I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
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I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
They are already maximally motivated people. They did not get the job by being unmotivated. A good chunk of them have more motivation than is healthy for them.
Any action you take to "motivate" them is going to be demotivational. Any of them. Yes, even that one that you just thought of. Yes, even the one you heard about from one of your peers at a different institution that you're jealous of.
Lean in close, here's the secret: all you have to do is (a) support them in doing their jobs, and (b) not fuck things up.
Finding the obstacles and clearing them so they can do the thing they are extremely motivated to do should be the obvious course of action
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@kevinbowrin This sounds amazing.
@ricci -
I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
They are already maximally motivated people. They did not get the job by being unmotivated. A good chunk of them have more motivation than is healthy for them.
Any action you take to "motivate" them is going to be demotivational. Any of them. Yes, even that one that you just thought of. Yes, even the one you heard about from one of your peers at a different institution that you're jealous of.
Lean in close, here's the secret: all you have to do is (a) support them in doing their jobs, and (b) not fuck things up.
This applies to so many people in roles ranging far outside of universities. Most people actually want to do a good job and take pride in their work, particularly if it is a career choice. The best thing management can do is get out of the way with the ridiculous demotifying roadblocks. Simply support them adequately and then get out of the way.
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@kevinbowrin
I would have loved such a service in my teaching days... -
@kevinbowrin @ricci Whereas when I was faculty at an R1, I was doing all the budget paperwork and calculations and making and collating all the photocopied sets for my research grant applications... There was nobody whose job included helping with any of that.
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I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
They are already maximally motivated people. They did not get the job by being unmotivated. A good chunk of them have more motivation than is healthy for them.
Any action you take to "motivate" them is going to be demotivational. Any of them. Yes, even that one that you just thought of. Yes, even the one you heard about from one of your peers at a different institution that you're jealous of.
Lean in close, here's the secret: all you have to do is (a) support them in doing their jobs, and (b) not fuck things up.
@ricci If only! At the moment UK universities seem obsessed with profit above all else. They actively making courses worse so they can cut them. They are removing all optionality for interesting modules. Making staff juggle modules from multiple courses and still expect world leading research on approximately the half a day a week that we are not teaching or burdened with unnecessary bureaucracy.
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I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
They are already maximally motivated people. They did not get the job by being unmotivated. A good chunk of them have more motivation than is healthy for them.
Any action you take to "motivate" them is going to be demotivational. Any of them. Yes, even that one that you just thought of. Yes, even the one you heard about from one of your peers at a different institution that you're jealous of.
Lean in close, here's the secret: all you have to do is (a) support them in doing their jobs, and (b) not fuck things up.
@ricci many, many years ago, the deputy director of my lab viewed the researchers as weird animals in a zoo. His job was to stop us running amok. He almost broke the lab.
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I need university administrators (and probably some other people too, but definitely university administrators) to understand something: you cannot motivate your faculty to do more research or better teaching.
They are already maximally motivated people. They did not get the job by being unmotivated. A good chunk of them have more motivation than is healthy for them.
Any action you take to "motivate" them is going to be demotivational. Any of them. Yes, even that one that you just thought of. Yes, even the one you heard about from one of your peers at a different institution that you're jealous of.
Lean in close, here's the secret: all you have to do is (a) support them in doing their jobs, and (b) not fuck things up.
@ricci
Not heard it expressed like this before 
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@ricci If only! At the moment UK universities seem obsessed with profit above all else. They actively making courses worse so they can cut them. They are removing all optionality for interesting modules. Making staff juggle modules from multiple courses and still expect world leading research on approximately the half a day a week that we are not teaching or burdened with unnecessary bureaucracy.
@Research_FTW @ricci yes I think the problem here is university staff are generally maximally motivated to find out interesting stuff and then share it, whereas university administration wants them to be maximally motivated to make the university money
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