Wow.
Three little letters to pretty much sum up week 1.
Is this organization wildly different from the many others I’ve
seen. Not really. There are new TLA’s to learn (Three Letter
Acronyms), but that wasn’t unexpected. I
can mostly translate this non-profit world into something my decidedly ‘for
profit’ brain can understand. But
largely, the struggles are similar, the patterns are familiar, and the people friendly,
welcoming, and eager to learn. Then
again, the devil is always in the details and there’s no way I am even close to
understanding those yet.
Oh, and the average age dropped by like 20 years. The answer I give most often when asked, "how
long have you been working" has the basic form of “longer than you’ve been alive”. But the 'age' thing is made only more amazing by what these (dare I say it?) youngsters have seen and done. They've made real differences in people's lives. Globally. Repeatedly. Yeah, that and they are wicked smart, too.
But the differences are a mix of amazing
and terrifying. On the amazing side, I
have never felt more welcomed. Everyone
seems to know why I’m here and who I am.
I don’t know what they've heard, but they are very excited
to have me join them. Perhaps I’ll improve my
admittedly horrible skills at putting faces and names together. (so far, nothing
suggests I will). The terrifying side of
this enthusiasm is the sky high expectations it comes with. Well, I always liked a challenge, and I have lots of friends, and plenty of scars, to draw on. Experience hopefully counts for something! Bring it on!
And how about “passionate” to describe just how everyone is
about the mission of the organization?
It doesn't matter their individual role. Of course there are lots of
opinions on how to accomplish their goals.
But Everyone is clear what the end goals are. That clarity drives them
in a wonderfully energetic way. If not always to the same solutions.
Still I have never in my long (longer than most have been alive) career
experienced an all hands business meeting where people were overwhelmed by
emotion over the stories of the impact of the agency on the people they
serve. It was humbling.
I do have to get used to a later starting time (not that most reasonable people start as early as I do). But that doesn’t slow them down and I need the extra time to keep up! I don’t
think anyone here knows how to go about their work in any way other than all in
and hyperspeed. Five days have felt like
five weeks. My head is spinning with all
the possibilities. I just wonder how to
get it all done. Where to start. How to make a difference. A year has never looked
shorter.
And then the little things:
- A group lunch to welcome me and help us get to know each other. It reminded me of the culture I grew up with.
- Taking the high speed commuter train rather than the usual (and generally unpleasant commuter flights). A teensy bit longer, but way more comfortable and half the price. Add in that I was connected and working comfortably the whole trip and it was better on every level. I’m pretty sure a family trip by train is in our future.
- An “all hands” meeting that really was intended for and attended by everyone in the agency. And for the first 30 minutes, everyone new, self included, was introduced and welcomed.
- Did I mention everyone is excited to get started on our continuous improvement journey? Cool.
Wow.
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