Periodic_Musings

Doris Kearns Goodwin

This was a fascinating session at the most recent Educause conference, not only for the content, but because Doris Goodwin is one of the most engaging speakers I have have ever seen/heard. Her keynote, on the relevance of Abraham Lincoln's leadership skills to higher education, was drawn from her 10 years of research that culminated in her widely-acclaimed book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Goodwin emphasized that to lead well, a leader needs both political skills and emotional strength, and an ability to ability to motivate oneself in face of frustration – "being stronger in the broken spaces."

She included many stories to emphasize her points, but in summary she stated that Lincoln was a superb leader because he manifest these timeless leadership skills:

Listening to differing points of view – he created a climate where people were free to disagree.

Learning on the job - he learned from the mistakes he made, knowing that his response to mistakes was more important than not making any.

Willingness to share credit for success - he created a reservoir of good feeling, believing that the path to success was broad enough for 2 (or more) people to walk side by side.

Willing to shoulder blame for subordinates

Having an acute awareness of his own weaknesses - he compensated by augmenting his deficiencies by with team members' strengths

Controlling one's emotions – he vented his strong emotions by writing “hot letters”, things he would have liked to have said, but didn't

Having the strength to adhere to the fundamental goals – he refrained from reacting to short term problems which would undermine his long term goals: saving the Union and enacting emancipation

Knowing how to relax and replenish – in addition to attending the theater as much as possible, he developed a fine sense of humor, which he often used to break the tension - "he'd laugh so he wouldn't weep"

Assessing the situation directly - aka "managing by walking around" - he visited the soldiers, which gained him the soldiers' respect and loyalty

Showing sensitivity to current situation and audience - he used everyday metaphors for explanations to ensure understanding

Goodwin described an excellent set of characteristics applicable for all leaders - something to strive for.

OK, OK, I know I should blog about all the sessions I did attend at Educause this fall, but I came across a session that I could not attend (my flight beckoned), but wished I had.

Folks from Johns Hopkins University discussed Wiki and Project Management - the following description was taken from the Educause session description:

... will introduce wiki concepts and explore their use in project management and in supporting IT systems in higher education. JHU's implementation of a new student information system extensively uses an enterprise wiki, which will be highlighted, along with use cases, examples, and lessons learned.

From the handouts I downloaded from the Educause program, I discovered group actions that help or hinder the adoption of wikis. Very insightful!

Bottom line of this presentation is that JHU has been very successful in using a wiki to manage the development and implementation of self-service software for the student body. They appear to be using the wiki for document management, for communication (a decrease in emails!!), and for formal gathering of institutional memory. They also use this wiki for their review and approval process, capturing meeting notes and follow ups, and tracking wish list items. Johns Hopkins also plans to migrate the documentation into a yet-to-be-created knowledge base.

I'm only sorry that I didn't get a chance to hear all of the details from the JHU folks themselves. Their presentation materials are outstanding.

Doing my daily morning scan of the Collegian I ran across an editorial, Like Sex, Facebook Often a Bad Idea. I was intrigued by the title, but then quickly became even more intrigued by the content.

This editorial was reminding students how to protect their private data from prying Internet eyes. And, here's where the compliment comes in, the editorial cited ITS as

trying to pound this message into students' heads for some time now. Unfortunately, not all students listen to the instructions on the colorful residence hall posters.

Sure, it's tough to believe those ITS officials (they're probably just jealous because no one wanted to upload their photos), but they might be onto something this time.

ITS has put considerable effort into warning students about protecting their digital identity as well as protecting their computer. This fall, we also placed more than 11,000 magnets with an eye-catching, condensed version of this message in residence hall rooms across the University.

ITS often wonders if our informational campaigns even register with the student psyche. Based on this editorial and similar experiences at the Student Involvement Fair and Libraries Open House, I think we're beginning to make an impact.

Here are samples of the very successful magnets. Some students have even mentioned that they are trying to collect all four in the series! More proof that this has been a highly successful campaign.

Beware of Phishing Scams:

Don't Share Your Password:

Use Anti-spyware:

Protect Your Privacy:

I was an eye witness to the influx of 8,000+ First Year students on Friday and Saturday because the MAC group worked alongside the Computer Store folks in Findlay Commons. I'm sure this experience was significantly more enjoyable for me than for the students and their parents.

