There are phrases that seep into the lexicon of work, repeated so often they lose meaning. Or worse, they begin to reshape what we find acceptable. “The new normal.” “Lean operations” (almost always referring to headcount, not process improvement). And the one I cannot stomach anymore: “Doing more w...

There’s plenty to be said about the current volatility in federally funded research: unpredictable executive orders, shifting rules and compliance notices, and open threats of budget cuts or clawbacks. These developments are destabilizing and distracting.

Even without the recent noise from Washingt...

I recently shared thoughts on applying the principles of High-Reliability Organizations (HROs) to research administration, framing our work as an adjacent high-reliability function. But what happens when you’re operating within a highly decentralized institution, school, or college where sweeping ch...

For years, research administration has been stuck in the same unproductive debates—centralization vs. decentralization, administrative burden vs. compliance, homegrown tech vs. third-party. We argue over structures and approaches as if one model will solve all problems when, in reality, the ground b...