Play the Game

I watched an old nemesis scrounging for scraps of recognition from our manager in a meeting a couple of days ago. There was a brief moment where I felt like I was outside of an important loop, but then I realized that The Big Cheese and Mini-Cheese were chasing scraps. They were discussing a minor task that makes us feel important, but their little situation is nothing more than the minutiae that comes with getting a new product on the market. There are always issues that need resolution, but they have very little impact on the direction or success of the division.

Now that I no longer give a shit, it's easier for me accept that my group truly is nothing more than a support function. We're there to advance projects, that's it. We are expected to take care of these annoying little issues as they pop up with as little discussion and argument as possible. We merely execute plans and strategies put in place three or four levels up and over in the organization. Decisions, strategies, and the direction of the business are plotted elsewhere. Executing those plans, just pieces of those plans really, is what the leadership expects from my facility.

Rather than become more and more bitter as my group wastes its talent and resources on meaningless details, I'm going to play the game and take a formulations assignment. This is the quickest way for me to get out from under the mass of my large and largely insignificant group. I'll still be wasting my time on a copycat, me-too project, but this shift into a product design role is a necessary step to reach a position that will have the power and influence to reshape the perception and application of analytical labs and other technical aspects of the pharma business.

This is not the only step that I have in mind. This is merely the first of a three-pronged assault.