Navigating Change: The Podcast From Teibel Education

Friend of the show Jeff Shields is back to talk about building monumental change in independent schools as a preview of the 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. As President and CEO of NBOA, Jeff’s charter is to lift business officers beyond the baseline expectations of their roles and help them become change agents and true leaders in their schools. This week on the show, Jeff offers insight into one of the key learning opportunities to that end for independent school business officers, the NBOA Annual Meeting platform. Howard Teibel will once again join the ranks of speakers at the NBOA Annual Meeting where he will present Facilitating Strategic Conversations. The annual meeting takes place February 26-March 1, 2017.  Links & Notes NBOA Annual Meeting

You never know where good ideas are going to come from. We take it as axiomatic that inspiration comes from synchronicity, and too often we leave it at that, relegating the best ideas to the whimsy of luck.  This week on the show we’re challenging this commonly held wisdom thanks to our work with key partner, University of Colorado, in developing a process to cultivate synchronicity, to bring the right people together, and drive a change in culture that celebrates the incubation of great ideas.  The story doesn't end on this week’s show. Howard’s latest piece for NACUBO’s HR Horizons electronic newsletter, “Loosen the Grip on Silo Thinking,” provides deeper background on the CU story and resources you can use right now to change the way you think about how you craft your best ideas. Links & Notes NACUBO HR Horizons: “Loosen the Grip on Silo Thinking”

Howard Teibel recently sat down with noted educator and prolific writer Dr. Bill Massy talk about our changing perception of universities as complex human systems. The advanced modeling work that Dr. Massy has over his distinguished career has helped institutions around the world to better understand pedagogical performance improvement and the relationship of that work to administration and leadership through sound operational models.  The mix of tradition, culture, rules, norms, finance, pedagogy, and how we collaborate across the aisle — all of these elements contribute to the mix of our higher ed learning institutions. Dr. Massey is an award winning author, emeritus professor and former vice president of Stanford University and the perfect guest to help us navigate the web of today’s university. Links & Notes Course-Level Activity-Based Costing as an Academic and Financial Tool (PDF) — William F. Massy Are U. S. Colleges becoming less productive? — Bill Massy Improving Measurement of Productivity in H

Today on the show we present a conversation on one of the toughest components of managing an exceptional team: letting go of those who no longer perform to expectations. Dr. Robert Johnson, Dean of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, joins us to talk about the personal skill of letting people go, the importance of clarity and honesty in communication, and building support for these hard decisions not just on your team, but across the institution.  About Dean Robert L. Johnson, MD — Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Dean

Larry Levine, who serves University of Colorado as associate vice chancellor and CIO, joins us today to tell a story that will help drive our conversation on building exceptional teams. It’s a metaphor that helps to frame change in an organization through our relationship with our teams  and our collective momentum. It starts on a boat and ends with a visceral and familiar experience we all share when working in underperforming units.  Links & Notes About Larry Levine

Succession planning — the way most of us do it — doesn’t work. Face it: the last thing that today’s leaders want to do is plan their exit while they’re still 100% invested in doing today’s work. And that’s why this topic is so important: it is precisely because it is unpalatable that we hide from it, dodge it, look the other way. The opportunity is to think of our work in a holistic way and from day one, be thinking about how you would turn over or share your work with others.  Today on the show we’re talking about succession planning and the impact on our institutions and teams when we don’t take an active role in stacking our bench with future leaders from within and outside the organization. Links & Notes Why Companies are So Bad at Succession Planning — BusinessInsider 2016 National Profile of Higher Education Chief Business Officers — NACUBO

This week, we’re talking plainly about a subject that most leaders typically bury in metaphor. You might be organizing seats on your bus, or trying to put the right tools in your shed. Whatever the creative euphemism, you’re talking about your people.   Most leaders focus on finding the right people for their team, but that’s only step one. Having the courage to move people on when the organization’s needs no longer pair with theirs is another thing entirely. Sometimes people need encouragement or a gentle push to do something different.  How willing are you to accept disruption on your teams in exchange for exceptionality? That’s the central question that kicks off our conversation this week, and three considerations that will help you approach your staffing ecosystem with candor.   Links & Notes Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss

