Random Reflections on EDUCAUSE09

The EDUCAUSE 2009 conference was the best of the EDUCAUSE annual conferences that I've attended. Much credit goes to the EDUCAUSE staff for its usual excellent job at conference management, despite the challenges of the current economic situation. The other factor that made this conference a success for me was the people.

I know how cliche that sounds, but there's usually a basis for cliches, yes?

Every year the circle of people I meet gets larger; it's re-establishing ties with colleagues and meeting new ones that can really make or break a conference. The rise of social media played a part in this conference as well. I've been a Twitter user since March 2008 and Twitter's growth contributed to expanding the circle of people that I "knew," albeit virtually, significantly and led to arrangements to meet "tweeps" at the conference.

I finally had a chance to meet Justin Sipher in person at this conference during the face-to-face meeting of the EDUCAUSE Professional Development Committee, which I'm chairing this year. So why is this notable? I think it's a reflection of our increasingly electronically connected world that he and I had not previously met even though we've spoken on the phone a number of times, attended some of the same conferences, follow each other on Twitter, co-authored an ECAR research bulletin (Crowdsourcing the IT Help Desk: A Cloud Approach to Mass Intelligence), and have co-ghost written a column about careers. We even tried to hold a desktop video conference with Ethan Benatan once. Their video worked, mine didn't. Until this conference, I'm pretty sure that Justin thought I was an AI construct or something.

All of the keynote speakers were great - Jim Collins, Lawrence Lessig (go to the Resources and Video tab to watch his presentation), and Brenda Gourley (her presentation is also available at the Resources and Video tab) - all had different styles of presentation, all effective.

Our CIO, Bruce Maas, participated in a point/counterpoint session with Gardner Campbell that was one of the most tweeted of the sessions. I was at a committee meeting during their session, but admit that I was watching their tweetstream during the meeting (Twitter hashtag #edtwitter). My husband and I watched the video stream of their session in our hotel room the night it was posted ("Disrespectful and Time-Wasting, or Engaged and Transformative? The Mile-High Twitter Debate")... we LOLed... we howled. It's priceless. Watch it and be prepared to LOL.

I had the honor of participating in a point/counterpoint with Mike Dieckmann, the CIO at the University of West Florida called "Cloud Computing: Hype or Hope"? What's amusing to me, and maybe to people who know me, is that I represented the "hype" side of the discussion. Anyone who knows me knows that I live nearly my entire life in the cloud. The session was picked up by Inside Higher Ed and Network World, which was then syndicated to other outlets such as ComputerWorld, The Industry Standard, and CIO.com, among others. So all of a sudden, I'm anti-cloud. I think I'm laughing about it.

I also attended the EDUCAUSE Enterprise 2010 Program Committee meeting while at the conference. For those of you who haven't heard, the EDUCAUSE 2010 Conference is a series of "virtual" and in-person events, but will be returning to its typical conference format in 2011. We've been putting together special session for CIOs focusing on Enterprise IT for the EDUCAUSE regional conferences, and a special webinar event. What we're doing is fairly experimental for EDUCAUSE, and the members of the program committee have been giving their ability to deal with ambiguity quite a workout. I think the program committee, with great guidance from Cindy Hadden, the program committee chair, Norma Holland, Catherine Yang, and Carie Page, is putting together really worthwhile and interesting events for Enterprise.2010 - please consider attending one of the events if you're a senior IT leader with an interest in enterprise IT.

In order to address the "cyberinfrastructure" side of my role, I attended sessions about research computing and cyberinfrastructure, such as the discussion about "Cyberinfrastructure: Hype or Reality"? facilitated by Klara Jelinkova, "Just a Spoonful of SUG@R Helps Get Research Computing Done" given by Gary Kidney, and "Building a Research IT Division from the Ground Up" by Rich Mendola and Marc Overcash.

Other sessions I enjoyed included "Hailing from 'Foreign': The Plight and Delight of Embodying Culture Change" (I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine why this subject is of great importance to me personally), and the kick-off face-to-face meeting of the new EDUCAUSE constituent group "Women in IT." I'm really looking forward to seeing where this new constituent group leads.

All in all, this was a fantastic conference experience. I was able to reconnect to former EDUCAUSE Institute Management Program and Leadership Program classmates, and of course, many of my 2007 Frye Leadership Institute classmates (we believe that 40% of our class attended this conference in person).

That last bit was the most important part of the conference to me. It's all about the people.

