What I’m Reading: ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’

Ben Horowitz’s handbook for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (HarperCollins, 2014) has nothing to do with higher education and everything to do with how to make judgment calls as a leader. It has become my bible. Should you be transparent about a looming budget crisis? (Yes.) Should you promote someone internal? (Yes, if she meets the criteria.) Should you check references? (Always.) How hard is it to demote a friend? (Very; expect to lose the friendship.) How important is “programming” your culture? (It’s essential.) Can you measure success? (You’d better!)

Unlike the start-up world, universities have rules (tenure, collective-bargaining agreements) that limit personnel action. There’s no incentive for a department chair on a three-year rotation to see poor teaching evaluations and do something. Hiring friends and family is seen as a solution rather than a landmine. Too often the ivory tower is not seen as a professional space.

In any enterprise, leadership takes courage. Getting the right people into the right roles and performing well is hard. Entrepreneurs grasp that building an organization is a struggle; so should college leaders. We need to create incentives for leaders to make minor improvements, corrections, and adjustments as well as reward investment in major efforts that produce gains in student and faculty success. Higher-education administrators should learn one thing from Silicon Valley: Being intentional about management down to the departmental level is hard.

“If I’m doing a good job why do I feel so bad?” Horowitz laments. Who in academe hasn’t asked this question?

Hollis Robbins is dean of arts and humanities at Sonoma State University.