To people unaccustomed to academe, the scene on campus resembles bumper cars at an amusement park more than automobiles on an expressway. Leaders do not direct traffic as much as orchestrate the intentions of drivers. Strategic plans are always public and often contested.  Competitors routinely collaborate. Prestige, the academy’s analog to profits, stems from exclusion, not expansion—from the percentage of customers refused, not the number served. Welcome to Wonderland. 

With few exceptions, change happens differently in this realm. The business mindset conditions outsiders to expect powerful CEOs, comprehensive strategies, precise directives, systematic execution, and rapid response. Instead, artful leadership on campus unfolds tentatively, ambiguously, gradually, and somewhat obscurely. To the untrained eye, no one seems to be in charge. Yet, more often than not, the bees actually build the hive: the percentage of tenured faculty ebbs; the number of preprofessional programs rises; online courses appear; new disciplines emerge; scientists embrace entrepreneurship; schools burnish brands—all without presidential pronouncements.