This is Why We’re Hot

Wow! As many times that I have heard President Haynes speak and as many times that her words have spoken to me, I was awestruck at convocation as she described to all of us just why California State University San Marcos, our university, is “hot.” In the President’s remarks at convocation, she appreciated the progress we’ve made, recognized the accomplishments we’ve enjoyed, and then boldly led us into the future.

Courageously, she creates a vivid image of what the picture looks like for us in 2010, with deadlines and specificity that had many of us taking notes, written on paper or emblazoned into our long term memories, of our roles in the development of that future. With enrollment growth as a campus of first choice, we will build the buildings – academic buildings, student union, and student housing; improve our student retention; continue our efforts to engage the community – public school partnerships and community service learning; and more.

Yes, we are “hot”…hot for all of the reasons that President Haynes portrayed. But more than that, we are “hot” because of the commitment and collaboration that she instills in us, demands of us, giving us permission to be successful. Thank you President Haynes for your own contribution – your leadership – that inspires the inspired, that motivates the motivated.

We have a clear picture of how our great faculty, of how our great staff, will work together; to serve our students and our community; to plan and act; to assess and reassess; to be bold and courageous – like our President. We have our assignments – the heat has been turned up. Let’s do it.

It’s Not You, It’s Me

Not it’s not what you think – I don’t mean this in the pop culture dating sense of the expression (often used in tandem with “I can’t go out with you that night, I’m washing my hair”). Let’s look at another application for this line – as it relates to responsibility. When something goes awry, as things do from time to time (we all have temporary setbacks), how do we know whether we should accept responsibility for the current state or if we should apportion responsibility to others? The answer is easier than you might think.

A simple rule of thumb for the assumption of responsibility is that the same folks that would have received (or perhaps did receive) the credit if things went well, should also assume the responsibility for the temporary setback…and its resolution…if things didn’t go well. While the concept is easy and straightforward, the implementation and practice of the concept are not. After all, others might find out that someone made a mistake, or worse yet, performance indicators, measures of success, or other benchmarks that mean we are outstanding may not have been reached. What then?

Actually, accepting responsibility for things that go wrong is a measure of success in itself. Some of the most favorable responses and feedback I have received from others have been when I goofed up and then admitted it. (Not all of these confessions have been purposeful – sometimes I just couldn’t get out of the way). Well and then there is the part where you have to fix it if you accept responsibility.

So the question is, if you really are responsible, won’t you have to fix it anyway, whether you admit it or not? Yes. Isn’t it better to admit it then up front and take your beating early (I don’t really mean take a beating – it’s just an expression)? Yes.

My advice is to accept responsibility if it belongs to you, because it’s not me, it’s you.

When the Student is Ready

In our efforts to teach others or at least help others learn, we might be perplexed when they simply don’t “get it” when the lesson seems apparent to us – we might even want to force the learning experience. This often happens when parents want their children to learn from the mistakes that the parents have made, so that the children might avoid some of the painful learning experiences.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), we must learn our own lessons and it cannot be forced. If you recall those moments when you had an epiphany or when “the light bulb went on,” you might ask yourself, “Why didn’t I get it sooner?” Or we might say to ourselves “If I knew then what I know now…” or some other expression of wanting to have learned or understood sooner.

A friend of mine recently told me that “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” Apparently, noted poet Kahlil Gibran may have also said this (as well as some other Buddhist prophets and bumper sticker purveyors), but my friend said it when I needed to hear it, or at least when this student was ready. While I still believe that the best way to predict the future is to create it and that we can positively affirm change within ourselves, change comes from learning and learning is a process that happens over time. Sometimes life’s lessons come when we are open to learning them – they come naturally – and that’s okay.

Whether you’re 50 years old or 95 years old, there remain lessons to learn everyday and that is a wonderful thing and what makes the human experience, well…so human. So give yourself permission to not know everything, to be a lifelong learner, and to allow some of your lessons, some of your own life, to happen when it happens.

"When spring comes, the grass grows by itself." – Tao Te Ching