The Western Domino Effect

A staff member told me about a colleague who was running a special ad hoc lab course for our extension services. This instructor is from a very different culture, and my staff member was commenting about how that influenced her approach to unforeseen difficulties. She would just roll with them like it was no big deal and even normal.

The staff member and I were laughing about how many Americans in the same situation, ourselves included, would get frustrated over such hassles. It is surprising to see how much we expect our lives to run according to plan, like clockwork. It is simply ingrained in us that if we prepare properly, our plans will come to fruition, in spite of all of the evidence to the contrary in real life.

We are so used to our technological marvels working to give us control of our environments that we expect to have control in most or all areas. We are caught off guard and even feel personally insulted when gaps appear in our plans. My staff member quipped that it is as if we have a giant set of dominoes set up to fall and one suddenly turns out to be spaced just a little too far away from the next, and we ‘know’ we’ve set them properly.

The Decline of Collegiality

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress.”
II Timothy 3:1

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25

“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for He grants sleep to those He loves.”
Psalm 127:2

“I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”
John 10:10b

I have a question for those faculty in their later years—how does faculty collegiality and interaction today compare to what you experienced early in your career?

If it is anything like what I’ve heard from my conversations with others, you will probably say that there is no comparison. Faculty are largely isolated from each other and the enjoyment of a relaxed conversation about various topics, both scholarly and otherwise is virtually non-existent.

Part of the idea of scholarship is the informal chatting over tea or coffee about ideas and research. This has been replaced with the ‘departmental seminar,’ where there is a few minutes for coffee and donuts and then sitting to listen to an outside speaker drone about their research for an hour with a few minutes for questions. If you are lucky, the speaker spends their day moving from office to office for a few minutes conversation, and then maybe a handful go out to dinner for more discussion, but more often than not, folks show up, get some caffeine to help fight drowsiness then back to their office to sit at a computer for a few more hours and the talk leaves the mind forever.

The Zone

When an athlete is making every move count and no one seems able to stop them, we say they are “in the Zone.” They are focused, all cylinders are firing perfectly, distractions don’t, and productivity is at a max. What is most interesting about ‘the Zone’ is that it is usually temporary, often in both time and space. The better and more a person can keep themselves in the Zone, the more rewarding it is.

Training and discipline seem to be two keys for maximizing that, but there are factors unique to each person that affect where and when and how they get into the Zone. I have discovered that for me, I tend to need a set of fairly well defined tasks whose progress is easily measured. I tend to find the Zone most easily in my office on campus after 5 or 6 p.m. When in the Zone, I can keep the pace up often for 6-8 hours or more. The downside is that it is rather late when I call it quits and I’m rather tuckered out at the end, but I got a lot done in that time.

Often is the time I wish that my Zone occurred after 5 or 6 am and still continued for 6-8 hours. I don’t know why I focus better in the evening. If I’m at home at that time, I want to unwind and kick back. It needs to be in my office. But knowing this about myself, I can plan accordingly.

When and where is your Zone? How have you been able to expand or change it to suit your needs?

SDG