Providing the motivation to pursue excellence
When I was young, just like other kids, I would receive instruction from my parents on a daily basis. Clean your room. Help with the dishes. Don’t be late. Just like most kids, my response at times was, “why?” Sometimes I received an explanation, but on occasion, I heard the non-explanation, “Because I said so.”
For me, “Because I said so” was a dreaded phrase. It indicated further questions were unwelcome, and it was so unsatisfying. Sometimes I really wanted to know why. (Let’s face it, sometimes the question reflected a spirit of complaining or disobedience rather than curiosity! But I digress.)
The bottom line is: We tend not to be fans of “Because I said so.”
When a rule or a process affects us, we want to understand it. In every organization I’ve been a part of, when a policy or process changed, people wanted to know why. Sometimes, the why was evident. Maybe a broadly used and unpopular, multi-step process was shortened to a few, simpler, easy-to-understand steps. That change will generally be lauded whether there was an explanation attached or not! The improvement is self-evident.
Other times, a policy changes, and we do not understand. This often occurs when the change directly affects us – a perceived reduction in benefits, a more complicated process, an increase in workload. When this type of change is implemented without clear and convincing information, there tends to be some grumbling. Oftentimes, employees understand the changes, even if they do not agree, and they carry on (or move on).
In the world of higher education, colleges and universities work with regional and program-level accrediting bodies who provide the standards the institution or program must meet. In many of these institutions, there is a culture of “Because [insert accrediting body name here] said so.” This is likely meant to shorten discussion and encourage compliance. Why? “Because we have to.”
I am not a fan of that approach.
Colleges and universities are complex. Living out the mission and reaching the vision requires each area to be “firing on all cylinders.” Each member of the organization needs to understand their role and how it fits into the larger organization. Each department needs to understand how their work supports the overall goals of the institution. We need clear and transparent communication to achieve this. Simply put, “Because we have to” will not suffice.
Additionally, the “because” excuse is sometimes offered as a cover. A program-level or institutional leader wants to change something (or more often, not change something), so they provide the “we have to do it this way because of accreditation” reasoning. Sometimes this is sincere and accurate. But in my experience, I have observed this occurring because of resistance to change, resistance to the direction of a leader, or a desire to accomplish something unpopular (but supposedly required to be in compliance).
Because of this, the purpose of accreditation, its standards, and how a given organization complies with those standards (or hopefully exceeds them!) should be broadly and frequently communicated. Although there may be one “guru” on campus who knows the ins and outs, there needs to be a base level of understanding by all and a much deeper understanding by those in key roles. This is not accomplished in a “because we have to” culture.
Accreditation is an opportunity. When it’s viewed as a burden or treated as a weapon, institutions fail to capitalize on the opportunity to examine each standard through the lens of the institutional mission and identify and then determine how each can be achieved and exceeded. When we all understand organizational mission and identity and our roles within them, we have a common well of motivation from which to draw.
Let go of “because we have to” and embrace the road to excellence accreditation provides. ABL Wise Consulting would love to help.
pc: Artem Beliaikin via Unsplash
