Work politics and the S4

So my car is on the fritz. Anyone who knows me knows I love my car,...and cars in general. But when they act up, the love affair can quickly wane. I begin to eye other newer and more capable cars but then find myself quickly apologizing to the "S" promising to fix whatever ails her. Symptom: difficult to start, dies at stop signs, but only within the first 5 minutes of starting her up. Diagnosis: Battery? Good, Alternator? Good, Starter? Good, Intake plumbing? All 12 hoses look good, Clutch sensor? Good, Fuses? all in good order, and no error codes at all. So after talking with Stasis Engineering, the pre-eminent Audi tuners on the west coast, it looks as if I might have a sensor problem....the bottom line being it's flooding my engine. I'll be dropping her off sometime this week...I'm crossing my fingers it won't cost me a paycheck to fix.

This past week was much like the last. One thing to add, when you work within a system the size of the city I work for, you discover quite quickly that you need to develop a particular language. Let me elaborate; the city has some 11,000 employees with layer upon layer of management strata with separate departments in place to provide oversight to each level, and furthermore other agencies providing oversight to the oversighters, etc. etc. Nearly all the employees are strongly represented by various unions, with each department and subdepartment vying for expanded funding and generally looking out to justify it's existence. Though it's nearly impossible to get fired, it is quite easy to develop a bad rep...word travels quickly. Of the three other clinicians in my sub-unit (with a combined 70 some years of clinical experience as well as experience in this heavily stratified management heirarchy) 2 are quite adept at laying low, doing their job, and looking very good when the situation lends itself: ie. big staff meetings, case conferences. My other colleage, however, doesn't mind sticking his neck out....a trait not conducive to laying low in the service of surviving mass re-organization. The problem is, I feel quite the same way at times and ready and eager to transform this unit into "a shining beacon of clinical expertise".

So this language I'm talking about...it's about being able to point out errors in the system without either implicating yourself or your fellow employees...a very diplomatic language where no one is made to feel accountable..where you appear objective but not critical. Ultimately, it's all politics...and I'm not being completely cynical. It's rather a truism of any highly stratified system. So, I've decided to exert myself a bit more,...put this language I've learned to use...to provide the best possible service/treatment to our clients. In civil service, at least, it's quite easy to lose perspective on who you ultimately serve, especially when the truth is best heard, or tolerated, only after processed through some contrived political filter. Unfortunately, its the nature of the beast. I haven't yet been brought into some office up at headquarters to be reprimanded....so I'll continue my course.