These are the some of my ahah conclusions as 2009 winds down:

1. 6 is no good
   Representative committees are no good. Of late, truly useful interaction and progress has occurred only when there are 5 or fewer participants in the room.
2. Buck the futility of meetings and the tyranny of the email onslaught
   More gets accomplished through MSN and before/after meetings, than in meetings or through emails. One can save a lot of time by cutting out 90% of emails, and all meetings with more than 6 participants. Show up once in a while, bail on the rest?  (Additional inspiration: HBR – Manage your Time Like Jim Collins)
3. Lay low – Full stop on the meta-discussion
   Leaders across the organization are supposed to care about the how/who/why, but given their every-day they could really not care less. The results should be the focus, and I am sure that good results will win any argument. I should stop trying to get consensus/understanding on the “why” and “how”. Consensus has rarely been achieved, and when it has, it hasn´t gotten us anywhere really. ROI on time invested = .01.
4. A good model seems like a good goal – but it really just looks good on a slide
   What I bring to the table (and the same can be said of my most effective colleagues) probably doesn´t fit nicely into any role, in ANY organizational model that might solve what ails us.  The university is decentralized, and lets not kid ourselves, future centralization efforts won´t be plucking people from among the existing rank and file.  So you are outside of the box, far removed from the politics, you might want to take a second look around.And if one is already outside the box, why try and hop inside it? Maybe misguided craziness?
5. Geeks and nerds will always be a bit rogue
   It is often the uniqueness, the oddities and special talents of those in some of the best teams, not sameness that yields great results. Increasingly  the “odd-man-out ” in every single org model discussed lately, my gut feeling is that maybe I should just stick to participating in the virtual teams and ad-hoc collaborations.  It is even possible to further self-organize without getting anyone´s blessing.  This might also be more fun, in addition to being more effective.

   All we need now  is a secret handshake or a code word, maybe even a lair.
   

6. Fun shouldn´t be tabled for later
   Maslow was right.  Money is not what drives everyone. After my basic needs are met, I work because I want to achieve something more, and I like much of what I do.  We are not all characters in The Office, and it is possible to be too focused sometimes. One´s job can NOT be 150% about the organizations goals. (This can burn people out and that helps no one). Plan for a bit more fun, and few other bits from the top of old Maslow´s hierarchy.
7. If you build it, they won´t necessarily come, but maybe.
   Compelling is: finished products that can be demonstrated; processes that have achieved some results, and systems that are up and running. These are way more compelling that any plan or description.  Example: Installed WordPress and  Joomla, then people started using them. Propose adoption of WordPress MU and we got a institutional skepticism, budget concerns and a report. Propose a video and you get a long discussion. Make a video and you get a video. Develop an interaction yourself an you please your users; request a developer to develop it, and you get a place on their massive todo list.  Choose what is fastest.

It´s not worth blaming anyone, it´s not ideal. It´s not how we want things to be. It´s just how it is. (Unless you are lucky enough to work at Ben & Jerry´s or Google. Lucky, talented, ducks.)

* Translations:

julebord = corporate Christmas party in Norway
ribbe = traditional Norwegian Christmas pork ribs

• Ole Nordal – Research Scientist – Computer and Information Science
  Life according to Ole Nordal – http://ola.teks.no/blog/
• Arne Krokan – Sociology and Political Science
  Oppvekst i det Digitale Nettsamfunnet – http://arnek.wordpress.com/
• Torbjørn Digernes – University Rector
  Rektors-side – http://www.ntnu.no/rektors-side
• Rolf Andre Bohne - Researcher Industrial Ecology – Sustainable infrastructure.
  http://bohne.blogg.no/
• Rune Andersen – IT engineer – Web development at the Faculty
  IMEbeta  http://www.ime.ntnu.no/blog/beta/
• Team NTNU – Cross country ski team (langrennsløperne) – The sport and events

  http://www.ntnu.no/blogger/team-ntnu

• Geomatics research group – Faculty and students – Geomatics, maps
  Terra Incognita http://geomatikk.blogspot.com/
• Alexander Nossum – PhD research fellow – Geomatics (Visual analytics)
  What’s Sound?  http://blog.eksplisitt.net/
• AltUnd members – Student group for alternative teaching methods – Web criticism and trends
  AltUnd – http://altund.wordpress.com/
• University Library Staff – Libraries at NTNU
  UBiT 2010 – http://ubit.blogs.bibsys.no/ubit2010/
• NTNU Information dept. & marketing staff - Innovation and entrepreneurship
  Partnere for nyskaping http://www.ntnu.no/innovator/

(To do: Organize this list :) )

Administration and PR

• Harvard Business School blog – “From the Director”
  www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html
• University of Chicago Law School – Faculty Blog
  uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2006/01/why_the_senate_.html
• Princeton University Library Blog
  blogs.princeton.edu/englib/
• From the President’s desk – Michigan State University
  president.msu.edu/
• University of Oxford – admissions interview blog (www.oxblogster.blogspot.com/ )
  www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/071206.html
• NTNU ! Geomatikk blogg – Terra Incognita (for studenter og ansatte ved faggruppen for geomatikk)geomatikk.blogspot.com/
• Alumni blogs – MIT Sloan School of management
  mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/alumni/blogs
• Harvard University Press Publicity Blog
  harvardpress.typepad.com/
• Dean of Engineering – University of Connecticut
  dean.engr.uconn.edu/blog/
• Dean of Arts and Sciences – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  ascweb.blogspot.com/