How the organisational culture changed me

It`s been 11 months since I`ve started my "institutional" job. And as August is a slow month at work, most people being on holiday, I`ve been mostly on my own - I`ve got my own mind back, so to speak. And I`ve been reading this amazing book called "Leading change" - I go to a seminar with the same name in September so I`ve decided to do my homework thoroughly.
So, slowly but surely, I came to realize that I`ve been changed during this 11 months. The organisational culture got me, in a very subtle and insidious way. It is true, this is by far the largest organisation I`ve been working in (with about 4000 people in Luxembourg only) and it is over 50 years old. So it had all the time and the manpower to develop a strong organisational culture. I am still amazed how fast it worked, I just did not see it coming. So what changed?

1. I stopped taking any risks, even smaller ones. The organisational culture is risk averse, so everytime I came with an idea that was different and which has not yet been tested, I was being told nicely that it is better to stick to the old proved ways. And after several months, with a baby at home and with a challenging family life, I just left my job take a place somewhere in the background.

2. I started taking longer to do a task. I appreciate now having weeks or even months to complete a task - I do not feel this makes me deliver better results, just gives me more space in terms of workload.

3. I started using e-mail as primary communication tool. I am still amazed when I look at my send items at the end of day (20 to 30 a day). No wonder I have so little time for "real" work. However, I am acutely aware that many things would be better solved by phone or face-to-face talk. When you just show up in someones office, the urgency of your demand gets a big boost.

4. I stopped writing.