Thinking in Terms of Whole Systems

In this issue.

• ON STRATEGY I: THINKING IN TERMS OF WHOLE SYSTEMS
• ON THE BOOKSHELF: FREE PRIZE INSIDE
• THE POWER OF FOCUS
• BY THE NUMBERS: OUTSOURCING

ON STRATEGY I: THINKING IN TERMS OF WHOLE SYSTEMS

For years I have preached the importance of integration of shared goals and resources. Organizational theorists call this "a whole systems approach." In other words, we are all really in this together.

Individuals and departments sometimes have a difficult time understanding the importance of whole system thinking. In fact, there is an inverse relationship between whole system thinking and turf issues.

To help you more completely understand whole systems, let me offer an illustration and an exercise.

Lawrence Lippitt, writing in Preferred Futuring, offers us our illustration on the importance of thinking in terms of the whole system. Says Lippitt, "Many of you have heard the story about the couple who are sitting in one end of the rowboat, both very calm and enjoying the scenery. In the other end of the boat, another couple is furiously bailing water that is pouring in from a hole in the bottom of the boat. One member of the calm couple says to the other, ‘Aren't you glad that hole is in their end of the boat?' Today, more than any time in history, and regardless of whether we are talking about a department or an entire organization or a community—any system—we understand that the hole in the boat is never in their end of the boat; it's always in our boat.

"When people realize that we are all connected because we are part of the same system, people are thinking in terms of ‘whole systems.' Because we are connected, we influence and are influenced by other parts of the system, whether we are aware of this or not. Any organization or community is bound by often unseen fabrics of interconnected actions. Whole-systems thinking requires that we realize we are part of that fabric and not exempt or removed. When we are part of a complex system, this connection is less obvious than it is in that rowboat example, but it is just the same.

"Whole-systems thinking requires that we shift how we think and act. We must get involved, rather than taking the attitude that it is not our problem or the business of our department. We must realize that no department can be excellent unless the whole system is excellent. The popular analogy that makes this point is that you don't build a world-class car by roaming the world and assembling a world-class carburetor from one vehicle and then a world-class engine from another and then a world-class transmission from another until you have all the necessary parts. When you try to assemble them, they will not fit together."

The whole systems exercise works like this. Let's say you have six administrators on the president's cabinet (a total of seven people). Place seven chairs around a room to represent these seven senior administrators. Now, take a piece of string and tie all seven chairs together. The mechanics of the illustration are this: make a decision to move one chair and you will likely have to move one or two others because they are all part of the larger whole.

In today's organizations, there is no such thing as a unilateral decision. Make the decision to keep financial aid open one evening a week and you need to work out the details with HR and facilities. Decide to change the gender ratio on campus? Then someone better let facilities know that you are going to need more (or less) women's rest rooms.

So what does "whole systems" mean for colleges and universities? In general, I think the following lessons can be learned:

• Decisions under consideration for one area must be "run out" to gauge their impact on other areas before implementation
• All institutional goals are ultimately shared institutional goals
• In a time of crisis, there can be no such thing as "my budget"
• When one department is facing a challenge, other department heads must step forward and say, "How can we help?"

ON THE BOOKSHELF: FREE PRIZE INSIDE

Well-known and well-appreciated author Seth Godin has struck again with Free Prize Inside. Godin, of Permission Marketing and Purple Cow fame, makes the case that creating products and services that are innovative and valued by the customer is actually less expensive than advertising and promoting products that are no longer relevant and valued. The key, he says, is making the product or service remarkable; in other words, something worth remarking about. The free prize alluded to in the book's title is the delight that a customer feels when they buy and use the product or service.

He feels, and I agree, that the buzz created by a new and valued product (witness Amazon or Google) is much more valuable in the near- and short-term than any buzz created by advertising.

Creating remarkable products is simple in concept. Not so simple in actuality. As you turn the pages, you discover that it is not coming up with the idea that is difficult, but its execution and bringing it to fruition. Godin does a nice job recounting the organizational characteristics that imperil new ideas and gives advice (see Section Two, Selling the Idea) for either bulling your way through them or circumventing them all together.

For another take on execution, consider Bossidy's book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

THE POWER OF FOCUS
by Scott Linzey, Principal Consultant

There's so much buzz throughout the industry focusing on the need for institutions to provide cutting-edge facilities, an increased breadth and depth of services, and the latest and greatest extracurricular opportunities in order to meet prospective student expectations. That phenomenon has gained such steam that some colleges and universities are running the risk of featuring those attributes in their marketing to the point of appearing to diminish or even abandon their primary reason for existence—delivering an education. Don't fall victim! While I admit those non-academic aspects of your product will come under strict scrutiny, I also assert that it doesn't matter how attractive your institution is outside the classroom if your core product—a quality education—is not the linchpin of your marketing focus. If you don't lead with and fully support a barrage of messages entrenched in the intellectual experience provided by your institution, you're headed for trouble.

