I once found myself working in education. I’d left a partnership of nearly 15 years and needed a fresh perspective and something to do while I waited for a non-compete to expire.
I learned a lot. In the course of my work there (4.5 years) I was entrusted with the admin of over 100 instructors (all I.T. Studies) across Texas but one of the biggest challenges was learning to work in a large organization w/ very different sized campuses.
This book was very helpful because it was (at the time) required reading for any officer in the Marines and is written in a very matter of fact way.
Here’s what I remember from it that hit me the hardest:
- Each branch competes for funding even though they are all “on the same side”.
- Each branch has wildly different cultures, sizes and capabilities so it’s very difficult to govern them in the exact same way.
- The Pentagon was created in the way that it is to easily facilitate face to face meetings from basically any office to any other office in about 10 min.
- Back channels are how things get done. They make no bones about the fact that the process makes progress difficult so they essentially teach that knowing someone is how you get things done. This is literally written in the book.
I learned a lot in education but at the end of the day I wasn’t meant for that style of work. That being said I have tremendous respect for the people that stick it out and do the work to help people from within those types of organizations.
If you want to learn more – go get the book.