Chapter 2:
Rob (the Rebel) is fighting the system
Rob looked at the time on the corner of his laptop screen: 10.15 am. Only fifteen minutes until the morning tea break. It couldn’t come soon enough. He hated these monthly three-hour executive team meetings.
When he had taken on the ED Regional Services role, to lead all the regional offices, he hadn’t been aware of the amount of corporate BS he would have to deal with directly. During his time as a regional director, he would delegate all the corporate stuff to his support staff so he could spend his time on the core business—the frontline work that actually helped the communities they served. Everything else seemed like fluff invented by head office people who didn’t really understand the frontline’s challenges and how things got done there.
When it came to the boring admin stuff, his motto was ‘seek forgiveness, not approval’. Granted, this would occasionally cause some tension with his boss Steve. But Steve was a champ—he knew Rob’s region was always outperforming others, so every time Rob had moved too fast for head office’s liking, Steve would somehow smooth things over with them.
Steve had been Rob’s mentor since Rob had joined the agency as a graduate. When Steve was recently promoted to Deputy CEO, Rob applied to Steve’s old ED role—partly to avoid reporting to some bureaucratic type, but also because Steve had convinced him he could use his frustration with corporate to cut red tape and make things better for the regions.
Six months in, it wasn’t exactly as he had expected. He couldn’t send a proxy to executive team meetings and his usual tactics of corporate avoidance—like going on ‘urgent’ site visits that conveniently clashed with head office briefings—weren’t acceptable. Steve had given him a ‘targeted phone call’ when he tried these.
He had also realised that only the first half of executive team meetings was dedicated to frontline matters, discussed after lengthy introductory formalities and information about things happening in ‘our strategic landscape’. He didn’t see how this would be helpful to his frontline workers who had to deal with the day-to-day realities of the core business.
***
Rob must have rolled his eyes at the thought of the phrase ‘strategic landscape’ because Steve shot him a stern look across the meeting table. Rob quickly averted his eyes to his screen, pretending to follow the paper being presented.
When he looked up, Claire from Corporate Services was asking the presenter about the ‘authorising environment’ and whether the regulatory issues ‘on the horizon’ had been considered. He almost groaned out loud, but cleared his throat quickly instead.
Nothing made him question his choice to apply for the ED role more than when Claire ‘contributed’ in these meetings. He had lots of secret nicknames for her: The Bureaucrat, Professor Claire, and, his favourite, The Control Freak.
He remembered her from his university days and she hadn’t changed a bit. She always had to be the smartest and most prepared in the room—a typical overachiever. She was also the quickest to obstruct any initiative, slow things down by suggesting they ‘go back to the drawing board’ or go down rabbit holes that didn’t seem to align with what the frontline was trying to achieve. She really needed to get the phrase ‘So what?’ tattooed on the back of her hand.
He nearly applauded when the CEO shut Claire down. Claire had been continuing with her line of questioning and the CEO politely cut her off, suggesting she take the discussion offline with the project team. Claire blushed and exchanged looks with her boss Sally, the COO. Rob almost felt sorry for her, then quickly pushed the thought aside remembering that Claire embodied the phrase ‘corporate BS’.
Steve was looking at him again—he must’ve been smiling too broadly at Claire’s ‘moment’ with the CEO. He checked the time: it was finally 10.30 am and the CEO was saying they were breaking for ‘a sharp fifteen minutes’ for morning tea.
Finally! he thought, then glanced at Steve to make sure he hadn’t accidentally said it out loud. Thankfully, Steve was already up and shuffling out of the boardroom with the others.
As they were taking their seats again fifteen minutes later, Rob was scrolling through email on his phone and his eyes landed on the message from HR from earlier that morning.
He shuffled in his seat, thinking of the crap he would have to sit through in that strategic skills course, but he knew he couldn’t get out of it. Steve had gently pointed out at their last catch-up that the CEO expected all directors to complete the course. It was clear to Rob that he wasn’t in either of their good books after recently ‘fast tracking’ a regional expansion initiative.
Steve had painstakingly secured some additional funding and Rob had been excited to maximise the opportunity, to prove himself as the change-maker in head office. The initiative was in a couple of the regions where their mandate overlapped with another agency, and his ‘streamlined approach’ had caught the attention of the CEO. He winced when he remembered his uncomfortable conversation about the matter with Steve.
***
A few weeks earlier, when Rob walked into Steve’s office, Steve greeted him with a nod, skipping the usual banter.
‘The CEO just spoke with me,’ Steve said. ‘She heard from another CEO that their agency wasn’t consulted on the recruitment and expansion underway in the regions.’ He paused. ‘It’s made her look bad and she’s not happy.’
Steve further explained what the CEO wanted to know: why there wasn’t more collaboration and what external comms were planned to build public trust. ‘The Minister may expect answers, too,’ he added.
Rob blinked. He wasn’t sure how to respond. He hadn’t stepped outside his delegations; he had been careful to colour inside the lines this time. Mostly, he wasn’t used to Steve’s disappointed tone.
‘Well, we did everything by the book…’ Rob tried.
Steve softened his tone. ‘Look, Rob, this isn’t just about compliance. Now that you’re an ED, your decisions carry more weight. And cutting corners, even when technically allowed, can cost us future opportunities. Also, if we work with the other agency, maybe we could pool resources and save money across the state.’
Rob nodded, though not convinced that diplomacy equalled efficiency.
‘And what about that software-related exemption you approved? Did you check with Corporate Services first?’ Steve asked.
Rob frowned and gave Steve a knowing look. He couldn’t help it—those people never seemed to approve anything fit for purpose.
