Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon

and inspiration was missing. In a meeting with Marc Claassen, who was preparing
Paul Broersen’s speech for our annual opening, I emphasized again the necessary
invitation for openness and inspiration. In his speech Paul invited everyone to start
discussing and exchanging ideas, suggestions and results to realize the performance
agreements. Happy us. However, somehow for me it was an anti-climax to experience
that quite some people only heard the message that we start to reduce our overhead
with 10% within three years. The fact that apparently jobs were at stake overshadowed
the invitation to reflect upon the performance agreements.
5.2 Highlights in Sisyphean tasks in a Babylonian context
To exclaim that my work was Sisyphean may have been presumptuous. Given the
disorder around definitions and the encounter with the Babylonian confusion of
tongues, the others also shared nervousness or despair. Prototypically I could say that
Frans Custers, Ella Rietkerk and Paul Broersen acted as they did because they are held
responsible for directing the future of our UAS. Although differing in opinion I saw
their acting as aimed to provide in a vision, clear definitions and unambiguous procedures.
Fiona Cornips was to a large extent responsible to maintain support systems to
account for our performances. The recurring deviations in definition or data caused
nuisance regarding specific people and initiated instructions to reduce the differences.
I also worried about the feasibility of our project, realized the many lacunas and worked
hard to overcome them. Primarily I approached my task as a puzzle, assigned to
accomplish a document before the 5th of May. However, I did more than solving a
puzzle. For that reason I will continue the exploration of my possibly role of the organizational
fool (see chapter 4).
An evolving way of planning
I entered the process of establishing the performance agreements at a moment we
had four months to go before completion. I learned that for the members of the board
these agreements were already on their agenda from September the year before, but
up till January urgency was felt differently in the board. Paul (and the General Secretary
to the Board) expected that the agreements would be put off the political agenda
and if not, a concise document would meet the expectations. Ella, Frans and Fiona
opted for a well-planned approach, early preparations and detailed information.
From January on focussed attention was organized, because from then on the board
estimated that the agreements really had to be delivered. Sheer from a time perspective
for me this project started the 6th of January when General Secretary to the
Board entered my office. Or was it December the year before? In preparing a workshop
Paul Broersen would give I had come up with the motto “Imperturbably remaining
ourselves”. During the drafting of the performance agreements this motto tickled,
it produced self-confidence, it gave a recurring argument to sort out discussions and it
produced a binding perspective. So did I start already in December? Or did the project
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