The MAC group's role was to be available to answer questions and help students configure their new laptop locks. The questions ran the gamut of "where's Wal-Mart" to "where can I buy light bulbs" to "where can I get Microsoft Office".

Even though there was high heat and high humidity, there was an air of expectancy and celebration. I was struck not only by the diversity of the students - ethnicity, socio-economic, etc. - but by the diversity of preparedness the students exhibited. Some had already begun to take control of their new role, others waited for their parents to tell them the next steps.

What I was most proud of was the willingness of ITS staff to assist above and beyond their designated roles for Arrival Weekend. Everything was about helping the students get settled, offering a friendly hello, and showing Penn State Pride. So many parents mentioned how welcoming everyone was, not just ITS folks. The University community rose above various silos and represented the University, not self-interests.

Wow! what an experience. And what a great way to interact with the students.

In going through my Google Reader, I came across this blog by Seth Godin, one of my favorite forward thinking marketers. His blog entry is focused on the recent tornado in Brooklyn and why people were mad. And it wasn't the tornado or the weather that caused their anger.

Many of us are busily working on how we handle business if/when there is some kind of emergency/disaster/outage. What Seth expertly points out, "Bottom line: the first thing to rehearse is your communication strategy. You can't predict weird events, but you can get really good at alerting people when they happen."

The recent fiber cut near the Dickinson construction site on University Park campus proved this point well for ITS. As far as I know, there was no massive increase in messages to the Help Desk and the NOC wasn't receiving lots of complaints. In fact, I have yet to hear of any complaints. Now, that may be because I haven't talked to the right groups or people, but I really think it is because ITS has an ALERTS system which posts to many Web sites, creates RSS feeds, and (although this was a problem) posts to listervs. The communication channels are there.

It is my belief that the technical people across the University knew to check these distribution mechanisms, found the information they needed, and communicated with their areas.

Information is powerful. If you tell people what's going on, they might not like the information, but they will certainly appreciate being made aware.

The MAC group had a very successful strategic planning retreat yesterday. What impressed me the most was the collaborative and cooperative spirit that everyone brought to the table. The energy and motivation was palpable. And at the end of a long 6 hours, we had created the beginnings of our strategic plan and the momentum to craft a final document. This is a plan that everyone is helping to build and that everyone can live with.

The lessons learned from our experience?
- having a voice is important to the process
- knowing the goals of the work unit helps give context to daily work
- stepping back and examining how (or if) projects fit into the larger picture makes saying "no" easier
- good ideas can come from anyone, regardless of role or title or responsibility

Once our plan has been completed, we will be posting it on Inside ITS, the internal ITS site. BTW, one of our strategic goals is to promote communication and collaboration within ITS. Watch for more details in the future.

Following the meeting, someone pointed out that without any general announcement, everyone had voluntarily turned off their cell phone and not used their laptop to check mail during the work periods. Interesting...

I participated in the WebCast hosted by Deloitte and Touche today. Speakers included Graham Spanier as part of his role as chair of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, David Szady, former assistant director of counterintelligence for the FBI, and Mr. Gelles (missed his first name) who is responsible for human capital management for D&T.

This was a thought-provoking discussion on the nature of insider threats to organizations, which have not received the kind of attention or dollars as have external threats to the U.S. The Webinar focused on the definition of insider threat (any employee who has access to sensitive, classified or proprietary information), how the evolving technology and workforce factors are creating and elevating risks, and possible strategies to minimize damages and manage threats.

A poll taken during the session (I assume corporate and higher ed attendees) showed that 30% have a plan in place and a bit more than 10% are working on a plan. That leaves a whopping 60% with no plan or recognition that they need a plan! Luckily, Penn State has the IPAS initiative underway, aimed at enhancing data security practices at the University. In another question aimed at identifying the most worrisome item for organizations, 36% indicated concern over the loss of classified information. Interestingly, Graham indicated that he is most concerned about the the IT infrastructure.

