Operating Through Competing Priorities: Why Execution Breaks in Higher Ed

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In higher education, nothing moves in isolation anymore.

Every initiative is connected. Every unit has urgency. And every decision competes with something else that also matters.

In this episode, Higher Digital Co-founder and CEO Wayne Bovier sits down with Ed Hudson, Vice Chancellor of IT and CIO at the University of Kansas, to unpack what it actually takes to execute when everything is competing for attention at the same time.

With a career spanning the Marine Corps, law enforcement, cybersecurity, and higher education IT leadership, Ed brings a grounded, operational view of how institutions actually function under pressure.

Ed breaks down:

• Why uncertainty—not resistance—is what truly slows progress in higher education
• How execution breaks down when every initiative is treated as top priority
• How CIOs manage prioritization without breaking trust across the institution
• How frameworks like ADKAR reveal where transformation actually stalls
• What it takes to act as the connector across competing institutional demands
• Why saying “not now” is one of the most important leadership functions in IT today
• How institutional progress depends on sequencing, not simultaneity

This conversation challenges a core assumption: higher education doesn’t struggle because it lacks direction—it struggles because execution is constantly forced to happen in a system where everything is urgent.

If you're a CIO, president, provost, or institutional leader navigating competing priorities in real time, this episode will feel familiar.

If this resonates with your work, subscribe to the show and share it with a colleague navigating the same pressure.

#HigherEd #CIOLeadership #DigitalTransformation #AIinEducation #Transformed #HigherDigital #ITLeadershipL

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