The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2012 51 AFSA NEWS Loose Change FCS VP VOICE | BY KEITH CURTIS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA FCS VP. I write this column at an uncertain moment in time— one week before the elec- tion, and with the proposed reorganization of FCS still hanging over us. And no doubt, even with the election decided as you read this, most of the major issues are still before us. This is one more reminder that part of the new normal is living with uncertainty. If anyone should do well in an age of uncertainty, it should be Foreign Service members. After all, we live a lifetime of constant change. But even for us, this has been a challenging year. We have wrestled with a proposed reorganization, dealt with repositioning, introduced and moved regionalization along, begun the transition to a new deputy under secretary, and dealt with all the usual uncertainties of new leader- ship, new posts and constant moves. I am reminded of the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” It is the last part that is the hardest. One of the refrains those of us in Wash- ington hear is that the world has changed and we have not. It is simply not true. We have regionalized the field; we have changed our ser- vices, our systems and Web sites; regularly reviewed our strategy and strategic state- ment; and, reorganized the International Trade Adminis- tration more than once (who remembers TD and IEP?). Hopefully, the careful approach of analyzing what our clients want and where we add value—championed by change-experienced leaders like Ken Hyatt—will have prevailed by the time you read this allowing us to concentrate on looking at the really effective and exciting things we could be doing. We could develop an effective way to allow people from the three ITA units to rotate or switch jobs. We could priori- tize the work of the agency and shift resources to trade promotion, where it should be. This would allow people who want to work in the field to do so. We could develop innovative cross teams and spend our time working on common metrics so that we could pull our oars together, but allow for different contri- butions and open sharing of successes. Or we could move a bunch of organizational boxes around. With the fiscal pressures still out there, regardless of who has won the election, we are headed for more change in government. FCS may well deal with much bigger ques- tions for our future: Is there a trade agency? Should we return to State? As we wrap up this year and head into the new one, let us be thankful that under Chuck and Tom’s able leader- ship we have implemented many new programs and, especially with Chuck’s foresight, assigned a team of leaders that can continue and grow the organization under these programs as well as under the new challenges ahead. I thank all of you in the field for dealing with these uncertainties while still doing a brilliant job of serving the client and getting the job done. n Dissent: Making a Difference BY KATHRYN KISER, 2010 W. AVERELL HARRIMAN AWARD WINNER I still remember the moment I decided to dissent. I'd just come back to my desk from the American Citizens Ser- vices window after confis- cating someone's passport based on a possible name hit—maybe the third time in two weeks I'd done that to a traveling American. See- ing I was upset, the consul general walked over, and I told her bluntly, "This isn't right; I'm thinking of writing a dissent cable." I didn't want to sit by while our policy put people in danger; I wanted to at least be able to say that I'd tried to fix things. One lesson I learned from the experience was that peo- ple are eager to help improve a flawed system once you clearly identify the problem and show you've given it due consideration. My front office and consul general treated the cable as something nec- essary and important—worth my time and theirs. The end product was the result of a lot of research and talking things through and making sure that my position was firmly grounded in fact. I'm still grateful to them. I honestly didn't know what to expect by way of Department response, so I was surprised by the detailed attention Washington gave the issue. They obviously couldn't change the law, but they offered to change the way clearances were handled, giving traveling Americans priority. After the award was announced, ACS officers from other posts wrote to me saying the policy had bothered them, too, and thanking me for raising it. Those emails were gratifying and humbling all at once. Winning the dissent award hasn't impacted my career positively or negatively in the least, which is exactly as it should be. I'm proud to work for an organization that honors constructive dissent and directs us to look for ways to make things better for the people around us and those who come after us. It's something I see happening in the State Department every day. n