Stop saying that we need to "Do More With Less"

I've just finished the first week of a nationwide speaking tour. I've spoken to student affairs and administrative staff at a variety of institutional types - two universities, a polytechnic, a medical school, and a comprehensive institution. The topics of the talks this week were varied, including leadership, personal and professional renewal, customer service, and innovation. I also spent time inquiring about and listening to the challenges they face in this post-pandemic world.

One theme emerged as clearly their biggest concern. They are tired (VERY tired!) of hearing about and having the expectation of needing to "do more with less."

I don't know who coined this pithy phrase or when it first entered the lexicon of higher education leadership, but we really must stop saying it. It is nonsensical and seems only to serve to upset staff and, for those who try to fulfill the expectation, burn them out. It seems to assume that people or units are currently not working very hard. This is insulting.

I am all for hard work and rising to challenges. I like to think I have had high expectations for the people who reported to me. But, based on my experience in higher education, I think a person or unit can "do more with less" for a brief period of time, maybe a couple of weeks, perhaps a month. That's about it.

I think staff can do "more with the same" or "the same with less" for maybe a semester, sometimes even as long as a year.

These are unprecedented times for higher education. We definitely need to do things differently if we are to meet the myriad challenges we face. But we are not going to succeed if we just continue to pile expectations and new initiatives onto staff while cutting their resources.

If we want to do more or do things differently, we need to do less of something else. I learned from Tony Doody (U of Delaware) to have semi-annual conversations with my staff about programs, projects, or services that should be put out to pasture. They may have addressed a need in the past, but perhaps that need has faded now. Maybe they're a decent service but will never be great. By putting some things out to pasture, resources (time, personnel, money, space) are freed up to try the new and different things that may meet a new or more urgent need.

I would be very interested in hearing about other ideas for addressing the challenges implied in the use of this phrase.

You can follow my progress on my 8000-mile tour around the U.S. to 18 colleges and universities on Instagram: @patrickandbayleytour

Feedback and comments very welcome!