Steve seemed to read his mind. ‘I know Corporate Services aren’t perfect, but that’s why you’re on the executive team—to change things. They’ve got suppliers on panel contracts to speed things up. At least ask. If the options don’t fit, give them feedback so they can improve.’
‘You know exemptions get flagged at Estimates hearings—the Opposition loves picking them apart,’ Steve said. ‘And if the software doesn’t integrate with other systems, we undermine the whole investment.’
Rob remained silent, processing. This wasn’t the usual pat on the back followed by a tidy paperwork fix.
Steve pressed on, listing what needed to happen: stall what he could, bring the other agency into recruitment panels, ask Comms to brief the Minister’s office. ‘And get the Digital team in Corporate Services to vet that supplier as soon as possible,’ he added. ‘Requesting a quote isn’t a commitment yet, so we’re not too late.’
Steve paused, giving him a pointed look. ‘Make sure everything’s watertight. The CEO will be watching.’
Rob’s instinct was to argue about delays, but he held his tongue. He could see Steve was disappointed, and that hit him the hardest. Steve had been a reference when Rob had applied for the ED role, and he wanted to prove himself worthy of his trust, not put Steve’s reputation on the line.
***
After his meeting with Steve, Rob returned to his office where he had to eat humble pie with Rachel, his director of operations and second-in-charge. Two weeks prior, Rachel had cautiously reminded him that while the initiative was exciting, moving as fast as he hoped might not be realistic. She had raised HR, procurement and digital processes he would need to follow. To her credit, she had also mentioned the potential issue with the other agency.
Rachel knew her stuff and he relied on her to take care of paperwork while he charged ahead with the important work. Rob appreciated Rachel’s pragmatism; she was great at trimming the corporate fat. But he hadn’t been sure why she had felt the need to raise these points with him. Couldn’t she just sort it? he had thought at the time.
When he met with Rachel after his conversation with Steve, his instinct was to blame the other agency and corporate for overreacting, to say they were all ‘getting their knickers in a knot’, but this time it didn’t feel right. Instead, he chose to be upfront. ‘Things have gone sideways, just like you predicted,’ he said. ‘We’re going to have to change tactics and take a more “collaborative” approach.’ He couldn’t resist the air quotes though.
Rachel nodded, visibly relieved with the shift in strategy. That made him feel worse; he hadn’t realised how uncomfortable his initial approach had made her. He had thought he was streamlining things, but in reality his shortcuts had created more work for her. And probably some stress, he winced at the thought.
After that meeting, he was determined to fix things—or at least appear more ED-like. More like Steve. Though Rob wasn’t sure if he could reach that level of sainthood.
***
Rob turned his attention back to the executive team meeting, with the memory of Steve’s disappointment still fresh. The CEO opened the second half of the discussion—it was time for the boring part, about corporate initiatives and policies.
He immediately tuned out and clicked on HR’s message about the strategic skills course, to see what kind of time commitment it would require. It was only a few short videos, some forms to fill out and chats with Steve and another colleague of his choice.
He wasn’t excited about the form-filling exercises, but he figured he could power through those and then work on other stuff while the videos played in the background. The chat with Steve would be fine. He just had to find a course partner.
As he vaguely heard someone present their division’s risk register in the meeting, he went through the list of the agency’s directors in his mind. Gene! he thought, and smiled, happy that he had identified his course partner. The presenter of the risk register smiled back, probably delighted by the thought that Rob had found her presentation engaging.
Rob quickly turned his gaze to his laptop.
Gene would be the perfect course partner—someone who wouldn’t be a stickler for process and who he could chat to over a pint.
Rob and Gene had been mates since university. Rob had grown up in a regional town and only lived in the state capital during his studies. Gene was born and bred in the capital, but had none of the aloofness Rob associated with those types. He was super smart and easy to get along with.
Gene was now director of a specialist policy area and was highly regarded across their jurisdiction for his expertise. He could be a bit disorganised, and Rob needed to follow up if he needed advice in writing, but Gene was well liked across both head office and the regions. He could explain a complex policy without making you feel like an idiot, and he was always very generous with his time and expertise.
He shot Gene a quick email before someone else snapped him up.
The risk register presenter wrapped up and then Quinn from the compliance team walked into the boardroom to present something. He knew Quinn from uni, too, so nodded at her, then let his mind drift to his afternoon tasks.
***
Rob felt exhausted after the executive team meeting, even though he had tuned out most of the conversation in the second half, nodding at certain points to at least seem engaged. Somehow tuning out was more tiring than actually paying attention.
Most of the other executives stayed back to pick over the ‘light lunch’ provided, but he decided to skip the small talk. He needed to go outside, away from the fluorescent lighting. He grabbed a sandwich from a nearby café and headed to the park to enjoy the sunshine.
When he found a free bench and took a seat, Gene’s response came through: ‘I’m in!’ Moments later, a text arrived on Rob’s personal phone: ‘Pub on Friday after work?’ There was also a beer emoji.
Rob smiled and responded: ‘Okay. Watch the videos. We can chat at the pub and get this out of the way. See you at Mac’s Bar at 5.30.’ He knew to specify Gene should watch the videos first, before he got absorbed in his expert-level distractions.
Rob took a bite out of his sandwich and returned to the email from HR. He clicked the link to the course and rolled his eyes at the thought of the corporate nonsense it would likely cover. Then he saw the title of the first video: ‘Are you the jerk in the office?’
This made him laugh out loud, so he decided to go ahead and watch the video. Might as well get it over and done with, he thought. How dumb can it be?