The Transience of Memory: From Clay Tablets to the Kindle

"This is preposterous! You can't be serious that we'll be recording the information of our civilization in so transient a form. Besides, reading won't have the tactile experience that people have become accustomed to. It'll never catch on."

I imagine that this was the response from the adherents of clay tablets when papyrus was introduced.

From clay tablets to papyrus... from monks meticulously copying books by hand for hours to the printing press to digitization... conveyance of the written word has undergone significant changes over time. However, the latest stage in its evolution constitutes another major change.

Many people bemoan losing the physical manifestation of information. I've had a number of people ask if I miss turning the physical pages in a book, the variations in book size and weight, the feel of a classic book binding. Perhaps, but I also don't listen to 78rpm vinyl records anymore. Remember the outcry when CDs began to replace vinyl records? Now we've gone one step further - there's no physical manifestation for the music that the iTunes generation is buying. Similarly, the bits and bytes that make up the books I download to my Kindle are equally ephemeral. Soon it will be possible to mass produce e-ink or the equivalent onto a flexible substrate so that you can carry a single device with pages, and it will be able to display whatever text can be transmitted to it. That information will be just as fleeting. Perhaps we'll even stop killing trees in favor of such devices.

Information now has to be actively maintained or it is easily lost. I imagine I hear the book preservationists argue that this has always been the case, though there is something conceptually different now. Books are physical objects, whereas the digital flotsam of our civilization are not items that we can see or touch or smell. We take it on faith that somewhere the artifacts of this time and place are being protected.

Then again, perhaps we don't.

Perhaps we've entered a period in which we live under the assumption that information is transient - that some part of what defines our time will be gone in the blink of an eye. Is this the end of the world? I doubt it. The vast majority of what could have been recorded throughout time hasn't been. We only know the tiniest fraction of the hopes and dreams and fears of those who have come before us, for the most transient and fragile conveyance of information is the human brain.

Information... is.

Org Charts vs. Reality vs. Vision

Today I sat down with Visio and drew the org chart for our department that has been swirling around in my head for some time. It represents a near-future state that is the result of observations of personnel personalities and strengths, discussions with the department's managers, and an attempt to address the organization's longer-term goals.

The org chart doesn't tell the real story.

An org chart is just a construct. Thousands of years of evolution have predisposed human beings to identify with groups for security and a sense of identity. Perhaps this is why people obsess about org charts, identify with those with whom they are connected by solid lines, and draw all kinds of conclusions (many incorrect) about what the lines and hierarchy represent.

The real story is spelled out in the vision and direction of our organization and what it will take to achieve it. The real story is spelled out in the bonds between our people that defy the org chart. The real story is spelled out in our informal thought leaders and those who truly influence our direction.

Some people are aware of the sequence of falling dominoes and shuffling that comprises the current plan for implementing this next org chart. When asked by one of these people if it would somehow "mess up" the vision if a person in the plan wanted to take a different course, my response was that no, a vision should be robust enough to stand up to an alteration or course correction - it wouldn't be a vision otherwise. The org chart isn't the vision; it's a means of visualizing one of the ways we might implement the vision.

Even if we do utilize this particular org chart going forward, we shouldn't get too comfortable. Org charts are just a construct, subject to change if the vision demands it.

Hard Times

It's a really hard time for our organization. This is the first time the organization has had to make the decision to eliminate the positions of every member of a group.

These people have served the organization for many years and have provided valuable contributions to campus. Unfortunately the role that the group serves no longer meets the campus' service delivery needs, and because of their union classifications there aren't options for reclassification or automatic transfer within the organization. All we can do is help them find opportunities and try to ease their transitions into the next stage of their lives.

I've been the one to deliver the bad news many times - far too many - throughout my career as a manager and leader. Delivering the news doesn't get any easier... and I don't believe it should.

In my first year as a manager I placed two people on what is known as a terminal contract. After the meeting with the second individual, my boss found me sobbing in my office and tried to comfort me, just as bosses always have in such situations throughout time.

I waved him away, and choked out words that still hold to this day, "I have to feel this bad. It has to hurt down to the bottom of my soul. The day it doesn't is the day that I've lost too much humanity to have the right to be a manager."

For those of you who manage others, or aspire to be managers, I really hope that you won't have to face this situation. However, chances are pretty good that you will at some point in your careers. Remember that no matter how justified the underlying reason, whether an individual's position is being terminated for cause or part of an organizational realignment, there is a person at the receiving end of the process.

Think about how you will handle the situation when the times comes. It's my hope that you will be able to do so with the right balance of professionalism and compassion.

