ABSTRACT
My manager made clear to me more than once where I stood by saying, “have you checked the org chart lately?” My supervisor, who didn’t think that way automatically but who knew how to survive in that atmosphere, later said to me, “OK I know you might be thinking that this is a good idea and it’s out of the box but, we need you to get back in your box. Remember the org chart.” Later, at my second performance review, I asked what I could do to go from a 2 (on a 4-point scale) to a 3, because all of the “outside the box” initiatives I thought would get me there were getting shut down. I was told, “You can’t, and it’s not that simple.” I felt crushed and completely demotivated.
