Reply to Dinged for being "too smart" - how do I transition out of government?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I had a coworker like you.

She was smart and good at her job, but she wasn't the Second Coming.  It was clear she thought she was the greatest, and she had absolutely no respect for her coworkers.  In fact, she felt they were all lazy and stupid.

She got special treatment, partly because she made it seem like she would leave if she didn't.

Here's the thing:  She was INCREDIBLY difficult to work with.  She wanted to do everything on her own, didn't seek the input of others (even though that was part of her job), and on top of all of that, expected special treatment with regard to time off and flexibility.

I highly doubt you got "dinged for being too smart."  The problem is that you aren't smart enough to see that you got dinged for not working well with others, not doing a good job of building consensus, not communicating well or giving your coworkers a sense of inclusion.  These things are important skills in the workplace.

The way your post reads, it's very clear that you have a high opinion of yourself.  It also sounds like you want to do things on your own.

Your boss likes you and doesn't want to upset you, and that is why he is phrasing his criticism the way he is.

No matter how smart or how experienced a person is, you don't just start a job and jump to the head of the line when it comes to assignments.  [/quote]

Bingo! You nailed it. 
I'm also a Fed and can see this from her post. [/quote]

I'm also a fed, but a manager and both of you sound like catty, envious do-nothings.  I'd say you and your co-workers are probably stupid and lazy.  The problem with some people in government is they get used to a pretty low standard of work.  A lot of the time, they can't tell the difference between great work and poor work, because they're too stupid.  So they see someone else given so-called special treatment and get jealous.

I doubt the coworker you disliked so much was given special treatment just because she threatened to leave.  she probably orovided value that you could not recognize.  At least enough so that management was willing to keep her on.

The other thing about some people in government is they want everyone to be treated the same, regardless of who does the work.  Like e earlier poster mentioned, the ones who do no work want to be paid the same and treated the same as the ones who do the work of two people.  [/quote]

I hope you aren't a manager, because your attitude is horrible.

And no, I'm not lazy and stupid.  I'm actually a pretty high producer and do good work.  But I also understand that I have to work with other people.  My coworker did not understand that.

And she did threaten to leave -- when she was told that she would have to do something everyone was expected to help with.  She didn't produce more than other people or even higher quality work.  She did good work, but she didn't bring value beyond what others brought.  And in fact, she was less valuable than other employees because she flat out refused to do necessary routine work that everyone had to help with to get it done.

People were resentful, and with good reason -- not because they were stupid and lazy.

The biggest problem in government isn't, as people suggest, that people are stupid and lazy.  The biggest problem is actually poor management.  A lot of mid-level and even senior managers aren't really qualified to be managers, and so they don't know adequate management techniques.  The reason why many government workers are sensitive about bosses playing favorites is because that seems to be how people become the boss -- even when they don't really have good people skills or supervisory skills.  And there's very little recourse.

I don't think everyone should be treated the same.  But I do think that people have to be able to work together and in offices where staffing and budgets are tight, everyone has to be willing to pitch in -- even with the grunt work.

A lot of government work really depends on collaboration.  If people are unable to do that, then, yes, they should leave.  And if managers are unable to foster an environment where people work together, respect each other, and support each other, then they shouldn't be managers.[/quote]

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