- A task performed by a specific individual or group in exchange for compensation.
- A protected job, project, program etc.
Reaching back a decade or so I remembered an episode that taught me about our tendency to defend our turf and our “rice bowls.”
When I was Chief Medical Officer earlier in my career, I received a late evening email from my CEO while I was away on a business trip. The message informed me that the discharge nurses who were busily working under “my” section of “Health, Plans and Operations” were going to be moved to a new discharge management cell that would be run under the Chief Nursing Officer. The cryptic part of the message was that they were to be combined with the Department of Hospital Social Work, to be run under the office of the Chief Nursing Officer. I replied by email that I was a bit confused.
“Did you mean to imply that you were moving social work as well?” Social work was a department that had been aligned under the Chief Medical Officer – “my job” – for decades. It seemed odd that my Boss would realign a whole department without even mentioning it to me.
I learned by email the next morning that was exactly what she meant.
My first response was visceral. This was a personal affront! To have one of my subordinate departments removed from me span of control without even letting me know ahead of time. Disrespect! The CEO and my peer to whom my subordinates were transferred must have had no regard for me and for my position.
Someone had reached into my rice bowl and extracted rice without the decency of even letting me know!
Moments later I realized I was being ridiculous.
First, I knew my Boss and my colleague. They were no more interested in affronting or insulting me than I would be them. Even if they hadn’t thought of it, how justified would my outrage be without even considering and understanding the circumstances? In terms of “extracted rice” it was not as though I had any shortage. The traditional organization of our hospital placed all clinical activities except nursing under the leadership of the Chief Medical Officer.
No, the problem with this rice bowl was not the rice.
It was much more the idea of someone else reaching into my bowl.
I had reacted to the thought that someone else would reach over and violate the boundaries of my rice bowl, especially without even the decency of asking me first.
What was the cure for this flood of inane emotions? First, I had to choose to give people I trusted the benefit of the doubt they had earned through our relationship together. I also had to remember that my Boss and colleague were in fact acting consistently with the way I knew that they always acted. They were working on organizational improvement, efficiency and improved patient care.
Perhaps “forgiveness” is too strong a word for the response I needed. They did not mean to insult me. However, if I felt insulted I could certainly forgive them the unintentional affront. It might justify a conversation in the future to avoid this misunderstanding. But she was my boss, after all.
Finally I had to accept a willingness to share the rice as well as the access to my rice bowl. I know that I didn’t have the opportunity to talk about this ahead of time but for the life of me I could not think of any particular reason why it was a bad idea. The difference between “dialogue” and “discussion” is that with dialogue I am willing to consider the possibility that my preconceived notions are wrong. In discussion my intent is to convince you of the error of your ways. I had to approach this decision with the willingness for dialogue and not necessarily the effort to persuade.
There is plenty of rice and work to share. Feel free.
You might just let me know when you would like to reach over toward my rice bowl – if only so that I don’t bump your hand with my own.
Chuck Callahan Henry V 4.3 – Lead from the Front https://henryv43.wordpress.com/
Henry V 4.3 
Colleagues – very sorry for the delay between posts. Thanks for hanging in there with me! New home, new location/environment, new boss have all kept us busy. Lots of observations coming in now and hope for more soon. /chuck
“Forgive them for they know not what they do”. Perhaps distractions of ego, ignorance and self-importance by the CEOs blinded them to awareness of rice-bowls, duty-of-care, accountability, and interdependent team communication. The human condition of working with such CEOs is annoying at best, regardless of their age, education, rank, and equity. Systemic Dysfunction permitted by incompetent CEOs destroys people.
A lot of wisdom here!
I appreciate that you highlight the importance of trust. Just finished reading the book Say Anything by a West Point grad and a University professor. The concept of ALWAYS assuming positive intent is what is going to change the culture. Very powerful idea for me personally. It is so easy to have a negative inference ladder. However, I am curious about the need for realigning people/departments. In my current organization we have Family Medicine services both outpatient and inpatient (with most physicians doing both but one hospitalist who alternates week on/week off). Someone in the special staff made the comment that our “hospitalist service” should fall under the Deputy for Inpatient Services and not the Deputy for Medical Services (read as outpatient/non-surgical). In a GME setting this initially seemed a bridge too far. How do you take a core faculty member, with GME responsibilities and remove them from the department and have them accountable to a completely different chain of responsibility. How do we create an organizational chart that makes sense? Or are having organizational charts a thing of the past? Does it help our employees to understand where exactly they fit or is it too rigid? I love reading your posts! They help challenge my thoughts of status quo!! Thank you.