Organizational Culture/ Week of July 16

The Wilson Center’s organizational culture has excited and challenged me in more ways than one. Regarding attitudes and expectations at the Center, I am expected to work in an autonomous and self-disciplined manner. While my supervisor is extremely helpful in providing topical guidance, the general expectation at the think tank is that interns conduct self-directed research. This cultural norm is beneficial to the extent that it allows for flexibility, and therefore, creative research. At the same time, it is challenging because difficult (and often, new) topics are handed over to me. Resultingly, there is an element of unease that comes with not knowing whether I am adding meaningful value to the projects at hand. This is particularly true if I am unfamiliar with an assigned topic that I am expected to analyze. To take an example, one of my projects includes breaking down the geopolitical nature of India’s energy security. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the assignment, I had to learn a fair amount of natural sciences material (an area I have not studied since eighth grade) prior to engaging with the political nature of India’s energy mix (a topic I am more familiar with). Although challenging in the moment, this aspect of Wilson’s organizational culture has grown on me and pushed me to conduct work that I did not previously think I was capable of doing (namely, natural sciences).

In terms of communication, the pandemic has led to the Asia department coming up with interesting ways to keep the Wilson community relatively close-knit. For instance, group intern meetings and workshops are held over Zoom. Furthermore, besides email, a more informal WhatsApp group is available to chat or address minor issues or questions that arise during the week with other members of the team. The diverse (and seemingly interchangeable) modes of communication at the organization provide a layer of comfort and ease while communicating with esteemed scholars and colleagues my age. Moreover, the set-up has nurtured an environment whereby team members can speak freely about personal problems and assist one another at a moment’s notice. This has done wonders to keep members’ morale’s high during a pandemic. Similarly, by virtue of diverse communication options and quick team responses, Wilson’s organizational culture has bolstered my ability to take Jepson’s primary message, to think of “leadership” and “teamwork” synonymously and bring it to life every day at work.