Studying Your Organization

In the summer of 1986, I was the third car at a stop light. When the light turned green neither of the cars in front of me moved, but the car behind me plowed ahead – right into me. The next morning, I learned what whiplash really was as well as the purpose of every muscle in my neck and upper back. That’s why I was stretched out on the couch early on Friday evening lying on a soft icepack as the chiropractor advised. I rolled off the couch to answer the phone in my bedroom to a voice saying,

“Hello, this is John R. from UT Austin. I’m calling about your application for the Assistant Dean of Students position. Do you have time to talk?”

Oh, we handled things so differently then. I had time so we talked. No preparation, me in my t-shirt and shorts and in the middle of the call, he had to stop and take care of a barking dog. We’re all sort of used to such interruptions now, but it was a first of both of us.

During that call, John asked me about a hypothetical. “Imagine you’d just sent out summons letters of 250 students about a disturbance on campus and the president changed his mind saying we weren’t going to handle matters that way. How would you feel about it?”

My answer was something along the lines of, “Well, I’d be as frustrated as anyone, but I do understand he sits in a different chair than I do, so I’d have to get over that.” I think that answer may have gotten me an on-campus interview. I’ve always understood that people within an organization each have their own perspectives about the organization. And people in the bigger chairs know more about more things, have to answer to different people, and have more coming at them than I did. They can still be wrong, but often I don’t have the full picture. That understanding has helped me keep my perspective over time as I’ve worked in complex organizations when things didn’t always go the way I wanted them to. It’s also a perspective I try to teach graduate students and newer staff members. No one of us has all the answers or all the information, we do the best we can, make the best decisions we can while understanding others may not agree.

One of the skills I think we all need is to be a student of organizations in general. When we are new in a career or organization, we need to learn about that particular organization. Being a student of organizations means paying attention to how the organization works. Understanding how to get something done in one organization teaches you something about the ways other organizations function. Understanding the history of an organization provides context for traditions as well as the underlying purpose of programs. Knowing who the decision-makers are and why, knowing all the processes that need to be followed – these are keys to accomplishing what you need to.

What do you know about your organization? Over time I’ve created a series of questions I think any member of an organization should be able to answer, but especially someone who wants to do well in an organization. I’ve shared it below. Can you answer these questions? If not, I encourage you to ask around, do a little research. The more you understand, the more effective you can be at whatever work it is that you’re doing. And being good at your work is a lot more fun than struggling. Happy studying.

Take care,

Gage

10 Things You Should Know About Your Campus

1.  When was it founded and why and by whom.
2.  History, iconic buildings, building names – who were they named for, why does it matter, what’s on the website, but also what’s the deeper story?
3. Current mission/vision/core values – what’d written, what does the leadership consider important?
4.  Senior leadership – the positions and who holds those positions, their fields of study.
5.  Governance structure.
6.  Most important traditions, what matters emotionally, what are the words to the Alma Mater?
7.  What is important to your current students? Faculty? Alumni?
8.  Campus politics – both large and small P, who needs to be invited, who is left out but should be included
9.  Type of university (public/private, Carnegie category) Enrollment philosophy (open, selective, highly selective).
10. Basic understanding of budget sources and processes.