"I think it's fair to say that an important word is workarounds, Harry said before pausing.
Jack waited several seconds before responding. "What do you mean?"
"Like many large organizations, the North Carolina environmental agency is structured as an old-style bureaucracy. However, there are always workarounds to sidestep any bureaucratic barriers," he said with a tone of confidence before pausing again.
"The key is to get to know as many people as possible and to familiarize yourself with each individual's area of work and specific expertise. Also, it certainly helps to keep track of the scores and top stories for ACC football and basketball," he said before pausing and chuckling.
Jack made a mental note of this specific chuckle moment. He and Lori called it "Harry's chuckle patterns."
"I genuinely liked nearly all of the people that I interacted with in the agency. I would say one of the most interesting but challenging aspects of the job are the significant differences between the agency's Raleigh offices and its seven field offices scattered around the state. The resulting tensions and turf battles are striking."
Harry stopped to sip his coffee. After a minute of silence he suddenly started chuckling again.
Jack wondered if this was a chuckle related to Harry's previous comment or something else he was about to say. Jack waited quietly.
"I eventually started refering to the air permit office in Raleigh as the EIB Permit Network. Working in the various offices, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Fayetteville allowed me to learn that the EIB Network point-of-view is common among the middle-aged men working in the agency, as well as in the communities at large throughout North Carolina. I think this is important. It helps in understanding the feelings and perspective of the people we work with on a daily basis. Prior to working at North Carolina's environmental agency, I had not been aware of the prevalence of this viewpoint since I only listened to music stations while driving in my car."
Harry stopped to sip coffee again. As he put the cup back down on the table he chuckled again before continuing.
"Working for an environmental agency in a state like North Carolina we can easily be derided, mocked, and dismissed as environmental wackos or tree huggers."
Harry had faced some stereotyping challenges during his time in Louisiana in the 1980s, prior to the beginning of the EIB Network. While living and working in the midwest, Harry had always described his career as "working in environmental science and engineering." He learned quickly in Louisiana that being called an "environmentalist" was essentially a slur. In Louisiana, Harry was once called as an expert witness for an adjudicatory hearing involving a hazardous chemical spill in Baton Rouge. The first question the defense attorney asked Harry was, "are you an environmentalist?" Harry responded, "No." The defense attorney then agreed to accept Harry as an expert witness on hazardous chemical spills and releases.
Harry now had a question for Jack.
"What do think of the air permit workgroup meetings you have attended up in Raleigh?"
"They are interesting meetings. And as a newer employee, I am learning a lot."
Now it was Jack's turn to pause and sip coffee before continuing. However, Jack did not chuckle.
"The permit workgroup meetings in Raleigh involve a lot of showboating and unprofessional behavior. The meetings remind me of middle school."
Harry chuckled at this description of the permit office meetings. Jack waited quietly to hear Harry's response. Harry had worked as the Fayetteville office permits coordinator prior to Jack and attended many of those same meetings.
"That office reminded me of my 9th grade school cafeteria. Some of the boys were very immature, and they especially enjoyed mocking the girls and throwing food at them. I never saw anything quite so unprofessional during my years working in Louisiana and Michigan. Even the rough-and-tumble taxicab companies in Michigan were more professional than the air permit office in Raleigh. The office in Raleigh was an Enron-like, smartest guy in the room office culture," Harry said now shaking his head with a serious tone.
Harry explained that when he first began working in Raleigh in 1993 the agency's division of air quality permit office led by Director Aiden Klimek and Loren Butler had a respectful and professional office culture. But it did not stay that way. Eventually, the culture in the agency's division of air quality had changed significantly.
- - -
cast of characters
