With a sizzle and a flicker, the light above Lucas’s desk went dark.
“Great,” he muttered to himself. He sat back, looked around his cubicle, and caught sight of the time on his laptop. “Seven o’clock and here I am—again! I’d be sitting down to dinner with Sarah and the kids right now if I didn’t have to redo this report for one of my data analysts to submit to our new boss. No way around it, though. This thing has to be on his desk first thing in the morning, and I’ve got to make a good impression.” Lucas paused, then, “I’ve heard he can be a real pain when things aren’t perfect,” he whispered to nobody.
His mind started racing, running through the list of reasons he felt so anxious. First off, his job as a team lead of Customer Service Department analysts in this financial services megacorporation was no longer satisfying. “I’m tired of dealing with data all the time,” he thought, “and leading a group with no real authority can be frustrating. But this job does pay the bills.”
The worries mounted. Here he was at age thirty-six, with a mortgage on a house in a nice kid-friendly neighborhood. He had an awesome marriage and two great kids—a son in first grade and a daughter in third. But already he and Sarah were talking about how to save for their kids’ college tuition, though it would be five more years before his own student loans were paid off. It helped that Sarah had begun working part-time at a daycare center once the kids were in school. Lucas and Sarah had decided together, when they became parents with Emily, that Lucas would be the primary breadwinner, and now he was feeling the pressure of that decision.
Meanwhile, at work, two of the four people on his team just didn’t seem to get it when it came to writing reports. But Lucas didn’t have the authority to hire, fire, or discipline them, so he was always having to double- and triple-check their work. His new boss had a reputation for being a perfectionist and quick to fly into a rage.
“No wonder I’m so stressed,” Lucas said out loud, and he let out a huge sigh.
“Sorry to hear that, young man,” came a voice from the next cubicle.
Somewhat startled, Lucas said, “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else was here.”
“Just working my way down the corridor,” the custodian said, appearing at the entrance to Lucas’s office. Leaning against his cleaning cart, the man introduced himself. “Greetings. My name’s Ted. I’m new on this floor—used to work a few floors up. Now that Sally’s decided to retire and play with her grandkids, though, it’ll be me cleaning up around here nights. So if you generally work late like this, I guess you’ll be seeing more of me.”
Ted glanced up and noticed Lucas’s light was out. “Do you like working in semidarkness, or could you use some illumination? I know some people do see their computer screens better when it’s not so bright.”
“Oh, I could use some illumination, all right,” Lucas offered as he also gazed up at the darkened ceiling.
“Okay then, give me a couple minutes. I’ll head down to the supply closet and be back in a jiff,” Ted said with a smile.
“Don’t bother,” Lucas said. “I can finish this report at home tonight.”
“No bother at all, young fella,” Ted replied. “I see my job as maintaining an environment where you and your colleagues can do your best work. So I’m more than happy to help shed some light on things.” Ted smiled, with a sparkle and a wink, then turned and headed down the corridor.
Lucas smiled to himself. “Sure seems friendly,” he thought, “and sure doesn’t seem like any other janitor I’ve talked to before.” He turned his attention back to his computer and the report he was rewriting.
A few minutes later, Ted was back with a small ladder and a light bulb. “I can replace that bulb from the cubicle next door to yours,” he said.
The walls of Lucas’s module were only a few feet high, and in a moment, Ted’s head popped up over the partition as he reached to retrieve the burned-out bulb.
“I appreciate you taking the time to do that,” Lucas said. “I assumed someone would take care of it tomorrow. I didn’t know Sally was retiring. She was nice, but I don’t recall her saying much when I worked late. Have you worked here very long?”
Ted unscrewed the light bulb. “Oh, I’ve been here seven or eight years now, but I’ve been a custodian all my adult life. May sound strange, but I love my job. I like being of service in maintaining the work environment. If you don’t mind me asking, what has you working late this evening? Important project?”
Lucas sighed and told Ted about the report he was editing and the early-morning deadline. As the new bulb brightened, Lucas blinked and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I have to admit, it’s not the first time I’ve had to fix someone else’s work—not by a long shot.”
Ted listened with interest. Still holding the old bulb, he gave it an affirming wag. “Yep. Before you knew I was here, I believe you said something about being stressed.”
“That’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg,” said Lucas, surprised at his own candor.
“Yeah, I can imagine,” said Ted. “I’ve seen lots of different workplaces over the years, and it seems like folks are getting more and more stressed all the time. A few have told me their work is more complex than ever, and on top of that, they’re more uncertain about the future than they’ve ever been.”
“Nailed it,” said Lucas.
Ted came back around to the entrance to Lucas’s cubicle as he folded up his stepladder. “I feel fortunate that I’ve also had the pleasure to see a few places where people are truly excited about their work, where folks are creative and full of fire. There’s a whole different feeling about those places, I can tell you.”
Lucas sighed again. “That sounds so different from the aura that seems to prevail around here. I’d love to hear about those other workplaces!”
Ted nodded as he picked up Lucas’s trash can. “I worked at this one place that was really something. I was employed by this service that assigned me to a consulting company. Turned out I got the chance to have some interesting chats with the CEO. I even came to find out his ‘secret sauce’ for engaging the people who worked there. It was a marvel how resourceful and creative folks were at that company, even though—just like here—everyone seemed to be dealing with challenges and changes. Ended up it all came down to just a few important questions.”
Ted set down the empty trash can. “Well, nice talking with you. Don’t believe I got your name?”
“Oh! It’s Lucas. Hey, sometime I’d really like to hear what those questions are, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Not that I want to encourage you to work late, Lucas, but we can talk a bit more when I do see you again. Next time our paths cross, I’d be happy to take a few minutes to share what I’ve learned. I’ll tell you, those questions have made quite a difference for me over the past ten years.” Ted reached for the handle of his cart. “Maybe there’s a good reason I got transferred to this floor.”
With that, Ted began wheeling the bin down the corridor, humming softly to himself.
Lucas turned back to his computer. For the next half-hour he alternated between focusing on the editing he had to do and wondering what in the world those questions were. He clicked Save on the report and looked at the time. “Great! If I leave now, I can be home in time to tuck the kids in.”
Lucas packed up and put on his coat. He glanced up at the brand-new light overhead, smiled, and headed for the elevator.