I got into work and went immediately to the high school to get some counseling done. The month is ticking away and I have to get in my quota so I'm at least only partly drowning. I manage to see 5 students today. I actually think some of the sessions went quite well as for the quality of my focus. I really can't tell if I'm making an impact or not.
After 16 years of work in the area of mental health, I've come to take any little success as satisfying. If you're the type of person that likes to look back on the work day and say, "I did/made/accomplished X today" then you may want to consider a different field because you may find this type of work frustrating. There is no sense of finality or completion. It is an ongoing thing. If you are alright with that then you will probably be alright with this sort of work.
I go back to the office and start my next psychological report. I wrestle with some "layout" issues before I'm actually able to begin typing. It is during this time that I'm struck with the little instances of melancholy that I sometimes experience being the only male as my female coworkers talk amongst themselves. I assuage this by putting my earbuds in and listening to some geeky podcasts. The report writing carries me through to the end of the day.
Wednesday Recollection: I had a conversation with a coworker yesterday about our views of the workplace. She rails against the system for not being organized and more efficient. I tease her for holding to the concepts of rationality and logic and continually explain to her how much happier she'll be once she lets go of those concepts and accepts the irrationality and chaos of human organizations. We actually had a semi-serious conversation about it. Her viewpoint is admittedly altruistic and she feels that things need to be brought up to a level and that organization and efficiency and a system that makes sense is achievable. I believe that such a thing is possible if all the stakeholders in the system are willing to make the change and get behind it. That it needs to be a district wide change that is supported by the administration. I've seen too many "corporate" fad come along to have much faith in such change. The Covey trainings, TQI, what have you. When you see so many come and go, it is hard to be a believer.
Anyway, I pointed out to my coworker that a school district has an even harder time instituting such changes because, in a corporate setting, if people don't tow the line and follow the corporate philosophy, those people will either leave or be asked to leave. Tenure prevents this. Sure, the administration could make the employee miserable by moving them around the district but it has amazed me just how much misery school employees will tolerate because of the number of years they have in the district and the fact that they can't be easily fired. Hell, there are some that stopped caring when they got tenure 18 years ago. So I think that breeds a certain level of intellectual immobility that is not always found in a corporate organization.
This may sound bitter but I don't think I'm bitter. I think individuals are capable of great good but organizations end up creating situations where the people may keep the status quo because it provides them with something, whether it is comfort of knowing what to expect, or power, or other side benefits.
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