I was observing a workshop in Edmonton last week. We were asked to reflect on the question: what is your work? Not what is your job? It was a question that inspired very good reflection and conversation.
Very quickly people were able to think about how they did their job, and what part of their job they were most passionate about. It allowed us to get to know the individual far beyond their title and role – which is how most of us tend to introduce ourselves.
It was a very powerful introduction to each other.
My answer?
I am a sense-maker. I deal with complex situations and problems that somewhere have people involved in them. I look at the problems from many angles and through the lens of many different disciplines and then explore the seams of knowledge between the disciplines to make sense of the problem.
But this is far to esoteric. I like the question, but I don’t yet like my answer.
Stormy Lake Consulting 
Dear Sense-Maker,
Can one make sense of bureaucracy? While having the opportunity to look deeply into government and seeing the load imposed on existing to fulfill a purpose by the those propose to fulfill it, I could not help but wonder at the benign complacency that was consuming all attempts at thwart it. This begged my to ask the question before I too am digested by the seamingly insatiable bureaucracidity…
Many times, admittedly not all times, I have found a couple of things get in the way. The pressures of process in a bureaucracy beat any innovative thinking out of the people. And they are solving completely different problems than you are. Even if they see your point, they cannot do anything about it – until you get to the executive level.
Surprisingly, many of the bureaucrats are as frustrated as you are. Not all of them show it.