ALLIES

I was talking to a coordinator of a research institute a few weeks ago and we talked about how community supporters can help in bridging the academe with community issues through their involvement and advice in their institute. 

Good idea, right?

Well, this idea is not new and had been proposed for several years but the supervisor refused to budge on the topic for various reasons: Money, adding up to work, etc.

When bureaucracy says no, almost all the time, it's just protecting the status quo and eliminating any threats to its  state of being. Community involvement means work but it will open up the institute to far greater input, new ideas, new partners, which will then lead to greater impact.

Results are not what bureaucracies are for, in general. When questioned, they tend to have a zero vision about outcomes, impacts, or resonance with real-world issues.

If our academic institutions are solely run on past successes and are afraid of building allies, then we should all be worried about our future generation!