Copyright 1997 CAUSE. From CAUSE/EFFECT Volume 20, Number 3, Fall 1997, pp. 59-61. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, the CAUSE copyright and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To disseminate otherwise, or to republish, requires written permission. For further information, contact Jim Roche at CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301 USA; 303-939-0308; e-mail: [email protected]

Recommended Reading

Reviewed by Donna Dorl-Adams

Is there an effective way to deal with the chaos, constant change, and insecurity of our current organizations? How do we as workers find ourselves fitting into the new "rules" of organizational life? How do we as managers provide the leadership required to create effective organizations? Dick Richards' Artful Work: Awakening Joy, Meaning, and Commitment in the Workplace offers a framework in which to ponder these and other issues.

To a manager, the subject of providing leadership to a diverse group with many competing demands on their time is a crucial one. It is easy to get caught in the "administrivia" of management. Richards reminds us that, "Leadership is making dreams come true by activating the energy of others to nourish a collective vision." Effective leadership is creating a vision and then fully engaging people, in mind and spirit, to achieve that vision. Trusting intuition and feeling, expressing things with passion, appreciating process as well as task, and cultivating a willingness to seek the unknown are just few of the ways Richards finds to bring art to your leadership. Amidst the chaos of change, seeking to be an artful leader is an absolute requirement.

Accepting personal responsibility for finding joy, meaning, and value in our work may be the fundamental shift that allows us to function in organizations that no longer assume the role of taking care of the employee for life. It is exciting to consider that we own our work processes and that, by bringing all of our mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional energies to our work, we can not only find personal fulfillment, but also begin to affect the organization in positive ways. Richards believes all work can be artful. He urges us to reunite the scientific and artistic views of the world, and draws upon the ways various artists view and value their work to lay the foundation for his ideas. He clearly defines his vision of the components of artful work and centered organizations as well as the characteristics of individuals engaging in such work.

This book, by the author's own admission, can be considered "way out there." It may make you a bit uncomfortable; it may force you to consider the world of work and organizations in new ways; and it won't give you a cookbook method for adding joy, meaning, and commitment to work. Therein rests its value. As noted creativity author and consultant Roger von Oech says, "A whack on the side of the head may be the only way to unlock your mind for innovation." Artful Work can be the whack that allows us to bring innovation to our work and organizational lives.

Reviewer Donna Dorl-Adams is Director of Customer Support in the Division of Information Technologies at Loyola University Chicago.

Reviewed by John E. Harper Sr.

You can almost hear it being said: "Oh, no! Not another book on leadership!" Anyone with an interest in leadership studies the past two decades has seen many different theories of leadership styles and techniques presented as the most effective. Then, after a short time of actually using the new concept, the theory falls out of favor. Why then should this new strategy that Jean Lipman-Blumen presents in The Connective Edge be considered?

The Connective Edge defines a new approach to leadership that substitutes competition among groups with the recognition of interdependence among groups. This approach also recognizes the diversity of groups within and among all organizations, whether large or small, public or private. A strategy is needed to balance the conflicting demands of honoring diversity and the extreme dependence on one another. Lipman-Blumen calls this the Connective Era, in which alliances shift and re-form very quickly. In this environment, inclusion is critical and connection is inevitable. This requires the leader to be politically astute as he or she serves the "independence, separatism, tribalism, and individualism" of diversity and at the same time equally serves the "alliances, collaboration, mutuality, and universalism" which is created by interdependence. "In the Connective Era, leaders cannot just issue orders; instead, they have to join forces, persuade, and negotiate to resolve conflicts."

While this book is written largely for a business audience, I believe it provides effective strategies for leaders in the public, not-for-profit arena as well. As I read the nine-part strategy recommended by Lipman-Blumen, I recognized the appropriateness and effectiveness of this new style of leadership to the higher education community. Think of the many and complex constituent groups that make up the higher education environment -- faculty, staff, students, governing boards, civic officials, business leaders, taxpayers, and such. Anyone responsible for managing change associated with technology will appreciate the common-sense but effective steps this book presents. Following the prescribed steps will yield success in the art of relationship-building and synergy from the power of cooperation. The book is organized for easy reading and ready reference. Lipman-Blumen does not just present ideas -- she supports them with empirical data and specific examples.

Reviewer John Harper is Executive Vice President for Finance and Business Services and Treasurer of Cuyahoga Community College District in Cleveland.

