The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2013 53 it again. We are not cogs in a machine but drivers of the machine, and it is incumbent upon each employee to ensure to the extent possible that the actions of the organization are consistent with its values, which reflect the values of the country we represent. What was the impact of the dissent award on your career? Well, it certainly affirmed for me that I was working within an organization that valued my input, and welcomed var- ied perspectives. That is perhaps the single largest driver of morale, and the more that we can do to affirm that for our “[My dissent] certainly affirmed for me that I was working within an organization that valued my input, and welcomed varied perspectives.” –Dean Kaplan colleagues, the healthier and more value-aligned we will be as an organization. In hindsight, was dissenting the right choice? Yes, constructive dissent was without a doubt the right choice. I had to stand by my values, and the values I perceived in the larger organization, and try to drive policy in that direction. In my specific case, our policy was unintentionally inconsistent, but that kind of inconsistency can really under- mine our message. Moreover, it was a classic “ends justifying the mean” situation—and they don’t. How we do what we do is just as important as what we do, if not more so. Nevertheless, dissent never means undermin- ing the organization or the decision, even when it goes in what you perceive to be the wrong direction. n Dean Kaplan joined the Foreign Service in 2000 and has served in Abuja, Kathmandu, Jerusalem and in the State Department’s Of- fice of Global Criminal Justice. He is currently the deputy director in the Visa Office’s Office of Information Management and Liaison.