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Authority Without Responsibility
Feb
Jan 2008
It's a hallmark of collegiate life: students loitering in hallways, sprawled out across couches
and work tables, studying and laughing at any and every hour. The glossy, full-color brochures
sent out by admission offices boasts these scenes in candid photos. Upperclassmen tour guides
nonchalantly gesture at the random assemblies when corralling potential undergrads. But at one
campus, there is an undercurrent of suspicion in these idyllic environs. That administration
has changed the rules. The furniture police have arrived.
Moving the furniture is verboten, but is changing the angle of
the recliner a thoughtcrime?
The furnishings in their modern hallways are now firmly affixed to the floor and festooned with
warning signs. No student, staff, nor faculty member can claim ignorance of the new policy. If
one dared to ignored this edict, it would require super-human strength (or at least a screwdriver)
to adjust the position of an end table within the fabric of space-time. Let it be known: this
furniture is bolted.
A Broken Culture
This might seem like an inconsequential change in policy announced with some overzealous signage.
True, student groups can no longer shift chairs to form study circles or reposition coffee tables
to reduce muscle strain, but those freedoms are less than crucial. Leaders must act decisively
and the overnight deployment of hundreds of fasteners certainly demonstrates the capacity for
quick action. What's wrong with a little bolting?
If a change affects others, information about the change should be commensurate with the degree
of impact. These administrators have brandished their authority without explanation. When you
wield power over someone else but don't tell them why, it feels like tyranny. Authority without a stated
cause inspires the beleaguered to rebellion. As repeated by action movie heroes and angsty teenagers
everywhere, "Go ahead and try and make me."
The Case of the Mysterious Furniture Policy is another classic organizational failure: authority without
responsibility. The powers-that-be have the official clout, the self-importance, as well as the color
printers and power tools needed to bolt down furniture and affix vague, accusatory signage. They do
not have the responsibility to involve the affected population or even explain themselves. It's doubtful
that the students were even considered. After all, the entire concept of a university is that
we know what is best for them.
Just the Facts, Ma'am
Like action and reaction, any case of authority without responsibility implies the existence of another
group suffering from responsibility without authority. That
population doesn't have access to the facts or the rationale for the policy, and in the absence of
data, their minds run wild. While there is probably a perfectly reasonable explanation, the lack of its
appearance engenders suspicion. The logic of those who think they have been mistreated twists darkly from
here forward. If the officials say nothing when there is nothing to hide, they must be liars or fools,
and thus, our oppressors. Soon tea will be tossed in rivers, armbands tied in solidarity, picket lines
assembled in protest, all because those in power do not have the responsibility to explain themselves.
What really happened to inspire the Dean's Office to bolting and signage? The likely possibilities
are all rather boring. Perhaps the never-ending dragging of furniture damages the joints or the flooring,
which creates additional costs, headaches, and potential liabilities for the University. Maybe an even grander
authority figure with a spot of obsessive-compulsive disorder discovered a coffee table not aligned to cosmic
perfection, and the mid-level managers scrambled to action. Perhaps there is truth to the rumors that someone
actually stole a sofa, whether a hometown prankster, students from a rival architectural furniture program at
State U., or an actual, in-the-flesh, couch-burglar. Whatever the details, I trust our dutiful staff is in
constant contact with the Federal Office for Missing Ottomans.
Avoiding (the perception of) Tyranny
While students are not likely to go running to the American Civil Liberties Union over a few deck screws,
the circumstances don't exactly win any hearts and minds among the populace. It may well reinforce the
"us and them" mentality, and nursing grudges is always bad policy. When an administrative unit needs to
change procedure or report on events, the best public relations strategy is to make all relations public.
Hold forums, invite the affected to contribute ideas, and when a decision is reached, publish the rationale.
You cannot be reasonably accused of corruption or deception if your actions are entirely public and responsible.
Fuzzy Organizational Arithmetic
Groups draw their purpose from either authority or responsibility. Those with only the former tend to
be wantonly commandeering; those with only the latter tend to be frustrated. But if some authoritarians find
themselves stricken with a sense of responsibility, they transform from masters into stewards. They still
drive but now ask for direction; they still lead but now seek counsel. The masses cease to be a necessary
burden and become an indispensable resource. Institutions bound by equal parts authority and responsibility
derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Even without such grandiose ideals, groups like the Office of the Dean can tweak their tune by employing a
modicum of consideration. How about a sign that explains the problem instead of just notifying potential offenders?
Friendly, inclusive wording puts everyone—student and administrator—on the same team. Soliciting
meaningful opinions from those paying tuition might give them a small sense of ownership. The presence of active
student contributions might make administrators feel less like zookeepers and more like stewards of a thriving
academic community. Songbirds could be singing in meadows under brilliant rainbow skies! At the least, less
animosity is possible. Working together to achieve more does require working together. Perhaps those
in power can accept the responsibility of actually involving the people under their purview.
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