The Public-Private Partnership is proving to be one of the more compelling solutions to complex financing challenges on campus, and if you’re not up to speed, you should start asking questions. This week on the show, Marcus Grimm joins us from Benchmark Construction to help us do just that, and tell us the story of Millersville University and their pledge to build robust new residential facilities without impacting their debt capacity. But this story is just a preview. On December 1, Howard Teibel will be facilitating a webinar with guests from Millersville, Student Services, Inc., and RISE Real Estate to tell the story of their partnership and a clever arrangement that brought an end to traditional dorm-style housing on campus in less than five years.   Register Here   Panelists include:  Tom Richardson, Associate VP / Dean of Students, Millersville University Geoff Beers, CEO/GM, Student Services, Inc. Jeremy Doss, Vice President, RISE Real Estate  

Professor Brad Allenby maps the changes in higher education to grand revolutions of European history, that of the Glorious British Revolution of 1688 or the French Revolution leading to the Reign of Terror. As a faculty member at Arizona State University, Dr. Allenby has seen first hand the pressure building in the classroom and beyond it. Schools are facing challenges to their economic models, just as faculty are facing pedagogical challenges in the classroom. This week on Navigating Change, Dr. Allenby joins us for a conversation on change, how we market education, and what it means for all of us to remain relevant over the next twenty years. Links & Notes Brad Allenby at ASU Technological, Social, and Sustainable Systems — Brad Allenby MOOC at EdEx The Techno-Human Condition by Braden Allenby and Daniel Sarewitz The Human as Design — Braden Allenby at The Chautauqua Institution

Over the last two episodes we’ve discussed two major functions of strategic thinking. In the first, we shared insights around uncovering your key message. In part two, we focused on how to get the attention of your audience with headlining your vision. This week, we’ll focus on the key factors to bring strategic thinking to your work that asks the big questions. Strategic thinking is not linear or delivering on daily work. It’s about peering around corners, across horizons, and uncovering trends that exist beyond the bubble of your institution.

We make split second decisions based on the headlines we see every day. Will we read the next email that hits the inbox? Will we take the time to read the next project plan in the pile? The answer depends on the power — and the persuasiveness — of the headline. In our change workshops, we’ve seen headlines move mountains, messages that engage teams to pivot and take action with a focus on the long game, beyond the crises of today. In part two of our three-part conversation on strategic communication, we’re talking all about headlining. We demonstrate the exercise that allows you to both define your key message, and build an emotional connection to a new reality with a team inspired to act.

Many of us, whether we recognize it or not, are doing an ineffective job at communicating strategically. If part of your day-to-day role is to move people and projects forward through influence, this week's conversation is for you. It starts with a deceivingly simple premise: your teams care less about what you want to do, than why you want to do it.In part one of a three-part conversation we dive into what it means to be a strategic communicator. Do you have a clear understanding of your own engagement to your projects? When asked, can you answer why the work is important to you? Do you understand how your message connects with your constituent audiences as a leader of your institution? This week on the show, learn key insights that will not only allow you to present the work of the campus clearly, but also engage and inspire your teams at the same time.

Dr. Lori Bergen is the founding dean of the College of Media, Communication and Information at University of Colorado. A veteran journalist turned academic, she’s president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and serves on the national advisory board of the Poynter Institute. Prior to CU, she served as dean of the J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University. Dr. Bergen joins us this week to share the story of University of Colorado’s new college, one of program change, discontinuation, merger, and the challenges that come of progress at a time of concern in our field. CU’s CMCI is truly a story of innovation and growth in higher education and serves as a terrific role model.  Links & Notes College of Media, Communication and Information

