There is much I do not understand about the system here, but one thing I am learning is that every April a great "switch" occurs when workers from one governemtn office are moved into another office. My present supervisor at the Board of Education was previously employed doing something with the administration of recycling. Our big boss at the BOE is trained as an architect. Another boss here is trained as an archeologist specializing in Northern Pacific peoples. (He and I talked a little today and he will bring me some books about the Ainu peole, indigenous to the Japanese islands.)
It is difficult to imagine how these government employees are able to manage the learning curve that must accompany these switches, but everyone in the office seems very capable, and things in Japan somehow run efficiently. This system reminds me of the way the Benedictine monks at St. John`s Abbey switch jobs according to the needs of the community. It makes for extremely flexible, knowledgeble people with a strong sense of interconnectedness.
No comments:
Post a Comment