Patience with a Sense of Urgency

Referring back to the original installment of this blog, Email is for Old People and Other E-piphanies, we discussed the difference in expectations of various generations as it relates to the timeliness of communication. Looking beyond communication, Gen Xers and Millenials push for action – immediate action in response to any of their (our) needs. While technology gives us the easiest examples, such as one high-speed internet provider’s suggestion that anything less than instantaneous is “so dial-up,” the need for speed extends to any and all services. But it’s not just the post-baby boomers that have benefited from greater speed – our entire society (including those over forty) has morphed its expectations and definition of a reasonable response time to align with the desires of the younger generations.

Harvesting the abundant sources of inspiration for changing how we do business, we of course recognize that our students have increased their expectations of us (or rather they just haven’t decreased their expectations relative to their familiar retail-oriented surroundings). Beyond our student population are our employees. As the workforce becomes younger and our students actually become our employees, they look outside of higher education to the corporate world and see the benefits and flexibilities afforded its workers. In spite of perceptions and myths that those working in industry have greater demands placed on them and therefore deserve the highest level of work-life advantages, employees in the public sector have increased their expectations as well. So, if we want the best employees – and we do want the best employees – we need to adapt in order to compete.

Sure, there is some pushback from Traditionals and Baby Boomers as they advise the “youngsters” to be patient, to take it easy and things will work out – ah, the wisdom of experience. Things do work out – when we make them work out. Gen Xers and Millenials don’t understand why decisions cannot be made, actions taken, and plans implemented if we have all the information we need. “Where is your sense of urgency?” they might ask. The answer to balancing what seems like rushing and greater risk to some with what seems like stalling and missed opportunities to others might be a blended picture – less than absolute certainty of our decisions with absolute certainty of our actions. Let’s take the time to do our due diligence, but let’s not overdo it – it’s okay to accept some risk. Then, let’s implement. Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines is quoted as saying, “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.”

So as we strive along with President Haynes to become a “best place to learn and work” for our students and our employees, let’s create an environment where we are patient to a point, yet stay on task to move forward – patience with a sense of urgency.

“Git ‘er done!”