Boomers. Gen-Xers. Millennials. With three generations in the workforce, institutional leaders are standing in the middle of an ideological stew. Members of each bring with them their own belief systems, their own value of work and change, their own appreciation of mission. Sometimes, these belief systems come into conflict with one another. But when smart leaders authentically invest in understanding the nature of their workforce, when they are able to approach younger staff in a way that challenges and inspires them, their institutions have the potential to change the world.  This week on the show, Howard reviews his recent presentation aligning the Teibel Decision Making Model to generational differences in the workplace. In the process, we discuss a key resource, the generational value table. Links & Notes • Generational Value Table

Great leaders know the importance of visuals to move groups to action. This week on the show we’d like to introduce you to an expert in the art and technique of telling a story quickly, powerfully, and artistically.  Karyn Knight Detering is an artist and visual communicator and founder of Ideas Take Shape, a graphic facilitation company dedicated to helping her clients find creative ways to communicate their ideas and concepts. Her expertise is two-fold: she’s an artist, but also an improvisor, able to listen for key concepts and ideas to craft a story that cements understanding for businesses looking to drive change. She’s done some fantastic work for Howard and we’re thrilled to be able to share her ideas with you today. Links & Notes International Federation for Visual Practitioners IdeasTakeShape.com

Scott Carlson is an award winning senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he has been contributing to our field since 1999 across a range of issues: college management and finance, the cost and value of higher ed, planning, sustainability and so much more.  Today, Scott joins us to talk about his feature, “Should Everyone Go to College,” published in the Chronicle of Higher Education May 1 which has sparked some valuable discussion challenging deeply held cultural beliefs around the value of the four-year degree, vocational education, and access to educational resources for all.  Scott shares some of the surprising reactions to the piece from educators and administrators that might just pave the way for a change in how we think about education for the next generation. Links & Notes Should Everyone Go to College? by Scott Carlson About Scott Carlson

Most new engagements begin with an idea. Leadership presents an objective and the team gets to work. Whether it’s a strategy retreat or a new team-building program, the most common march is one of people moving, celebrating activity, without a pause to ask the question: will this approach achieve the results we’re looking to achieve? This week on the show, Howard Teibel shares a few common missteps in project management that can derail initiatives and offers three steps toward meeting collective buy-in and establishing momentum on your next project undertaking!

Our guest today is passionate about education. That, of course, could be said of any of us working in institutions across the country. Amy Laitinen doesn’t exercise her passion for education in the classroom, however. She fights for quality and transparency in Washington as director for higher education at New America. Today on the show, Amy joins us to share her perspective on policy in higher ed, and the role of policy in fostering innovation and quality. There’s a gap, to be sure, and today we’ll discuss the complex competing factors that impact our ability to close it in our administrative conversations.  About Amy Laitinen Amy Laitinen serves as director for higher education at New America. She’s served as a policy advisor on higher education at both the U.S. Department of Education and the White House. She was named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one top ten innovators of 2013 for her work on federal policy and competency-based education. Today, her efforts are focused on crafting federal polic

How do we transform our institutions and learning models to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students? What does “student success” mean to the academic mission of tomorrow’s institutions? How do we better adapt the college experience to address complexity and transparency? José Bowen currently serves as the 11th president of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and he joins us on the show today to help map the winding road toward student success. Along the way we learn a deceivingly valuable lesson of music: count on modulation and improvisation as a versatile leadership mentality. Links & Notes TeachingNaked.com Goucher College

Howard Teibel’s latest feature, “A Voice, a Vote, and a Veto,” hits the pages of this month’s issue of NACUBO Business Officer Magazine. It’s an approach to shared governance you might not be hearing right now, not focusing on rules, regulations, or fiduciary responsibility, rather addressing the human dynamic of shared governance and how developing your institutional skill in collaboration fosters balance and growth across academic, administration and board leadership. Our conversation today serves as both a preview, and a roadmap of three key concepts that will help you and your administrative and academic units to approach shared governance with a keen eye on the objectives you seek to achieve.  Special thanks to Dorothy Bassett who assisted in research and crafting this article. It will appear in the print edition of the magazine for one month before release online. We’ll replace the link as soon as it is available.  Links & Notes NACUBO Business Officer Magazine