Tradition Expiration Date

In reading some of the blogs, I think it was Todd’s I was stuck by the idea of traditions holding an organization back.  I never really gave thought to that.  The phrase “That is the way we have always done it” can have some real stuck in the mud impacts.  Right now in our department we are seriously looking at budget cuts and are also seriously looking at programmatic cuts. Some traditions might not fit with the vision of why we do what we do and might need to be put on hold or cut forever.   

It is interesting to me that we have been talking about trimming the tree of programs since many of our staff are over-tired and burnt out.  We have been having this conversation for the past 3 years.  Not until the budget cuts came along have we actually gotten buy-in from people.  Not sure, right now, how this fits into leadership, but it seems that we, as the leaders, did not have the nerve to step up and say we are cutting things. Not until we had money pulled from us do we have the ability to obtain buy-in from the staff we lead.  We are a very collaborative decision making unit and want input from all.  But sometimes, as the decision making group, we struggle with making the tough, maybe unpopular decisions. 

Having a happy staff is important, but to what end?  We talk about looking out for our young professionals and saving them from themselves with burn-out and over investment/involvement… then how can we learn to lead a little different.  Is this a tradition, potentially an unhealthy one, that we are steered/driven by the young and energetic and have a hard time saying “No”?  (Don’t get me wrong, I work in one of the best housing programs in the country, and have great leadership, just curious how this evolved).     What we do good totally outweighs where we struggle… but I feel this could be an area that we could do a little better at.  

Family Structure

Since my presentation the other night in Dr. Valentine’s class I have had an opportunity to make a connection that works for both courses.  The organization that we are looking at for one of our projects has made me look differently at a question posed to me in my presentation debrief session.

It was a question addressed the thought that too much heart in an organization and not enough structure or framework could lead to dysfunction.

It was a good question.  The org we are looking at is fully aware of the heart/family style of leadership they have and are also fully aware of the lack of structure, since they “have no budget.”  It was a choice.  Now this had me wondering.  How does this play into success?  Knowing and deciding not to act and pursue this action is a decision.   It made me think, the leader is obviously knowledgeable and it appears that the staff knows this….  To this end I think it has made the family style they value so much stronger.    An organization can be run like a machine, mechanical and step-by-step without personal care or heart.  But it can be lead in a different direction with emotion and “touch.”  This touch piece whether physical or symbolic can lead to a better organization and better output. 

However, there does need to be structure…. How much, I don’t know, but without it people will be able to hug all day and hold hands to unemployment line….  There needs to be a balance, but finding that balance is the trick. 

Good luck everyone with finding this balance…