David Szady reviewed the "perfect storm", the combination of things that lead to higher risks. These include personality factors (grandiose or self-serving, high achiever, limited personal attachments, manipulative) + a life crisis + access to sensitive data. It's interesting to note that he continually reinforced that having the named personality factors alone is not sufficient to point fingers at potential data security risks. Many people label their boss with these personality characteristics! Rather, these behaviors could be warning signs of impending problems. Most employees who breach data security use their actions as a mechanism to retaliate for perceived injustice or inequities. Because these are discernible behaviors, it is important to properly manage people, who are an organizations most valuable resource.

In a final poll, 46% of the audience rated realistic assessment of vulnerabilities as the most important element of risk management. The general recommendations to mitigate potential risks are to recognize potential vulnerabilities, identify any patterns of risk and manage the context (i.e. the technology, facilities, and personnel).

Several of the MAC group met with Cole Camplese and some folks from ETS recently. We had gathered to discuss possibilities for using Web 2.0 mechanisms for a re-design of the ITS intranet, Inside ITS. The goal is to make this site more interactive for ITS employees, and not just a periodic push of information.

We discussed providing forums, which would be open to everyone in ITS, for employees to discuss various topics, projects, or questions . A central IM listing of "who's on in ITS" could also be provided to facilitate rapid communication without using email. More and more ITS staff are using blogs, and once blogs.psu.edu becomes available to all ITS employees, there will be more posts. So, including blog headlines might be beneficial.

A bit of background: ETS began an internal Web 2.0 site with these features and others, and over time, more and more of the ETS staff began to participate. The site has now been expanded to include all of TLT, and some others, by request.

This site has increased communications for everyone in TLT. So, how can this model be expanded to allow everyone in ITS to share in the communication benefits?

One of the major sticking points, especially from the larger ITS perspective, is how to accommodate the cross-unit communications, which many ITS employees have indicated is needed, while not infringing on unit-specific communications. This comes down to the large group affiliation (ITS) v. the smaller group affiliation (MAC, etc.)

While we are actively striving to melt the silo mentalities, people still need a method for work group communication, a more private place for discussions. But where does the smaller work group blend into the larger whole?

A very interesting communication dilemma. Suggestions welcome.

In January the MAC group began creation of our first podcast. We decided to go this route as another mechanism to try to engage students in learning about technology tools - things that will help them save time, money and anxiety while at Penn State.

We didn't want to do just the "disembodied voice" type podcast, but one that would be a bit more edgy, more creative, and hopefully more engaging. None of us understood what that kind of criteria meant. I now have a much greater respect for those who write a weekly sitcom.

My office has become a recording studio, complete with a McGyver-type coat hanger and knee-high hose apparatus to tone down some of the more exhuberant "talent" who appear in the podcasts.

While this has become a very creative outlet for folks from the Mac group, the Computer Store and ASET, we have yet to see any kind of increase in those who listen. But someone has to be out there on the bleeding edge, so we quietly market the podcasts, and wait to be discovered.

In case you want to check out what we've been up to, listen in, or better yet, subscribe so you don't miss any episodes:

https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/BrowsePrivately/psu.edu.1265271942

As I was preparing for the ITS all-staff meeting yesterday, several others and I spent considerable time dealing with the technology necessary to make all of the pieces work: Powerpoint, Keynote, QuickTime, iTunes, a dash of VPN, remote control software, and others. All of this amounted to the generation of much stress for everyone involved.

This got me to thinking. If those of us in ITS, who supposedly have a great deal more understanding of technology, encounter difficulty in pulling off a complicated series of presentations, what must our customers experience when they try to use technology in the classroom or for presentations?

Do we in ITS fully recognize the implications of our technology suggestions to faculty and staff who may not have the same skill set, the patience, or the support resources to implement a technology tool? Do we appreciate the stress of using technology in front of a group of students? The "What if it doesn't work?" "My students will think I'm really dumb." apprehension.

I think we in ITS sometimes get caught up in the "technology will solve everything" or the "this is so cool" viewpoint. Technology is not "cool stuff" to most people.

Faculty and staff just want to get their work done; that's their primary goal. Technology is merely a tool to accomplish that end, as long as it works easily and seamlessly. (emphasis on "easily")

We need to continue to remind ourselves that technology is a means to an end for our customers.