(Excerpt from Be a star or a janitor by Yoni Rechtman)
You should always strive to do the work either 1) no one else can do or 2) no one else wants to do. Be a star or a janitor.
As a janitor, you should enthusiastically tackle the projects and tasks that are just miserable. Find what is going to be most painful and take it on with gusto. Shovel shit for your team and they’ll love you for making their lives easier. Do that and you’ll find yourself in the guts of the business, indispensable to your team whose gratitude you’ve earned through brute force. Along the way, you’ll learn much faster by getting into the messy process and mechanics than you would have otherwise.
As a star, you should seek out the work you are uniquely capable of or the opportunities where you have some comparative advantage. Take the initiative to do things that might not have otherwise happened and your team will value you for your unique contributions. Do well, and the leash will get longer until eventually those things you’re best at are your primary function.
The corollary here is to avoid (as best you can) anything that is “replacement level;” the hum-drum tasks that neither drive outsized value nor relieve disproportionate pain. This the mushy middle of “just doing your job.”