Idiosyncrasy Credit in the Blink of an Eye!

  My conception of Idiosyncrasy Credit was centered on the idea that this credit was built up over an extended period of time, you had to do things traditionally for a while before you could veer from those traditions. This is largely because in other contexts, such as in financial cases, I’ve always associated the word credit with something that builds slowly. I struggled to think of a situation where someone could quickly earn enough Idiosyncrasy Credit to make changes within a short span. Thus, it came as a surprise to me, how quickly I both built and could exercise the freedom of Idiosyncrasy Credit at my internship.

         Part of my responsibility here is creating job manuals and serving as point person for the other staff to clarify what they are responsible for as staff members. So part of my job literally revolves around understanding, creating and following the rules. As part of this intense focus on the rules for University of Delaware’s Summer Housing Department, I hold an important role that directly challenges the notion that Idiosyncrasy credit is built over time. In my position, I have to be on constant alert about what rules are effective,  which are not and what can be done to change the rules that do not fit our structure. I not only have the power to exercise my Idiosyncrasy Credit, but rather a duty to do so. If the rules we are asking our staff to follow do not align with our mission, I have to assure we find a way to do things differently so we can function most efficiently. 

            The quick earning and utilization of Idiosyncrasy Credit in my internship has been both a blessing and a curse. The best part of this role is that rules and traditions that are outdated are constantly challenged. In addition, myself and my coworkers have a duty to be active voices of change to create policies that work better for our department. For example our system of receiving summer student mail did not allow for us to contact the people who got packages so the students were responsible for just checking in with our mail staff once in a while. After a week or so of receiving packages, the inability to reach students on the status of their packages started to become burdensome for both us and the summer students, who did not want to come over to our building just to be told they did not have a package. We knew we needed to find a way to send out notifications and although it was a bit complicated, we managed to log these temporary students into a computer system for mail. Thus, this example shows how the ability to quickly veer from traditional practices is helpful. On the other hand, the constant pressure to examine and change rules, can lend itself to a system where rules are not allowed to run their course because we are too quick to assume that something else could be better. 

      Overall, I think Idiosyncrasy Credit built over time does have value because it allows people to earn trust within an organization and to carefully reflect on what structures need the most attention. However, I wouldn’t change the quick buildup of Idiosyncrasy at my internship because it allows all staff to have a voice from the beginning and it allows me to constantly examine the policies in place and to challenge my department on what we can improve. The constant examination of rules and my responsibility to speak up based on the feedback I receive and what I witness is a built in accountability system from the ground-up, which office structures built on seniority do not have.