1. Thinking and Talking Across The Disciplines – the RDLE effect
Dr Kevin Quinn, TSSG Research Centre, WIT. Dr Anne Graham Cagney, School of Education, WIT
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

2. Current Trends in Society . . .
. . . Higher Education’s Answer
Rate of change
Certainty and
predictability
Global
Connectivity
Tangibility
Blur
Dilemmas &
Choices
Information
People
Markets
Cultures
courses
information
&
knowledge
power
brand &
reputation
EUA
Quality research training
Multidisciplinarity
Partnerships with industry
Mentality of innovation
IUA
‘The modern university and the world it relates to has become even more complex because of speed and greater connectivity – the digital age (Gleick 1999). This has increased the number of relationships, increased the amount of available information, but done nothing to give managers more time to interpret the information and manage the relationships.
 The advantage of increased relationships and more information is that we gain access to opportunities for growth and innovation (Nonaka 1991). Hence the first aspect of the work of the 21st century manager is to increase connections and relationship and manage the mix of close and loose ties in the organisational network. (Grannovetter 1973)
 Unfortunately more relationships create dilemmas, because the people in the network have different values and priorities; This is even more pronounced as a result of globalisation because we have to deal with the different cultures (Hofstede ; Hamdpen-Turner and Trompenaars 1993). More information creates greater ambiguity, because we don’t have time to evaluate the information. This makes people uncertain about how to make sense of the world (Weick 1999), which leaves the door open to many ways of giving meaning to their actions. Here is where we can encounter difficulties with lack of integrity and character, because meaning can be justified in the context of individualistic and competitive values, rather than being interpreted within a framework of constructive community values.
 We know that meaning is a fundamental requirement for motivation (May et al 2004) as is the quality of the fit of relationships with ones co-workers and managers. Meaning is created in social process and through valuable relationships (Wenger Maitlis 2005) Therefore one of the roles of the 21st century manager is to creating the conditions for people to recognise dilemmas and organise around meaningful issues in a way that is both flexible and responsive within a coherent structure. This is why social capital is an important new concept. (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998; Adler and Kwon 2002)
 Narratives and conversations and social ties at a local level can be amplified as they are repeated around the business. It has been argued that over time those that thrive actually shape the identity of the organisation through the meaning they make for the collective (Robichaud et al 2004). Dialogue is one way to help make sense for others of a rapidly changing world where certainty is hard to come by, which is the third role of the 21st c manager.
 The reputation of the organisation is linked to the character and integrity of the decision makers. The values they represent help create an identity for the organisation, Integrity requires making choices that take into account what is important to a community of stakeholders (i.e. what they value), rather than satisfying the agenda and interests of a minority in power. However maintaining integrity of the organisational identity will create value conflicts or dilemmas at the organisational level as well as the individual level. To ensure that decisions are well informed and representative of the stakeholder’ interest the business needs a wide access to relevant knowledge. Hence the role of the manager is to uphold the values that sustain organisational identity and ensuring the widest possible access to knowledge.’
This greater complexity in decision-making and making choices is one that I believe we need to reflect in the language we use about the role of education today and in my opinion is best addressed through the use of the word dilemma.
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

3. The Question
How can we create transformative learning spaces that enable one to think beyond one’s own discipline and to communicate across professional disciplinary divides?
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

4. FIGURE 1: DIMENSIONS OF R&D COMMERCIALISATION OBJECTIVES & REQUIREMENTS
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

5. Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

6. The ‘inner’ RDLE effect
Adapted from Graham Cagney 2011
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

7. Thinking, Talking & Working Across the Disciplines – the RDLE effect
Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012

8. Graham Cagney & Quinn, 2012