Hierarchy

The last two years, I worked in the CHANGE Living Learning Community - a community that focused on non-positional leadership. We believed that everyone can be a leader, that leadership can happen in any part of an organization and that organizational structures should be as flat as possible. I spent countless hours trying to convince my residents, who were used to strict, hierarchical structures from high school student government and other organizations that they'd been in, that people don't need to hold a position, that there doesn't have to be a president and that we could actually work together more effectively in a group setting where everyone has a say and contributes what he/she is best at. It took a while, but eventually they caught on and started to appreciate and value non-positional leadership.

The Residence Life department I worked in was - while technically set-up pretty hierarchical - flat enough where I could walk into the Director's or Associate Director's Office and ask a question without stepping on anyone's toes or being sent away without an answer and being told to follow the chain of command. Most of the time, I'd go to my direct supervisor, but it was nice to know that I could go and ask a question to someone higher-up in the department - especially if it was something they were directly working with.

Not so much in my new job. I very quickly came to the rude awakening that having a flat organizational structure is a luxury and not the norm. When I have a question here, I'm expected to go to my direct supervisor first. Many times I get the answer, "I have to ask our director" and then the waiting starts. Did I mention that I'm not a patient person?
And if it's a bigger change or something involving money, I get to write a proposal first, send it to my supervisor, who will then forward it to our director. Yeah - proposal-writing - NOT my favorite thing to do. It just feels like such a waste of time. Our director's office is just down the hall - can't I just walk there and ask the question? We could talk about it; if he has any questions, I could answer them right then and there - and then he could either make a decision or think about it and get back to me later.

I tried to be patient. Maybe I just need to get used to this new system, I thought. I wrote proposals. I asked questions of my direct supervisor. I tried not to step on toes. But I'm not sure how much longer I can do this....

It just seems that this system is so much slower and more frustrating. I'm not sure how my messages are presented to our director, since I'm not part of those conversations. I don't know if my supervisor will be able to answer all questions, or whether or not she's going to argue and fight for what I want. And I'm starting to lose my patience with how long everything takes. A few weeks ago, I asked if I could use one of the guest apartments for a band that's coming down for a concert in a residence hall or if I could at least borrow some mattresses (I know we have a ton stored on campus). I really don't understand how that's a difficult questions. I get that I may not be able to use the guest apartment, since it'd have to be cleaned afterwards and all that. But what about the mattresses? They're just sitting there, in that storage room. I'd go pick them up myself and return them afterwards. No extra work for anyone. But when I asked my supervisor and suggested that I just go talk to our facilities manager, so he knows that the mattresses didn't just disappear (not that I really think he'd notice but I wanted to be upfront and honest), she said that it'd have to be approved by our director first. And of course she'll be the one to go and ask. Hmmm, yeah, that was three weeks ago.

Argh!!!!

Note to self: When I'm in a director position - or even just a little higher up in Residence Life - I'll do everything I can to create a relatively flat organizational structure based on the concept of non-positional leadership.