The Humility of Being a Newbie

If you ever want to feel humbled and a bit helpless, change jobs.  No, let’s make that more complicated – change jobs, change companies and move to another city.  That’s how I’m feeling as I start my second week at Mayo Clinic. Very, very humble.

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One month ago, I was a busy and productive employee of Hazelden. If I needed something, I knew where to go or who to ask. I could speak at meetings and feel confident that what I was saying was pertinent to the situation and perhaps provide a solution. If a meeting was scheduled, I knew how to get to the meeting room.

Not feeling very confident right now.  Thankfully, the majority of my meetings are in the department, so I just have to walk down the hall.

 It only took me two days to work up the courage to tackle the voice mail set-up. The system at Hazelden was so complicated that painful memories were blocking my progress. I’m happy to report that Mayo Clinic’s voice mail system is much easier once you tap into the knowledge of two or three members of the administrative support team. Then have another staff member point out that you have to turn off your “Send Calls” in order to receive calls.  I haven’t actually received a call on my phone yet, but I think eventually someone will dial my number by mistake. 

 

On a purely materialistic level, I’m adjusting to not being the geekiest person in the department and that means I don’t have the coolest computer set-up. I know, I know… that’s not important and it’s not that big of deal, but I’m pretty sure the computer I have right now is steam-powered since it takes forever to pull up a document. I am comforted by the knowledge that it’s scheduled to be replaced in the coming month. 

And I do miss my dual 22” flat-panel LCD monitors. Do you think that risk eye strain from a mere 15” monitor?