I was 21, 22 years old, working at an office in order to complete an assignment so I could finish my master's degree at University. I arrived at a department, that within 2 weeks after my arrival had to move from floor 2 to floor 1 and work together on the same floor with another department.
Mismatch
Those departments were not a great match: the department I was working in did research, which means: silence, hours of reading, note taking, not too many chats in between. The department with which we had to mingle was a more administrative department, which meant chatting, laughs, coffee, since most of the work could be done on a lower level of concentration.
I noticed no-one really was happy with the situation. 'My' department felt disturbed. The 'other' department felt we felt disturbed, but were the ones who had to limit something they were used to.
The Boss
I noticed another thing: the boss of that 'other' department felt very very important. He was often walking around his (8 people staff) floor, hands folded behind his back, head up high, looking serious, like his walking around was the most important thing he could do.
I wasn't used to working in a lot of offices yet, but I knew this: I didn't like how important this man felt he was. I don't necessarily fight against hierarchy as a whole, I just simply don't believe a person higher up the hierarchy is more important, has more worth, than a person lower in the hierarchy. If you work in a company, you simply all have a piece of the puzzle in your hands, only together the desired end-result will be achieved.
So I observed this man, I observed how the departments felt about working together, I observer my own role in this (as a temporary employee I could easily play the 'naive' card), and maybe more unconscious than something else decided to do something about it.
The decisive moment
I started with testing The Boss. Did he have some humour in him? And if yes, how far could I go?
My colleagues already knew my sharp remarks, and the fact I like to tease people a lot. Then, one day, The Boss stopped at my desk, clearly wanting to start a conversation with 'the new one'. The mistake he made was saying something that pressed too much on the point I'm not a believer in, namely affirming the hierarchy he (in my eyes) liked a bit too much: "When I was younger, the temporary employees would walk around and make everyone coffee and tea."
I didn't think long, and replied: "Well, feel free to be a good example!"
'My' department, I felt, literally held their breath. This was unheard of! This boss would explode! How did I dare doing this?
Instead, The boss looked at me with a glimmer in his eyes and replied: "Hmmm, well, what kind of tea do you like?"
And to the kitchen he went, to serve the temporary employee and the rest of 'my' and his department coffee and tea.
Superpower
Only months later I got feedback from one of the colleagues, who is now a dear friend of mine: "I couldn't believe you did that. But those few months you worked at our department made all the difference for how our departments would mix and become friendly." I even have a note on my official end report after finishing my assignment about how I was a huge influence on the atmosphere on the department and how my wit was a great gift.
I've done similar things in different companies throughout the years. I observe the chemistry between people, especially the upper layers versus the 'rest', try to break down the 'upper levels' a bit, make them more human, and then leave, knowing I have softened the hierarchies a bit.
I see this as my super power. How should I put this on my CV though? Which jobs do you think a person like me could do well? I wish there was a job called 'hierarchy softener'.
'Life is an anecdote' is my blockchain notebook with (hopefully) timeless little stories and observations from daily life. I used to write stories like these for years in Dutch, and am challenging myself to write similar short stories in English on Steemit.
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