Office Strategy: Refuse to Play Games

We have a silo problem. No, not the kind with grain and such. The kind where I do MY job in MY department with no thought to how it impacts other departments. The kind where we reinvent the wheel, but all the wheels are different sizes, so our wagon just gets all mangled and stuck in the mud.

All the new material on organizational structure and the like emphasizes the need for interdepartmental roles: people who can move fluidly between functional areas and not DO all the jobs (that's just simple cross-training), but rather coordinate mutually beneficial initiatives. In other words, organizations need people who can solve the silo problem.

I'm seriously trying to knock holes in the silos around here. It makes people uncomfortable. It forces people to relinquish control. It's VERY stressful at times, trying to advocate for one department in another, and trying to get everyone to see the big picture rather than focusing on what this means for their own personal turf. But it's necessary and it's getting results.

My newest silo-destruction project started today, when my department decided to take an open full-time position and create a social media coordinator role. Without getting into a lecture on social media strategies, let's just say that our target market seeks information in a bunch of crazy ways, and responds well to information delivered in a bunch of equally crazy ways. To a certain extent, social media is organic marketing; but there are ways an institution can give the social media garden a little natural fertilizer and clear more space in which it can grow. There might even be the need for a little selective weeding now and then, too. But I'm getting dangerously close to a lecture, which I promised not to deliver.

Anyway, this is CLEARLY a marketing thing. But that department has been talking and talking and talking social media to DEATH. In fact, I might even smell some decay from here. Could be the cows. Eh. Digression, sorry. Simply put, they do not have the human resources to implement a consistent, comprehensive social media strategy at this time. Ideas and intentions are plentiful, but time is not. We, on the other hand, have access to a resource that could implement a consistent social media strategy with a primary focus on student recruitment. Sure, it's not perfect: ideally, we'd have a whole team of folks who could manage initiatives across the entire organization. BUT this could open doors: if - no, when - we're successful, the marketing folks could have some leverage and say, "LOOK! This WORKS! Let's EXPAND! Give me more BODIES!"

So, since this position will be a silo-demolishing role, I took these thoughts to the marketing office and braced myself for the gut-level "get-off-my-turf" reaction. Even with all the collaboration in which I personally engage with that department, I knew it would happen. I'd likely respond the same way. But I refused to play office games. I will not participate in politics. In all my interactions, I will wholeheartedly affirm and recognize the value of every individual's contributions. But I will not back down from a challenging situation because I know, at the end of the day, we'll only advance our mission and do right by our students when we open up and stop trying to control every corner of our respective real estate.

And it was good. Or it will be good. We'll have a couple more challenging moments, but this is the first chance I've had to pave the way for another highly interdepartmental role. And I'd like some more company out here.

Can I pull a "Sleeping Beauty?"

I'd be up for sleeping until all the action passed and everything was solved. Or how about a vacation? I'd like to leave my grad work for my team to do (for once), let the rest of my office figure out the issues (my brain hurts...) and just get refreshed. I don't think any of that is going to happen, so I'll do the next best thing: go to bed and wake up with a better attitude tomorrow morning.

Fifteen Minute Update

So apparently there's this unspoken rule that no new projects will begin after 4:40 pm on a regular workday; this is also the case when you have fifteen minutes until lunch and just wrapped up an item on your to-do list. So, rather than buck convention and get started on something else, I decided to update my neglected blog!

Geez Louise, where to start? Well, work is nuts. I just finished a modest amount of travel (high school visits and college fairs in Clinton and Ingham Counties) and am now back in the office. It's a busy place right now, especially as we prepare to implement our new administrative software system. Also, my boss, who is pretty much the best boss EVER, just took a new job with LCC. He's leaving in early November and it is literally taking four people (including yours truly) to cover his responsibilities until we hire a new director. Gah! Did I mention he's also in charge of the ENTIRE software system implementation? This process was already going to be rough, but now we're going to have our work REALLY cut out for us.

The house is great, though. This weekend is dubbed "Window Treatment Weekend," as Mitch's sister is coming up to help me with that overwhelming task. Good thing she is an EXCELLENT seamstress and has wonderful taste. We are also happily heating our home with wood, thanks to our new outdoor wood boiler. Did you know you could buy wood by the semi load? I didn't...but you can, and we are!

And with a phone call that interrupted my blogging (a welcome phone call, though, from a favorite colleague), it is now time for me to head to the Rec for my lunch time workout. I guess you'll have to wait for photos from the Davenport/Zinger wedding (unless you're on Facebook and have seen them already...cheater...).

Free t-shirts from the White House?

OK, so this isn't as funny as the Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton one (still a favorite), but it gave me a good laugh this morning. Enjoy!

Time to Get Fit

I haven't posted a lot about biking lately, because there just hasn't been that much to report. Between moving, school and work (I am now recruiting in Clinton/Ingham counties and have had some evening college fairs to attend), I haven't touched my bike since Maybury back in August. So sad, I know! Also, though I continued to go down to the Rec for lunchtime workouts, the room my friends and I were using for our group strength training sessions was unavailable all summer. It wasn't quite the same hitting the weight room with my iPod, so the trips weren't as regular.

So, while Mitch turns his attention to preparing for Iceman, I've started concentrating on overall fitness in anticipation of next year. My current regiment includes 2-3 days of strength training at lunch (our room is open again!) and potentially a trainer ride in the evenings, if I have time. The new addition, and something I think will help augment the limited time I generally have in the evenings to hit the trainer, is a little bit of running before our strength workouts. Now, I did track and field in high school and college, but I was never one of those people who just went running for the heck of it. I was a sprinter, so we rarely ever did those long, grueling distance runs. But I think building up some semblance of endurance, even if it's minuscule by others' standards, will help me be a better racer.

It's too early to set season goals. It's also hard to set place-related goals when your class is really small. But I do know that I want to see significant improvement in my times next year. I want to feel stronger, faster and more confident. So it's time to get fit!

House Photos

I'm guessing most folks who read this blog will have already seen our updated house photos on Facebook, but I'm putting them here anyway:


See my pretty mums along the front walk?


You can't see all our backyard from this photo, but Mitch has pulled out over a dozen of our scraggly apple trees. We'll replace some of them with new trees in the spring.


Here's our living room. The fireplace has been nice since the weather has been so cold for the past couple of days.


Another view of the living room.


One more angle of the living room. This weekend, I got new pillows to replace the red ones on the couch.


Our awesome kitchen: Mom and Dad got us the microwave as a housewarming gift.


Pretty dining room - Mitch's sister is going to make our window treatments later this month.


Here's my little library.


Guest room - who wants to visit?


Our bedroom, complete with the crazy cat. He likes the new place, too!