My first job as a government contractor was on a national help desk. The help desk consisted of twelve employees, and our mission was to support federal LAN Administrators “out in the field” located across the country. I solved problems on a daily basis and I can remember thinking to myself, “these people could not survive without us.” At that time, I honestly believed that our help desk was the most important of the IT chain.
After a year and a half, I left that help desk and moved out into the field to become one of the LAN Administrators I had previously supported. I rarely called the help desk for assistance. As a LAN Admin, I was the person that kept my office up and running. I only called the help desk when I needed equipment repaired or replaced, never for technical assistance. It was only then I realized that the position of LAN Administrator was really the most important part of our infrastructure.
A year and a half after THAT, I returned back to the help desk. I enjoyed being a LAN Adminsitrator, but the help desk job was closer to home. When started back with the help desk I saw things a different way. True, some LAN Administrators rarely called for assistance, but others called frequently. My duties on the help desk changed; I moved from taking entry level calls to directly supporting one of the largest programs we were responsible for. This program was used by every inspector and every office out in the field, and regardless of the technical knowledge of any LAN Adminsitrator, sooner or later they all needed assistance with this program. This program was mission critical, and I soon came to realize that I had been right the first time — THIS was the most important position to be in.
And so on and so forth.
During yesterday’s “New Employee Orientation” I visited several different branches and met several different managers. Many of them, some joking and some not, informed us that they were the central hub of this organization — that they were, in fact, the most imporant branch. Each one gave evidence to back up their claims. And to be fair, each one provides a very important service. From their view of the world, they probably are the most important.
This isn’t any great insight into humanity or anything (or maybe it is), simply an observation.
I haven’t decided yet if this means we are all less important or more important than we think we are.
Both.