The business-to-consumer business model is thriving within higher education, but only the sectors that are willing to be very innovative, responsive and quite frankly, quick to decide.  This often means higher education is in need of embracing support services through a business-to-business model. Speed and accuracy are mission-critical to survival.  This corresponds with the past thirty years of literature on the ever-increasing rate of change.  It is unfortunate that the vast majority of higher education is stuck in the quagmire of poor decision matrixes and very slow response time to its market of consumers. 

It comes back to two primary concerns.  First, there is great need for higher education leadership with significant business acumen.  Second, this leadership must be willing to step out of the historically "safe" zone of higher education and take reasonably intelligent risks.  This type of leadership is often not well liked in higher education circles by faculty and even staff.  This leader will short cut the committee on committee traditional process by calling on internal leadership to make decisions that will change the climate.  Those who have been historically safe within higher education, such as faculty with tenure and administrators with thirty years in the same position, will be called to account and retained based upon performance.  This performance will be measured against how each player contributes to the overall success of the institution -- not just on how his or her individual fiefdom is surviving.

The days of the glacier pace of higher education have come to a natural end.  For some this is just the beginning of the end, but nevertheless an end eventually.   The external environment is changing all too quickly and making institutions that are unwilling to change in pace, irrelevant.

As I write this blog I wonder how it might be read.  Is it negative and depressing?  I don't think so.  It is calling out in plain sight the greatest transformation event in higher education history.  Higher education is changing from being centered on itself, to a central focus on the individuals it serves.  This is indeed a wonderful change for those who will embrace it fully.

Nathan