DISCLAIMER: I recognize many countries have fallen victim to post-war minefields that have caused great harm to unsuspecting victims. This analogy is not meant to trivialize the great travesties, death and destruction cause by land mines.
I've been told navigating a new institution can be much like navigating a minefield. You must always know where you're walking and what you're stepping on. People have feelings. People have traditions that are, much like land mines, buried, unspoken, but still very, very active. There are three distinct approaches to navigating a new institution based on this analogy.
THE FIELD: Your institution!
THE MINES: Practices, traditions, processes and unspoken norms.
1. Run as fast as humanly possible through the minefield in hopes of not stepping on anything.
There's something great about being confident in who you are, what you do and your professional abilities. Confidence is key. Ideally, you were hired for a reason and within that you're trusted to navigate things. Relying on your abilities is in a great many ways essential. The problem with this is that too much confidence is like running through the minefield and hoping you don't step on anything. The reality is the faster you run, the more you rely only on yourself (and your past experience) the more reckless you become. It's never going to be like it was at your previous institution, nor should it be. It really pisses me off when professionals consistently refer to their previous institution in such a way that it's clear they're trying to recreate a past experience. We need to appreciate where we are and what we're doing in that place and in the moment.
2. Walk as slowly as humanly possible while balancing on individual feet in an effort to avoid stepping on anything.
The slower you walk the more you're forced to balance. The more you try to balance the faster you wear out. The faster you wear out the more likely you are to fall over. There's something fantastic about taking your time and getting a feel for where you're at. It is a responsible, measured approach to being at a new place. The problem is the more time you take, the more you balance, the less confident you appear and the more likely you are to end up falling on all the mines. Believe it or not you can move too slowly. You can take too much time. You can be too careful. You can ask too many questions.
3. Use a mine detector to chart out a path.
Knowing exactly where the mines are would be helpful, right? That's awesome. Theoretically your supervisor and team members should act as your mine detectors. Here's the problem - no detector is perfect and the mines look different to everyone. What's sacred to some is obnoxious to others. What's ideal to one person is a major hindrance to another. Relying on those around you to get a sense of where you're at is essential in some ways and can be an awesome way to get to know what others value. The downside is you're taking the word of someone else and you'll go insane trying to figure out what matters to everyone.
So what's the best way?
Well, real talk, there is no perfect way to navigate a new institution. You're going to make mistakes. You're going to piss people off. You're going to do great things. You're going to have successes. You're going to have failures. You're going to be a human being.
Being true to who you are and what you know to be best for students is what truly matters. Doing this with humility, while taking into account the culture and values of those around you, will always result in success.
Look forward next time to my rant on constantly talking about other institutions!
