Discontinuous Thinking and Its Role in the Technology of Higher Education

Discontinuous thinking is, as noted in Pearlson & Saunders (110) the ability to recognize and rid outdated methods and practices that exist within the organizational structure. The benefits of doing so, however, must be weighed against any adverse effects that could happen, whether potential or realized, if the changes are made. This presents a challenge for administrators who find themselves on new ground as they consider implementing processes that have never before been a part of the way they have conducted business. This is especially true in the sense of IT as changes abound so fervently that keeping up is hard even for the most schooled. How then do they measure success or conversely what might undermine the successes they are striving towards if they have nothing tangible to compare it to? This is where the definition of "manager" as given by Pearlson & Saunders comes into play (110): "To manage effectively means to manage change effectively." Business managers cannot afford to sit idly by and watch their processes become antiquated and of no use to their stakeholders simply for the risk of avoiding change. They must embrace IT and learn to effectively manage it and its integration with their employees to bring about changes that will be of positive consequence to all involved.

One potential HE example is allowing the use of IT to afford employees the right to perform much of their work from home. The mindset of closely monitoring work habits of employees is firmly ingrained in most institutions, HE being no exception. With technology as prevalent as it is, however, and no reason to believe it will be stifled and every reason to believe it will continue to exponentially proliferate, discontinuous thinking might behoove the HE institutions as they find allowing for a more flexible work environment can increase employee productivity, serve as a cost reducer as less bodies are needed in the workplace (at least full-time) and ultimately increase revenue. This would not work well for some positions within the colleges, but could work very well for others, such as for those writing grant proposals, researching, or working with legislative issues.

Another potential HE example of how discontinuous thinking could work well could be realized in the Student Services (SS) environment as HE institutions let go of the steadfast belief that students need one-on-one advising and they instead allow for periodic and scheduled online advisement (or even allow for an employee to be 'on call' full-time to answer on-the-spot advising questions in an online, instantaneous format; which could also be performed, as noted in the above example, from an employee's home base). This type of revamping would encourage students to become active participants in their program monitoring and give them the peace of mind of knowing that help was only a "click away." So many times in SS, you find peak times where students make a mad dash to the counseling and advising office to get the information they need for a particular semester, particularly during the open enrollment periods. If an ongoing, online format is introduced, students could instead have an ongoing advisement process that would allow them to have more control over their information and have a better hold on their planning style as they know far in advance what courses they will or will not choose during enrollment, versus frantically just trying to find one that fits into their program and schedule at the right time. If SS really wanted to get inventive they might try to devise strategies, in conjunction with their available software packages, to entice students to enroll in the lesser attended courses of the institution that are allowable for their degrees. For example, many students in a community college will choose to enroll in Intro to Social Science instead of Intro to American Government as a General Education choice, presumably because the former class is easier than the latter might be. SS might target students who still need a Soc. Sci. course by providing enticing advertising for the latter course in the online format as they seek their advisement. If they find a way to make the advising screen accessible, such as the discussion boards are in DL courses, great success could be had in how IT and management of its use helps restructure old processes in SS to new and more effective ones.

These are just ideas of how discontinuous thinking could work to the benefit of HE. Efforts to delineate and launch said programs or others that deviate from the norm as far as IT integration and change goes, would need to be brainstormed, researched, structured, formatted, implemented, and assessed regularly to ensure that public good and institutional progression were both being met with their use there within. Strident efforts to embrace the positive changes IT can bring HE, if managed correctly, must come to the forefront of decision-making and at the same time old ideas that hinder progress must be shed. Doing so will help ensure a place of credible standing in the ever-evolving arena of competition that exist today in the HE atmosphere, and benefit the institutions internally as well, as they may see work productivity, innovation and creativity flourish with the diminished hierarchy structure that would be sure to follow.

Pearlson, K. E. & Saunders, C. S. (2006) Managing & Using Information Systems.