For the overwhelming part of my career, I lived and breathed the private sector. Deadlines weren’t suggestions. Decisions were fast. Risk was a muscle we exercised daily. You were rewarded for results, not intentions. Urgency was expected. Accountability was non-negotiable. And action? That was the currency of progress. Then I made the leap into higher education to pursue passion and purpose with my Alma Mater. On paper, it looked like an exciting challenge. It was that, but also something more: a cultural jolt I never expected.

The Shock of the Slow

If the private sector is a sprint, higher ed is a glacier. Meetings lead to more meetings. Decisions are made by committee, and then revisited by another committee. Urgency is often confused with recklessness. Risk is viewed with suspicion, even when avoiding it causes more harm than embracing it. In the private sector, ambiguity is a space for innovation. In higher ed, it often feels like a cause for paralysis.

The Culture of Consensus

Where I came from, leaders lead. They listen, but ultimately decide. In higher education, leadership can feel like facilitation: keeping everyone happy, seeking universal buy-in, and avoiding disruption at all costs. Progress is measured in inches, not miles, often only after epochs of conversation. It’s not that people aren’t brilliant. They are. Passionate, even. But the system is designed to resist change, not enable it. The reward structures rarely align with outcomes.

A Different Kind of Toll

I admire the people who spend their entire careers in higher education; they are talented. But, they will never experience the high of acting fast, failing forward, challenging conventional wisdom, succeeding through sheer force-of-will and hustle. They often live inside structures that constrain rather than challenge. Many fight for years to drive even the smallest changes. And somewhere along the way, I think the system trains out the urgency. The fire gets dimmed.

What Can We Learn From Each Other?

I respect the intentionality, thoughtfulness, and long-term perspective higher ed brings. Some decisions should be slow. Some ideas do benefit from scrutiny. But imagine what could happen if we fused the best of both worlds. If higher ed borrowed some of the private sector’s pace, clarity, and accountability and if the private sector adopted more of higher ed’s depth, inclusiveness, and long-term thinking then we could reshape not only institutions but entire industries.

The Bottom Line

If you’ve ever made this transition, you know the cultural divide is real. But you also know the opportunity is massive. Higher ed can evolve. It just needs a little more discomfort. A little more risk. A little more urgency. And maybe, just maybe, a few more leaders who’ve lived on the other side.