Organization and Administration of Adult Education Programs

Our professor asked us several questions about our work the past few weeks, and how what we have learned might shape our work in our organization.  

Based on all the readings in this course, how can we as leaders and managers analyze and make changes in our company or organization that hopefully allows it to remain viable and effective?

I think based on our readings and on my own experiences in my own and former organizations, that the best thing I can do as a leader to help analyze and make changes is to always find ways to improve, innovate, and be open to change. 

In so many former organizations, processes become locked in then are tough to change. Usually, those process solidify because of characteristics that are no longer valid within a few years. I've been working at working Morgan's (2006) organizations as organisms, and open systems into my final term paper, and as I look back at the companies I've worked with, closed organization is one that would describe most of them. 

If you had asked any of the leaders in those organizations if they were "closed" they would not have said yes. It takes a-lot of introspection, thoughtfulness, and input from outside factors to understand when an organization's process, procedures, and vision are getting stale. Identifying the issue is half the battle, but the most important half in my view. It's hard to work toward a shared vision for the future if there is not understanding that it is needed. 

Readings for this course included both technical book on administration and a book (plus a few required articles) that seeks to connect theory and practice. Some of these theories are probably new to you. How important to a successful leader is theory and metaphor to decision-making?

I've read many books on leadership and business, but I enjoyed Morgan's (2006) book for it's conciseness, clarity, and dedication to the theme. It helped to have so much structure to use as a handrail, while having a book that was so readable. 

I've heard of matrix organizations, open organizations, shared futures, but having these characteristics of organizations linked to different analogies helped with understanding them. 

I think it's vital for organizations to understand these different theories and understand how their organizations can become stale, how they can move forward, and where to move forward to, that is necessary for them to be successful.