The Art of Administration. Flexibility and Modifiability Are Its Essential Characteristics.
On the wall of the administration building of almost any college or university there may be seen hanging the framed blue print, with its rectangles and connecting lines which schematically present "the channels of authority, responsibility and contact" which are, in their totality, the organization of the institution. It is a small school whose organization chart is so clear and simple that its meaning, and the relationship of the parts, can be grasped with brief study. In general, rather, the first glance gives the impression of a forbidding maze; there is an involved network of relationships. Much attention has been paid by administrators to the development of efficient systems of organization. Even as in the world of business, the chief executive of an educational institution knows that his ultimate purposes can be achieved only if he has a well-organized staff of subordinates. It is desirable to consider carefully the question of organization, but in doing so it should not be overlooked that charts and diagrams alone do not mean success. For every square on the blue print there is a human individual or group of individuals. There may be a science of administration, but there is also, paralleling it, the art of administration. The central problem in the art of administration is that of maintaining flexibility of organization. Two pertinent and preliminary truisms must be mentioned: as any social grouping grows in numbers (both of individuals and functions), the need for organization develops, and the organization becomes more intricate. The other truism is that organization patterns tend to become fixed, and rigidity of the pattern develops. It is this inflexibility that precludes necessary change or makes it difficult.