Page 65 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

CHAPTER 8
I’m always thinking of alternatives. It’s in my personality. Maybe it’s because I’m left-handed? I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, but they say that left-handed people see things from a different perspective than the rest of the world.
When I was a kid, there were no left-handed scissors. Left-handed people were trying to use right-handed scissors to cut. Some teachers told me, “Don’t write with your left hand; write with your right hand.” It was a complete disaster.
When I went to school, I was behind everybody, and I was bullied to a certain extent. How did I get out of it? I used humour. It’s hard for people to beat you up if you have them laughing, you know? Sometimes, the humour was at my own expense, and I own that. But other times, it was just drawing attention off of me and onto something else that was humorous. If you look at the lives of many comedians, they had horrible childhoods. Humour was their escape for themselves, but also to influence the behaviour of people around them.
The biggest problem with the government is that it is always going through some kind of organizational schizophrenia. They want creative, visionary people who will take the initiative and innovate, but at the same time, you have some people who are content with how things are. They don’t appreciate change, and they don’t want somebody shaking up things.
The other thing is that the government attracts, unfortunately, are people who are in it for themselves. Growing up, I was taught by my parents to look at civil service as a service that you provide. It’s an honour to be a civil servant.
I finished Grade 12 in 1981. My first job was working in the hospital sector. I was dealing with supplies and medical equipment. I monitored supply usage and levels. For me, I there needed to be more creativity in the job. But I was always thinking and started to see ways the hospital could be more efficient.
Whenever I initiated something, the managers would say, “Wow, we didn’t ask you to do this, but we’re glad you did it.” I reduced costs and made things run more efficiently. Thankfully, I had a manager who was open to my ideas.
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