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“The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary source of creativity.” – Margaret J. Wheatley
Margaret Wheatley’s quote speaks to the invigorating, creative, and realistic side of change as well as the need for all members of an organization to look at how to continuously improve in order to be nimble and able to creatively address fluctuations, opportunities, disturbances, and imbalances. Thinking about future possibilities and directions to meet stakeholder needs allows organizations to break out of their current way of thinking, look at their processes and service models, and tap into their creativity. Today, more than ever in the history of higher education, individually and organizationally employees are being called upon to be innovative, to look at processes, procedures, and structures and ask, “How can we do things more effectively and efficiently?”
Cornell realizes the importance of continuous improvement and the synergy and power that results from aligning purpose, people, and values – what is done (purpose), resources to do what is done (people), and how people go about doing those things (values).
Organizational Development for Faculty & Staff (ODFS) facilitates processes, sessions, and retreats to help leaders align and integrate their organizational goals and objectives with those of the university. We work with groups to optimize and align the talents of each employee to the university’s strategic plan and goals, and help the group understand the current state and align future goals, objectives, action plan/tactics, and resources to achieve greater productivity and efficiency.
While ODFS might suggest some processes and frameworks that are known to work and that have proven to be successful across units, we tap into each group’s individual and group expertise. A planning process involves the group:
Various frameworks can be applied when striving to achieve excellence. One example that has been developed and applied at Cornell is the Stakeholder Alignment Model, which focuses on:
Leaders at Cornell are leaders of organizational change. Leaders can expect to be called upon to consider the processes and tools available to make changes at an organizational level, and will strive to develop best practices that result in excellence for individuals, units, and the university. A leader can only know if something is a best practice if the change is measured. That makes it possible to determine if that practice resulted in continuous improvement. Hence, strategic planning at the level of the president and provost goes hand-in-hand with change leadership, which includes goal alignment, process improvement, implementation and continuous improvement.
A first step is to know where the university is going and why (strategic planning at the university level). Once senior leaders have determined the strategic plan, it is important for each unit to align their goals to that plan and determine if current processes and/or behaviors are effective and efficient. If they are not, the goal of the change leadership is to creatively and systematically create new processes, procedures, or structures that help individuals and groups be more effective. Once changes are identified, it is important to consider the impact that making the change will have to the organization and individual employees: “What will the change mean for those who are responsible, those who are accountable, those who are impacted? How will it alter work flow and work processes? What needs to be considered in terms of technology, individuals, and team dynamics?”
Cornell’s Continuous Improvement for Excellence (CIE) is a systematic methodology that provides tools to help enhance existing programs and processes, improve effectiveness, foster a collaborative work environment, and tap the expertise of employees. More +
ODFS uses a variety of individual, supervisor, manager, and team or group measurement tools and processes, and will help you custom-design any survey or tool to best meet your needs. Tools we have readily available are below. If a tool is underlined, click on it to see a sample web version. More +
Learn more about the Stakeholder Alignment Model and how it can help to achieve excellence. This page includes an overview and an in-depth look at the model.