UNDERSTANDING AND IMPLEMENTING MANDATED REORGANIZATIONS 127 Conclusion 8 I t is impressive that as a busy dean you have found the time to read this book. You may be wondering what to do with the concepts and case studies with which you have become familiar, from the reorganization of office staff to de- partments to the university’s entire academic enterprise. We expect you are now considering at least minor adjustments to your college’s structure to improve its effectiveness. Such contemplation is worthwhile. As we trust is evident through- out this book, we believe that deans must seek to continually improve their col- leges—or they might soon be out of a job. Your newfound knowledge of organiza- tional options for colleges and the approaches others have taken to enable change provides you pathways towards improvement. Upon reflection, it might seem like college organization should be easier than de- scribedinthisbook.Shouldn’tthere be asimple recipe tofollow for the choice oforga- nization of staff within the office or number of departments within the college based, say, on the number of students and faculty in your college? If only it was that easy! As the case studies illustrate, a variety of reasons that are other than systematic drive changes. Politics, funding, career-building, and unique intuitional histories are but a few reasons for change that do not fit into any formula. An additional complication unaddressed earlier is how an “ideal dean” would be defined at an institution given the natural tension between the viewpoints of a dean compared to those of faculty. The fulcrum between these viewpoints is different on every campus and helps nudge deans toward different organizational structures, as we will illustrate in the following section. College Structure Balances the Power of Shared Governance The following scenario illustrates how the tensions of the imagined “ideal dean” plays a role in the college’s organization: If one person as the imaginary ideal dean could do the job of the entire college office, the college hierarchy would be flat. If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself and the organization gets pulled up with you. — Indra Nooyi