Argghhh! I did it again!

I forgot to post on Thursday-by way of explanation (not an excuse) I had an extraordinarily busy day-Dean's Council from 9-12, Management Council from 12:30 - 2:30 and Budget Committee from 3-5, followed by the Technology Networking night from 4-6 (I was only there from 5 - 5:30) and the Digital Gallery lecture from 6-8. Whew!

But the truth is it never made it to my to-do list, so I need to change that RIGHT NOW! and I will-thanks to Matt Poli for the reminder.

And I'm glad it happened because I was reminded how difficult change is-little changes, big changes, any change. And change we must-and fast. I've been reading one of Steve Friedman's recommended books: Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter, of Harvard. It's worth a read if you enjoy the "fable" format, sort of like Who Moved My Cheese.

Behind the fable is quite a bit of research about how to make change happen. John Kotter has conducted research in this area-I encourage you to look at his website.

I want us to all think different, as Apple Computer has said in its ads.

Think broadly, think new, think radical, think compelling, think about what we can do to make the Seidenberg School stand out from the crowd.

Some "process things" I've been thinking about:

• A faculty council meeting to conduct a retrospective of the last few years, perhaps facilitated by someone like Linda Rising, whose book Fearless Change has made a huge impression on me. I heard her speak at NYCSPIN last year and was very impressed.

• A small team of faculty and staff reading a book like Fearless Change, or Kotter's A Sense of Urgency. The team would commit to use the principles to guide us to the next incarnation of the school-we don't know what that is, but we do know that it exists. It is up to us to create it.

Add to the list-what would you like to see happen?

Faculty, let's discuss this at our informal lunches that will be occuring over the next couple of weeks. Staff, send me your suggestions as you think of them. Post comments and we can start having a virtual discussion about this.

We had a very successful open house in Pleasantville on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to New York's open house, where 900 folks have registered. A young woman showed up in Pleasantville with her application, which she handed to admissions. A young man was all set to go to UConn but was very impressed with the Seidenberg School and we're now his first choice. Kudos to all who made the successful day happen. I look forward to seeing the New York faculty and staff on Sunday.

A quick comment about Steve Friedman's letter to the community-I understand that some of you are waiting for the proverbial "other shoe" to drop. The intent of the letter was to be reassuring-yes things are not the best but we are monitoring the situation and are confident that we can handle whatever happens. Please feel free to discuss any concerns that you may have with me.

Next week is my last week in the office before Thanksgiving-I'll be taking Thanksgiving week off.

I'll be in NY on Monday and Tuesday, at the Graduate Center on Friday, and Wednesday and Thursday I'll be splitting my time between the Graduate Center and Pleasantville. Wednesday it's Pleasantville in the morning and the Graduate Center in the afternoon, and Thursday it's the opposite. I'll be meeting with my direct reports on Wednesday and department chairs on Thursday.

Please share you comments with me, with your department chair or supervisor, or as a comment below.

Have a great weekend!