993 movie which I think speaks clearly to the heart of an oft-overlooked workplace issue.

From the moment I first saw Groundhog Day I loved it. For those not familiar, Bill Murray plays a cynical newsman who, inexplicably, keeps living the same day over and over again – Groundhog Day – in the sleepy town of Punxsutawney, PA. To me, the premise was so original and thought-provoking: what WOULD you do if the world was exactly the same every single day? If you knew exactly what would happen and when, if nothing every changed – except you? The film has been studied in college philosophy classes for just this reason – The New York Times called it one of the 10 best American movies ever made.

Another reason this movie is important to me is because, during my first job out of college, I felt like I was living it.

Being a motivated yet completely aimless recent grad, I took the first job I was offered – an entry level data analyst for a pharmaceutical company (not exactly the perfect fit for a creative guy who would eventually start his own professional trivia company in NYC). The work was exceedingly boring, the environment intensely structured, the corporate culture staid and conservative (I had to wear a tie, even though there were never any clients in the office).

Every day was exactly the same: show up at 9am, run my sales data reports, cross check them with yesterday’s reports, export to Excel, input into senior management report, 12pm lunch, 1pm run reports again, etc. Literally, the same actions day in, day out. I didn’t work in a team, just by myself – so I truly was in my own, repeating world.

Needless to say, I was not particularly happy or motivated, and did not approach my work with anything remotely close to what you’d call “enthusiasm.” Does your workplace have a similar feel to it? Do you get the sense that your employees are just going through the motions, dialing in their chores in a rote, passionless fashion – day in, day out?

Isn’t that just a little bit depressing?

This Groundhog Day, I encourage you to take a good look at your workplace, and see what changes you can make, if any, which would inject some life and variety into your staff’s daily work. While people certainly feel comfortable with routine, they will thrive if the environment lends itself to variety and change.