Of course, as you see the tone of the letter was after experiencing many failures of not been able to get ideas across by it being blocked by supervisors all the time or just that it was out of trend to break the rules of big bureaucracy.
Open letter to the Executive Director
“I feel that there are some imperfections in the way UNICEF works. A proposal for improving some aspects of the organization lists in an attached note. I am sending this proposal directly to you, otherwise my supervisor will block it for good or make improvements on it to polish it and refine it, which of course will offend me as my ideas tarnish and then appear not as my own. On the other hand, my ideas can also completely disappear and new ones planted as my supervisor's own, and my knowledge will forever remain unknown to your high office.”
It was very satisfying though, that in later years the late Jim Grant organized a suggestion scheme and I won first prize. Some of my experiences in making proposals have taken ugly turns. The worst when one supervisor tore up a proposal in front of me. He felt that his authority seemed challenged. In other words, the boss can think for the department, and it was not a right for any other. Another case was that I qualified for exclusion from a reorganization proposal because my grade was too low, but all my written proposals served as background material for discussion by others.
I post this because many of you may have or are having similar experiences and would yearn for a good dose of truth telling to get your career in perspective. The above letter was never sent out of course, for fear of reprisal.
Comments