Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
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he painted in 1779). For me modularisati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong> stood as a symbol of disintegrating<br />
knowledge in favour of an instrumentalist approach of learning.<br />
Summarized I had questi<strong>on</strong>s like: is it possible to manage people who were my colleagues<br />
the day before? What about my authenticity and becoming some<strong>on</strong>e who I<br />
severely criticized before? What about my expertise <strong>on</strong> philosophy? Will I become an<br />
empty headed pers<strong>on</strong> who <strong>on</strong>ly cares for organizati<strong>on</strong>al questi<strong>on</strong>s and will I lose<br />
affinity with the job at hand?<br />
I decided to apply because of a new appointed general manager in whom I had faith.<br />
Besides I was in need of a new fulfilment and was susceptible for the appreciati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
my colleagues. I wanted to try to do it better than my predecessors. One event in my<br />
professi<strong>on</strong>al career was paramount for this decisi<strong>on</strong>. Once I asked the general manager<br />
of that time to develop together with me career opportunities so <strong>on</strong>e day I would<br />
become an associate professor at our UAS. Within 30 sec<strong>on</strong>ds she decided that this<br />
was impossible and left me behind with empty hands. Regarding this event I supposed<br />
that it would be not difficult to be a better manager and it had a lot of influence <strong>on</strong> my<br />
managerial ambiti<strong>on</strong>s. Even if not asked, I would take care that colleagues would get<br />
chances to develop their professi<strong>on</strong>al careers.<br />
A symbolic representati<strong>on</strong> of my transiti<strong>on</strong> towards a management positi<strong>on</strong> was that<br />
<strong>on</strong> my first day as a manager two of my children (14 and 12 years at that time) presented<br />
me a necktie. At their age and after hearing my deliberati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> the dining table<br />
they understood that a necktie was an appropriate symbol for the detached and<br />
representative aspects of my new positi<strong>on</strong>. However, also for the slightly oppressed<br />
feeling I had in entering my new positi<strong>on</strong>. It is important to note that I entered my management<br />
positi<strong>on</strong> in an ambivalent mood and I always kept some ambivalence in<br />
being a manager.<br />
Starting in management<br />
Due to the merger of UAS with another UAS, the pursued reducti<strong>on</strong> of overhead and a<br />
good impressi<strong>on</strong> I made, in short time I became head of two departments. After that I<br />
became dean/managing director of the Faculty of Social Work. The good impressi<strong>on</strong> I<br />
made was based <strong>on</strong> me being able of involving many colleagues, being able of sorting<br />
out resp<strong>on</strong>sibilities in a transparent way and still keeping pace in the projects. As I<br />
worked in a relatively small faculty populated with colleagues whom I knew well, we<br />
worked as a team in which I was positi<strong>on</strong>ed to bring things to a close. In their reacti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
I experienced that as l<strong>on</strong>g as in the percepti<strong>on</strong> of my colleagues I acted h<strong>on</strong>estly<br />
and transparently things went all right. I became aware of the tensi<strong>on</strong> that exists<br />
between pers<strong>on</strong>al and organizati<strong>on</strong>al interests, the impact of misjudgement if you<br />
navigate <strong>on</strong> the opini<strong>on</strong>s of others, the importance of genuine communicati<strong>on</strong>, and<br />
the sandwich positi<strong>on</strong> you have as a manager between the board and the employees.<br />
3. My taken for granted assumpti<strong>on</strong>s as a researcher | 73