Shift Your Paradigm and Drink the Kool-Aid | From the Bell Tower

Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA -- Library Journal, 7/9/2009

I had to chuckle when I came across this article from business consultants offering advice on the “12 workplaces phrases you don’t know but should.” Is there really anyone left who isn’t familiar with terms like “paradigm” or “holistic”? I admit to being less familiar with phrases like “boiling the ocean” or “talking to the dog,” but would I really want to use either of those in any workplace conversation? I don’t think so.

Curious about those phrases; see the article. Some of these business terms are trite, irrelevant or simply unusable, but let’s not base our judgment of business ideas on old clichés. I encourage academic librarians to pay attention to innovative ideas from the world of business that can influence our thought and action.

If it’s business it’s bad
There are two types of academic librarians; those who hate any suggestion that we adopt business ideas and strategies, and those who advocate the value of taking cues from practices in the manufacturing, retail, and service sectors. For those who rail against the taint of anything business related, I’m sorry to inform you that the horse is long out of the gate.

Use chat service at your library? That originated with call center software used by banks and retailers. Have a café in your library? That idea was pioneered by chain bookstores. Use self-service checkout machines? You probably noticed how similar they are to ATMs. Adopting time-tested ideas is simply good practice. Associating them with “selling out” may make you feel better, but ask yourself, is that attitude helping or hurting the members of your user community?

Bandwagon jumping not required
What probably turns academic librarians anti-business is the endless procession of fads that never amount to much of value. Do you remember intrapreneurship, rightsizing, or matrix management? These are just a few business trends from the past.

I agree that chasing every new business idea and practice is a losing proposition. You don’t need an MBA to know that some business ideas have little staying power, and no one can deny that some business practices have led to disastrous consequences for individual companies and even entire industries. The challenge to our profession is to avoid jumping on each new management guru’s bandwagon. Academic librarians need to make good decisions about which business ideas and practices to adopt and which ones to ignore.

Our leaders are paying attention
However you feel about adopting business practices, it’s impossible to ignore the direction our institutional administrators are heading. Facing their most severe financial challenges in decades, college and university leaders are increasingly paying attention to new business models.

Nowhere was this trend more obvious than at the recent Thinking Big in a Crisis conference where academic leaders were warned that unless colleges reformed their business models, higher education could face the same fate as the housing and banking industries. Higher education is looking into three-year degrees, more online programs, and the lessons to be learned from businesses that are thriving. The real danger say the experts is in keeping things the same.

All part of future proofing
Coming out of a tradition of service and non-profit principles, it’s understandable to question why our parent institutions and our own libraries need to closely examine how new business models may improve our operations. Our profession is about educating people, instilling values for lifelong learning, and preserving knowledge. That’s hardly the stuff of business enterprises. But if we fail to put into place mechanisms that ensure a strong future for higher education, we may end up having no future at all or one that is controlled by for-profit firms or possibly even the government.

Adopting smart business principles need not be synonymous with greed, exploited workers, or any corrupt practices associated with the dark side of business. It was Library Journal that first publicized the idea of future-proofing for libraries. The goal of future-proofing is to identify practices libraries can adopt to withstand future change as they position themselves as flexible, highly-adaptable organizations. While some business terminology may leave us shaking our head and chuckling, we can’t afford to ignore any smart practices the world of business offers to help us maintain relevancy.

Steven Bell is Associate University Librarian, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.  For more from Steven visit his blogs, Kept-Up Academic Librarian, ACRLog and Designing Better Libraries or visit his web site.

Read more Newswire stories:

New Developments in Georgia State U. Copyright Suit

ProQuest To Launch Unified Content Platform

Newswire Feature: Veteran Librarians

E. J. Josey, Legendary Activist Librarian and Leader, Dies at 85

The Political Winners (and Sinners) of the Year

Columns:
Search Engine Wars Redux | Stacking the Tech

Mistakes Were Made: What We Can Learn from the Political Theory Affair | Peer to Peer Review

EBSCO Publishing releases Academic Search R&D; Serials Solutions marketing Ulrich’s XML Data Service; Duke Libraries launch DukeMobile 1.1

People

Best Sellers in African History