Web governance… it’s 2013 and we’re still throwing that term around like it will solve all our problems with the web and how to develop content and manage resources and lead people. But it hasn’t and it won’t. So the question then becomes, how do we make sense of the chaos that’s inherent in the practice of making the web? Better yet, how do we prepare for the further chaos that fragmented systems and silos, shrinking budgets, and growing requirements – both governmental and organizational – throw in our way? Tonya Oaks Smith and Ron Bronson argue that – by embracing the basic principles of chaos theory we can improve our approach to the web and the communication and information we get from it. We’ll start by learning about what chaos is and how that idea relates to our concept of governance. Next, we’ll focus on how to embrace the disruption caused by our changing higher ed world.

1. Death to
Governanc
e
Tonya Oaks Smith
James Montgomery Flagg, via Wikimedia Commons
Death to Governance…
Embrace the Chaos
#hewebPITT
flickr.com/photos/33579304@N00/4115896
Ron Bronson and Tonya Oaks Smith
Open

2. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
Ron + Tonya
= Ronya
!
!
#hewebPITT
Here’s the story… it’s a story of two folks working solo in the higher ed web world. They were all alone until one day they met, and

3. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
!
HIGHEREDSOLO
!
#hewebPITT
Higher Ed Solo was born.

4. flickr.com/photos/81475308@N00/12306610704#hewebPITT
But Ronya still longed to be part of a team. Even though they were committed to the solo work life, they wanted more. So they got jobs leading teams.

5. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
Then one day,
Ron and Tonya
found that team life
was not all it was
supposed
to be…
!
#hewebPITT

6. Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
All was not well…
#hewebPITT
What happened? Was the shine of team life so easily diminished? Yes, and no. Team life is certainly a different thing, but it’s not all that different from
working as a solo with help from vendors and other areas of the university.

7. flickr.com/photos/59299015@N06/6940849286#hewebPITT
What we expected to be a beautifully constructed puzzle, with order and perfect placement and lovely zen - yes, completed with plenty of ready
governance that makes the wheels move without squeaking

8. flickr.com/photos/35494398@N04/6750995099#hewebPITT
turned out to be a complete jumbled mess. The puzzle before it’s assembled. Chaotic and apparently without form and coherence. But chaos isn’t always
bad, right? And that’s what we’re going to focus on today.

9. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
What’s up today?
!
Getting to know the humans
Governance
Chaos
Theory in practice
What’s that mean for us?
!
#hewebPITT

10. !
@marleysmom by @radiofreegeorgy
Who are we?
#hewebPITT
@marleysmom
@hendersonstateu
@highedweb
@youthhomeinc
!
#shoes
#positivity
#behuman

11. !
@marleysmom by @radiofreegeorgy
Who are we?
#hewebPITT
@ronbronson
@KCTCS
@aggregateconf
@tennispolo

12. Who are you?
flickr.com/photos/highedweb/2922852848#hewebPITT
Who are you?
Technical or marketing/communication? Both?
Main campus or specialty school?
Community colleges or special schools?
!
How do you feel about governance or chaos?

13. Governance
clikhear.palmbeachpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/fight.jpg#hewebPITT

14. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
Web governance defines
decision-making processes
for the web, and sets
policies and standards for
web content, design, and
technology — in a way that
respects subject-matter
expertise.
- A List Apart#hewebPITT

15. Governance
twitter.com/halvorson/statuses/382232799912022016#hewebPITT

16. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
Models of web
governance
• advisory
• cooperative
• management team
• policy
#hewebPITT

17. A buffet of content
youngyoungct.com/good_buffet_shot.JPG#hewebPITT

18. Chaos
flickr.com/photos/58657425@N03/5679089190#hewebPITT
Ron has talked a bit about governance, but I’m going to focus on chaos. As you might know, Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics that focuses
on the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. As a theory, it’s applicable to sociology, or our behavior in social
systems like the workplace. Literally, chaos is not complete disorder, but it is an intricate brand of order.

19. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
What we call chaos is just
patterns we haven't
recognized. What we call
random is just patterns we
can't decipher.
- Chuck Palahniuk
#hewebPITT
It’s this intricate order that - when posed with apparently random behavior, like ten thousand projects being thrown at us at one time or team members
who cannot understand project plans- we try to tame. At least on my part I try to tame it. The order should be there, right? I’m working with a team. How
did they work before if not with a plan, with a process?
!
Maybe the answer is that they didn’t. OR maybe the answer is that as an outsider to their system right now, I cannot perceive the order.

20. There’s Life Beyond
the Four-Year University
Shari Erwin,Aaron Rester, and Tonya Oaks Smith
In chaos, there is fertility.
- Anaïs Nin
#hewebPITT
Literally, chaos has rules that govern it. Ironic, right?
!
A chaotic system has three simple defining features:
They have some determining equation ruling their behavior.
They are sensitive to initial conditions. Even a very slight change in the starting point can lead to significant different outcomes.
They are not random, nor disorderly. Truly random systems are not chaotic.
!
Now, we’re going to talk about a few of the basic tenets of chaotic systems and how we can develop that seeming disorder for the best use of our teams
and the things we’re supposed to produce…

21. Please give me butterflies
flickr.com/photos/45456687@N05/4175214087#hewebPITT
So, the first tenet involved in chaos theory is the butterfly effect. That’s the premise that the slightest change in an initial point can drastically change the
system, how it functions and its results.
!
So think about the way projects turn out in your area. Do they aggravatingly turn out the same way every time - behind schedule or not meeting desired
metrics? How do they begin?
!
I’ve been there, believe me. One way I’ve found, with my team, to solve some of the issues is to incorporate a project plan into the scheme of things.
Project planning is something my team was not familiar with - in particular the idea that things can be done in a strategic manner. The idea is still pretty
foreign, but we’re working through that. It’s made an amazing difference for them - knowing what’s expected and where we’re trying to go.

22. Unpredictability
1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJqWA4sK3pQ/TiqPy0SvD1I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/
VYU25dmXBV8/s1600/UNPREDICTABLE1.jpg
#hewebPITT

23. Order
newproductvisions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/order-chaos.jpg#hewebPITT

24. Mix it up
#hewebPITT flickr.com/photos/54961598@N03/8753404313
The concept of mixing is a more complex one to apply to the concept of working in a team, but it still applies. Mixing means that two adjacent points in a
complex system will eventually end up in very different positions after some time has elapsed. That doesn’t mean we can predict where they’ll be, but it
means we have to prepare for where they may end up.
!
I find this concept applies to how people will work together on teams. Sometimes, you find that folks will seem to work well together until the rubber hits
the road. Then, out of nowhere, one will take issue with what another does. Wow - that’s a hard thing to deal with as a leader, but it doesn’t take a genius
to see this happen once or twice and determine that this is a predictor of future behavior - there’s your pattern, right?
!
So, to avoid this, we take into account the butterfly effect from the beginning. We see what small changes can make a difference in our way of working.
That can mean that we pair different people together, or we can force the two warring factions to depend on one another’s differing expertise in order to
complete a task. Either way, we can ensure that our team members can complete a project without killing one another in the process - and causing real
chaos.

25. Feedback
AP file photo#hewebPITT

26. Stuck on repeat
flickr.com/photos/25928224@N06/2511852611#hewebPITT
The final concept integral to chaos theory is the idea of a fractal - a pattern that looks the same from close and far and that repeats itself endlessly.

27. Wrapping it up
#hewebPITT
So,
to
wrap
it
up...

28. Get with us...
Ron Bronson
XXX
@ronbronson
!
Tonya Oaks Smith
smithto@hsu.edu
@marleysmom
!
!
!
!