I was reminded of the need to root all institutional decision making, marketing-related and otherwise, in the degree to which academic quality and rigor of the institution will be supported or derailed by a few recent experiences that led to my choosing to write this piece.

• David Kirp, professor of public policy at Cal-Berkeley and author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line—The Marketing of Higher Education, therein shared a powerful story about the transformation and repositioning of a liberal arts college primarily, if not solely, on the basis of the institution's ability to demonstrate academic quality. The fortunes of such a school, Kirp pointed out, are heavily dependent on the caliber of its student body. This institution had previously been adrift with, relatively speaking, high acceptance and tuition discounting rates, a lack of focus, and a willingness to chase the idea of the moment. Recently under new leadership, the same institution became consumed with enrolling more academically capable students and made every decision with that goal in mind. Extensive changes were made in virtually every unit of the college, such that academic rigor was the universal focus. In fairly short order the dash bard indicators began to swing and The Wall Street Journal cited it as a "hot school."
• I often meet with leaders of colleges who find themselves in challenging enrollment situations, due in large part to their institution being viewed as a commodity, where students' enrollment decisions are being based almost exclusively, or very heavily, on price. Inevitably, those institutions are promulgating visual and verbal messages unrelated to their academic quality. While many other institutional attributes are under consideration by students and parents, academic reputation of the institution and academic quality of their program of choice, closely followed by outcomes as demonstrated through alumni success, remain the primary barometers for institutional preference.

So, the lesson here is derived from the power of institutions to lead with a focus on the academic side of the house and view all attributes as supporting features. In Kirp's example, "focus" was all-consuming. Does your college or university have the determination and drive to focus? In this context, identify a goal and launch and sustain a plan for working undeterred toward accomplishing that goal, regardless of the superfluous issues and unrelated opportunities that attempt to steal your attention.

In this forum, and others you've heard and read, we discuss the need for strategic and organizational integration and the power of institution-wide synergism. Under virtually no other circumstance is that need greater than in this discussion of prioritizing and focusing on academic quality and rigor. Those integrations begin at the top with a clearly articulated, shared, and widely supported vision which should in turn be played out in marketing materials and supported by the daily actions and lives of campus employees. At every point of contact between a constituent and an institution there should be a common thread with a genesis in quality academic instruction. Remember: first and foremost, we're in the business of educating and although many attempts are made, intentional or unintentional, to distract us from focusing on the quality of our academic offerings and the results they deliver for our constituents, nothing is more important to those you want to enroll. Revisit your institutional priorities and core values and make sure your institution's visual and verbal marketing messages place highest priority on developing and solidifying your academic reputation and accurately enhancing the perception of your academic portfolio.

This entire concept may seem elementary and, admittedly, I hesitated to write on it for fear that many of our readers would be underwhelmed by the observations. But given my recent experiences, I thought a friendly reminder regarding the ultimate importance of academic quality not only in your marketing activities, but as it relates to every aspect of institutional activity, was warranted.

Contact me at scott.linzey@stamats.com if you would like to discuss this further.

BY THE NUMBERS: OUTSOURCING

According to the June 2004 issue of College Planning & Management, 61 percent of colleges and universities outsource their food service program. Reporting on an annual NACUBO survey, we also discovered that:

• 52 percent outsource their bookstore
• 41 percent outsource endowment fund management
• 28 percent outsource legal services
• 25 percent outsource housekeeping and janitorial services
• 20 percent outsource laundry services
• 17 percent outsource copy services
• 17 percent outsource security
• 16 percent outsource debit card services
• 15 percent outsource payroll
• 9 percent outsource mechanical maintenance
• 8 percent outsource grounds
• 4 percent outsource IT/MIS
• 4 percent outsource residence hall management
• 3 percent outsource mailroom
• 2 percent outsource overall facilities management

STAMATS JOB OPENING

Stamats, Inc. is looking for a client consultant to sell and manage research, planning, and communication projects for colleges and universities. This person should have at least 10 years of higher education marketing or sales experience. A graduate degree is preferred. This position requires someone with exceptional sales, phone, interpersonal, writing, and group communications skills, and the ability to juggle multiple projects and meet deadlines. Compensation will include a base salary, commissions, and a bonus based on sales, profitability, and client retention and satisfaction. Ideally, this person will work out of our Cambridge office. For more information on Stamats, please check our Web site at www.stamats.com.

To submit a confidential resume or to request further information on this position, please contact: Jo Ann Binzen, Human Resource Manager, Stamats, Inc., PO Box 1888, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52506-1888; joann.binzen@stamats.com.