Turn and face the strange
NOTE: I wrote this almost two years ago as I was starting to wrap up my first year as a PIF but never published it (I went on to serve two years). Now seems like the right time to do so.
As my time in the fellowship after year one comes to a close, I’m inspired to write about my experience. I realize I was remiss in writing regularly but I’m going to chalk that up to starting grad school, back in January 2021. I knew it would keep me busy, I didn’t prepare for exactly how busy I’d be and ultimately, my regular thoughts on my time as a PIF became committed only to memory, an unfortunate lapse on my part. So in an effort to document the pieces I don’t want to lose, and to give some color and insight into the experience for others who may be considering joining, I present “A year in the life of a PIF.”
The tough stuff
[ASSUMPTION] OMG, this is GREAT! I love all of the challenges that lie ahead! I want to fix EVERYTHING in the federal government and I know that my experience in the start-up world has positioned me to be successful!
[REALITY] It’s hard as hell to be a small fish, a very tiny fish, in a very big pond. Things I thought I’d do didn’t materialize as imagined and instead, my patience was tested and ultimately, honed. I wanted to move just as fast in the government and I wrongly assumed that everyone around me would be OK with moving at the pace I’d set. I’m not above anyone else, and in some cases, I had to work hard, really hard, to earn trust. Career feds aren’t waiting for me to come in and “save them.” No, they’re perfectly capable of doing the work that needs to get done themselves. My goal had to shift to one of continued collaboration.
[ASSUMPTION] I’m going to network with everyone so I can lean on those connections at the end of the fellowship and generate multiple offers to go to a different agency (or move within mine) when my year is up.
[REALITY] Networking in the government is nothing like networking in the private sector. Just because you want to hobnob with the AG, doesn’t mean the AG has any interest in hobnobbing with you. Many of these folks are BUSY and a year in the live of COVID WFH means most have zoom fatigue. Even a warm intro doesn’t guarantee you a response and I had to learn to be OK with a lack of reply, even when I assumed folks would be excited to connect with me. The truth is, people have a myriad of reasons to do, or not do, something. And in the federal space, I’m told most jobs and promotions are granted through merit, not necessarily networking, so it would make sense that not everyone feels the need to “lean in.” And that’s OK.
[ASSUMPTION] I can definitely get X accomplished by the end of my term. I only have to do Y and that would only take a few weeks/months in the private sector. Plus I’ve done this work before so I know it well and I can easily execute on it.
[REALITY] Working in the federal government is like building a house. It takes 3x the amount of money and 2x the amount of time. Assuming that everything will be “on time and under budget” can and will, change at a moment’s notice. Often the holdups aren’t in the ideas or the strategy but in the execution. Getting consensus is a BIG deal and very few things are done without the help and sign off of others, often it can be many others, in many divisions, over a long period of time. When it happens, it requires patience, as mentioned above.
The good stuff
Even though the year was tough and I didn’t get to accomplish everything I initially wanted to do, the year has really given me some extraordinary lessons.
Lesson #1: Even the smallest thing, can have big impact, if you look close enough. On one of my projects, I was able to do some user testing with several persons with disabilities. One individual, who was blind, got stuck on a form field and he struggled to advance further in the process. We were able to fix the field so his screen reader would be able to continue more easily but one thing he said to me was “just because it’s 508 compliant doesn’t mean it’s a good experience.” As UX professionals, we spend so much time focusing on making great experiences, but sometimes we need to step back and make sure it’s at least a good experience. Creating a digital application, complete with plain language, beautiful layout and responsive screens does make for a great government experience, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of a good experience. That small change definitely made a big impact.
Lesson #2: Ideas are awesome but execution is everything. And in the federal government there are no shortage of ideas. Everyone has thoughts on improving the experience between the public and government but civic tech is rife with roadblocks to success. The key is to figure out ahead of time who needs to be involved, what the pathway to initial success looks like and who will own it and ultimately be responsible for pushing it forward. Another PIF brilliantly said to me “In the government, either everyone is on a project or no one’s on a project. Find the projects with no one on them and own those.”
Lesson #3: The people who work in the government are some of the most dedicated, hard-working people you’ll ever encounter. There’s long been a sentiment among some people (like certain family members of mine) who think that the government is full of lazy people looking for easy paychecks. I can tell you after years of working in the private sector that there are far more “lazy people looking for easy paychecks” in behemoth companies than there are in government. Government folks are like teachers, they do it because they want to make a difference. And this feeling is contagious. After my 2 years as a PIF, I have completely pivoted in my career and in my academic life to one of wanting to give back. I cannot imagine not being in a role to support the needs of the government and the citizens it serves.
Long story short, I only wish I had done even more in my time as a PIF but I can tell you the experience changed my life. We have so few opportunities to do that later in our career so if you have the chance to work in the public sector, I say take it. I can guarantee you, it will change your life too.