Reinventing the University: Managing and Financing Institutions of Higher Education
Edited by Sandra L. Johnson and Jillinda J. Kidwell
(John Wiley & Sons, 1996, $57, 178 pages)
ISBN 0-471-10452-3

Reviewed by Steven W. Relyea

The title of this book may immediately conjure up visions of another publication about reengineering or total quality management. Fortunately, these popular topics serve only as a springboard for a collection of enlightening papers about partnerships, technology, and changing the roots of the academy.

Reinventing the University is a medley of six essays that could each stand on its own and provide valuable insights to the present and future of colleges and universities. The book is organized into three sections with two essays (chapters) in each section. The structure of this book is perfect for those of us who don't have many contiguous hours for reading a long tome, but who might have an hour here and there on a plane flight or other opportunity for catching up on interesting topics that affect our professional lives.

While many of us have dared to attempt only redesign of administrative support processes, the first chapter of Reinventing the University forges into the sticky area of tampering with the core businesses of the university, namely teaching and research. Following an insightful discussion of administrative process redesign, Jill Kidwell and William Massy describe the impediments and challenges of restructuring academic processes.

Richard Katz presents a compelling argument that universities sit atop a "mountain of gold," referring to instructional content that is begging to be leveraged using technology and marketing. In his chapter, Katz effectively forces us to consider the unthinkable and view universities as the future engines of delivering instruction beyond the physical boundaries of the academy.

The book contains a splendid treatment of partnerships between vendors and universities, opening with a presentation of outsourcing and partnering principles and then following with three case studies involving the Boston/Mellon Consortium of Colleges, the University of Virginia, and Carnegie Mellon University. This is coupled with a discussion of partnerships between industry and the university, which, using a case study of MIT's Leaders for Manufacturing program, makes a strong case for a new model that leverages the university's knowledge resources in the 21st century.

Best practices in administrative computing and financial aid comprise the remainder of the book. Whether or not your job has any involvement in the financial aid process, you will likely find this chapter interesting and informative. The description of administrative computing practices spans topics such as client/server, data warehousing, intranets, EDI, and a number of other timely subjects.

Reinventing the University is not a prescriptive, theoretical work, but rather a thoughtful combination of case studies, best practices, and challenging principles for how those working in a university might survive the turn of the century.

Reviewer Steven Relyea is Vice Chancellor of Business Affairs at the University of California, San Diego. He is a member of the faculty of the CAUSE Management Institute on Partnerships.

Managing by Values
by Ken Blanchard and Michael O'Connor
(Berrett-Koehler, 1997, $20, 154 pages)
ISBN 1-587675-007-8

Reviewed by Scott E. Siddall

Total quality management, process reengineering, continuous quality improvement -- all are management techniques of the past decade. Could managing by values be the latest in this series of fads? I recall Carole Barone's talks and papers, which for me dismissed many "recipes" for management.¹ I thought about the practical challenges of empowering and motivating people in a hierarchical organization, and how difficult it can be to help staff preserve their professional identity during periods of rapid change. I'll admit I was pessimistic about Blanchard's and O'Connor's methods as I began the book.

Managing by Values is very easy to read; I finished it in one 90-minute session. This is not a textbook on management, with references and deep, intellectual analysis of issues. It is a thought-provoking story that follows a fictional, corporate leader who finds himself disillusioned in the face of failing management practices. Yes, the examples are corporate, but not so much so that we in higher education cannot easily see the parallels. The authors worked many of their core principles into the story as motivational posters, which made me feel that these folks had been reading too many airline magazines, but I found few other distractions in the story.

"Managing by values" as a concept ("MBV" -- we must have an acronym) is not fundamentally a difficult concept. The core of MBV consists of three processes: clearly defining institutional values (not just goals or a mission), communicating those values effectively among all involved, both clients and employees, and aligning daily practices with those values. MBV is about closing the gaps between what we say we believe and how we operate on a day-to-day basis. It is about doing the right thing, not simply doing things right. I finished the book thinking that MBV is not a fad but more an overarching set of principles that are embodied in many management recipes. As Carole Barone said, "Staying true to your values makes you strong at the core."²

Blanchard and O'Connor give us a short, readable book that can raise our sights above our own daily routine long enough to remind us that there may indeed be better ways of conducting business. I recommend Managing by Values for anyone in information services -- senior administrators, managers, front-line staff -- who is being called upon to do more and do it very well. Isn't that all of us? This book is worth the time it takes to read it.

Reviewer Scott Siddall is Director of Academic Computing at Kenyon College.

Endnotes:

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² Barone, 11.

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