Why Committees Don’t Work: Creating a Structure for Change – William G. Tierney

Don’t make up rules as we go along.  Have a structure that creates policy and administrators who carry them out so that problems do not remain sequestered in one or another committee or task force and then die out.

Roadblocks to reform – solutions:

People can’t agree on the problem to be solved – Foster an atmosphere of agreement

Time frames and structures are not clear – Define roles and time frames

There are no evaluative criteria – Seek comparative data

Changes are not communicated – Ensure good communications

The system freezes – why bother attitude – Encourage an innovation-friendly culture

Fostering an innovation friendly culture is three fold:

1. Make goals and objectives clear so that people feel they are accomplishing something.

2. Convey a consistent message that while we move on to a new goal or objective that we are striving to maintain awareness that we are mindfully improving the process.

3. Reward people for their efforts so that people know that the college is committed to innovation rather than the status quo.

            Honor and respect ideas that initiate innovation

            Honor the reformers for guiding the ideas to fruition

            Send the message that ideas are encouraged and implemented (don’t poison the             culture by setting people up to fail).

            Invigorate the campus community with a sense of renewed purpose

Merit Pay, Market Conditions, Equity, and Faculty Compensation- Marilyn J. Amey and Kim E.VanDerLinden

“If faculty are intrinsically motivated, a merit pay system may inhibit performance and productivity if conflicts develop within departments over its fairness, or between individual and institutional goals.”

De-emphasize competition.

Draw in people who are very good, but who are not the superstars – this will insure collegiality and buy in to institutional values

The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities – Steven Reiss

“There is no real evidence that intrinsic motivation even exits.”  The argument is that people should do something because they enjoy it, and that rewards only sabotage natural desire.”

Reiss’ 16  basic desires (I struck through the desires I believe are not associated with shared governance)

Power is the desire to influence others.

Independence is the desire for self-reliance.

Curiosity is the desire for knowledge.

Acceptance is the desire for inclusion.

Order is the desire for organization.

Saving is the desire to collect things.

Honor is the desire to be loyal to one’s parents and heritage

Idealism is the desire for social justices.

Social contact is the desire for companionship.

Family is the desire to raise one’s own children.

Status is the desire for social standing.

Vengeance is the desire to get even.

Romance is the desire for sex and beauty.

Eating is the desire to consume food.

Physical Activity is the desire for exercise of muscles.

Tranquility is the desire for emotional calm.

Management implications of the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards – David Beswick

“When people are intrinsically motivated they tend to be more aware of a wide range of phenomena, while giving careful attention to complexities, inconsistencies, novel events and unexpected possibilities.  They need time and freedom to make choices, to gather and process information, and have an appreciation of well finished and integrated products, all of which may lead to a greater depth of learning and more creative output.”

Completion of the task is extremely important and leads to an appetite and interest for becoming more involved; therefore, seeking more opportunities to satisfy the need for participation.

Teresa Amabile – Harvard Business School, Secondary or macro type of intrinsic satisfaction from extrinsic rewards can manage the effects of extrinsic rewards which do not inhibit the operation of intrinsic motivation for engagement in the task.

• People must be allowed to have a degree of freedom to choose their approaches to their work,
• To fail occasionally without ridicule or punishment,
• To stretch their horizons in terms of working with others who will share their knowledge,
• And to feel comfortable knowing that the organization supports their work with the requisite resources. 
• Otherwise, they will keep trying the safe, narrow, repetitive approaches to solving problems.

Cognitive process theory, which is concerned with the depth type of curiosity, consistent sensitivity to small discrepancies against an ordered background is due to two contrasting facets of curiosity as a trait: openness to novel stimuli and a concern for orderliness.

• Assist them with training to aid in information gathering and processing
• Acknowledging success will increase confidence in their abilities and will resolve conceptual conflicts
• They will create new and better order if successful
• Do not heighten anxiety by introducing an extrinsic reward, rather contribute to personal growth and fulfillment by acceptance and a culture of openness to innovative thinking
• Management of incentives for intrinsically motivated behavior becomes critically important if the positive effects of intrinsic motivation are not to be lost.  The following personality dynamics moderate the effects of rewards.  People feel a sense of power and effectiveness when the following concepts are present:
  • Personal (internal) causation (deCharmes)
    • Origin: independent determination of one’s goals
    • Free choice of means to achieve the goals
    • Realistic assessment of abilities and relationships with others and the environment
    • Self confidence in one’s ability to initiate successful behavior leading to a positive conclusion

*Provide warm commendation and encouragement to increase a sense of personal causation – extrinsic rewards should provide information relevant to people achieving their own standards of excellence.

*Create relationship of conditions in the environment that enhance rather than suppress intrinsic motivation

• Self-determination (Deci and Ryan)

*People who are intrinsically motivated feel independently responsible as a causal agent rather than having their behavior determined by many interacting contingencies

• Responsibility (Winter) – was conceived as a stable disposition, a cluster of beliefs and values that act to shape the ways in which motives are expressed (not as a motive which might energize and direct behavior)
  • Self-control
  • Awareness of the consequences of one’s actions
  • Owning one’s behavior
  • Taking responsibility for others
• Responsible people exhibit moral standards, obligation and concern for others and altruism that is oriented towards consequences for the future; therefore, rewards come in the completion of a goal and the knowledge and understanding of who they are and where they are heading as an integrated responsible agent.

The theory of integration occurs when identified regulations are fully assimilated to the self, which means that they have been evaluated and brought into congruence with one’s other values and needs.  Therefore, social conditions and tangible rewards will have a facilitating effect on intrinsic motivation when they enable further development of an integrated person through personally meaningful purposeful behavior.

There is an important link between the development, protection, amplification, and effectiveness of intrinsic motivation and the primitive tendency towards integration.

Emergent Themes and Thoughts

Culture that recognizes and promotes

            Freedom of time

            Independence

            Responsibility

            Input without ridicule or punishment

            Individual goals and objectives (personal causation)

            Completion of goals and objectives

            People who contribute to cultural values

            Individual motives

            Support of individual and group work

            Openness to novel stimuli

            Concern for orderliness

We need to think of a way to satisfy the motives of the people who are not actively serving on the University Senate or on standing committees.