I explore tensions between the dynamics observed during a shadowing experience in a clinic and a hospital and theories of power and organizations. Commenting on what the tensions reveal about “power at work” (in the dual sense of how power works and power in the workplace), I suggest that some of the most gratifying experiences of workplace collaboration for healthcare professionals may occur as a result of their having successfully navigated complex coalitions of hierarchies, teams and webs rather than dutifully (...) adhering to any single organizational structure. (shrink)