The Value of Character in Challenging Times

Yesterday my boss and I were talking about the dynamics between managers and their subordinates, and touched on the subject of how some managers might feel threatened by particular people who work for them. I stopped, looked him squarely in the eye, and asked if I scare him.

"No," he said, "the only people who scare me are those who lack character."

His words rang so true, or perhaps resonated so strongly with me, that the statement struck me (almost) speechless for a moment. He made me think about just how important character is, particularly now.

Strong. Steadfast. Stable... All hallmarks of good character. During these challenging economic times, we need people with character. It's well-known, and unfortunately very observable these days, that when people are highly stressed they tend to revert to their worst behaviors. We can see it among colleagues who are scurrying back to their previous "siloed" behaviors, hunkering down, and lobbing figurative hand grenades at those with whom they had collaborated before our country's fortunes took a nosedive.

These times are a true test of character. Fortunately we also see those who are holding to their values, and whose true strength of character shines through like a beacon. We need these people now. If we're to pull through the current crisis and come out on the other side with our integrity and pride intact, we need the strength of those with the character to exhibit an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing.

Think about the people in your life, both at work and at home... who can withstand the character test?

Involvement in EDUCAUSE

Involvement with EDUCAUSE has been really rewarding to me. I've been working in the field of IT for a relatively short time (less than 10 years), and I attribute some of my success to what I've gained by affiliation with EDUCAUSE - involvement is my way of paying back.

Training through EDUCAUSE is amazing. I attended the Management and Leadership Institutes, and am a Frye Leadership Institute 2007 Fellow. I very enthusiastically encourage others to attend these. These programs are excellent at providing insight not just into management and leadership issues, but also do a great job of highlighting these issues in the context of the higher ed space. However, the longest lasting impact of attending these programs is that of the connections you make to others in the higher ed community. I've met so many colleagues at other institutions who have proved invaluable many times when I've needed advice or information. In fact, the position I currently hold wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't met the then-interim CIO (now CIO) of UW-Milwaukee, Bruce Maas, at the 2005 Leadership Institute, then later reconnected when we both served on the 2008 Midwest Regional Conference program committee.

Speaking of conference program committees, I believe I received so much more than I've given when volunteering on these committees. As I mentioned, I served on the 2008 Midwest Regional. I also served on the 2009 Enterprise Conference program commitee, and currently serve on the 2010 "virtual" Enterprise Conference program committee. Working with the other members of these program committees has been a real honor; they're some of the best, most interesting, and highly motivated people in our field.

I'm also currently in the middle of a 3-year term on the Professional Development Committee, which provides direction for the EDUCAUSE Institutes, articles, books, and other venues through which EDUCAUSE provides professional development opportunities. I was recently invited to serve as the 2010 committee chair, and am really psyched for it!

Of course there's also the opportunity to hone one's presentation skills (or is that skillz?) at the EDUCAUSE conferences. I had an absolute blast presenting at the 2009 Enterprise Conference with Dennis Cromwell and Michael Dieckmann on the topic of cloud computing. Both Michael and I will be reprising this performance in a somewhat different way at the annual EDUCAUSE conference in November in a "point / counterpoint" format. (I'll give you one guess as to which of us will take the "cloud computing is overhyped" view!)

Some people would say that involvement in a professional society is a lot of work, and I suppose it is. However, I genuinely believe that I've gotten so much more back than I've given to EDUCAUSE and have met so many incredible colleagues along the way - it's why I keep coming back to EDUCAUSE for more.

A Year Later...

I'm not sure why I seem to want to blog again when I'm at my busiest - something about getting back into the groove of being constantly busy, I suppose.

My gadget list has changed completely over the last year, so perhaps that's the best place to start.

Ariel (my Fujitsu Lifebook U810) has been replaced with the new Puck, a Sony VAIO P-90S. Yes, this is the one that is only sold in Japan. I bought an Americanized version from Dynamism, and it runs great, despite what people say about Vista. Ariel still has a place of honor, as he's docked in our kitchen near the breakfast table.

I also replaced my Treo 750W smartphone for a Samsung Omnia. I miss having a physical keyboard as I did on the Treo, but am getting used to the Omnia's virtual keyboard.

Finally, I gave my Kindle 1 to a very deserving student employee (hi Andy!), and got a Kindle 2, which I love (I've also called him Prospero).

Still loving the Chumby, as it fills my need to read something while drinking coffee in the morning without having to fiddle with Ariel's screen.