The Embedded Scholar

The embedded scholar is about the blending of academic theory and research methods, applied to practical situations in a way that cultivates organizational success. Consequently, this approach could begin to blur some of the lines between theory development and theory application.

Boyer (1997) posited, “we need scholars who not only skillfully explore the frontiers of knowledge, but also integrate ideas, connect thought into action, and inspire students” (p. 77). For instance, Smith, Collins, and Hannah (2006) used action research to test the idea of embedding a discovery entrepreneurship program into a University setting. The process involved engaging local entrepreneurs to engage simultaneously with students and scholars from several universities during the learning process. The intent of the program was to cultivate a practical and experiential learning environment for all participants.

These authors experimented with the idea of bringing entrepreneurs into the academic arena as a way to connect thought and action. However, this still seems to place academe apart from industry in spite of some opportunities for students to interact in some aspect of the entrepreneurial process. What would the implications be for corporations, nonprofits, or government that intentionally embedded scholars among their ranks? How might this help organizational executives to synthesize academic theory into their decision-making process and operational processes? How might this type of arrangement change the way research is performed, or the perspective that the embedded scholar has on their subject of study?

To these ends, it seems reasonable to suggest that an embedded scholar might be in a position to bring the academy to industry (and vice versa) - facilitating collaboration that could close the gap between theory and praxis.

References

Boyer, E. L. (1997). Scholarship reconsidered. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Smith, A.J., Collins, L.A., & Hannon, P. D. (2006). Embedding new entrepreneurship programmes in UK higher education institutions :Challenges and considerations. Education & Training, 48(8/9), 555 567.  doi: 1168365501

45 Collisions, and no injuries

So, what do a Coffee wholesaler, a lifestyle clothing designer, three contractors, a financial planner, a singer/songwriter, a social media mogul, a real estate broker, and a custom cabinet creator have in common? Only two things:

1. They own their own business
2. They know me

It was an unusual conversation at the first pass. Most of the discussions went something like this:

Me: “I want to host a ‘collision’ at my house one evening coming up?”

Entrepreneurial Friend: “A what?”

Me: “A collision – Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos is all over this idea – it’s going to be big… except it’s going to be small… I mean, probably 8-10 of my entrepreneurial friends getting together to hang out for the evening to share ideas.”

Entrepreneurial Friend: “Sounds expensive, should I bring my checkbook?”

Me: “No, nothing like that. No sales pitch… not a networking thing either, at least not exactly – just some interesting people that I think you would enjoy meeting. There might be some business opportunities, but no pressure.”

Entrepreneurial Friend: “Will there be beer?”

Me: “I’ve suggested that everyone bring a snack and a beverage to share – so, beer is quite likely.”

It may be that the promise of beer was the real attraction, but in any case, 10 of my entrepreneurial friends showed up. I made introductions at the beginning and asked everyone to share a 2-3 minute summary about who they are and what they do. After everyone shared an overview of their business with the group, I encouraged everyone to enjoy the snacks and to stay as long as they like. A good time was had by all and just about every person who came said that it was unlike any networking event they ever attended – no one shamelessly self-promoting or pretending, just a lot of authentic interactions.

With 10 people, this represented 45 possible “pairs” of conversations. Since everyone ended up talking with everyone else during the course of the evening, the gathering represented 45 “collisions”. This notion of collisions is an idea that Tony Hsieh,of Zappos fame, has made popular – the belief that a significant factor for entrepreneurs who succeed are the number of “collisions” that they have with other entrepreneurs (http://bit.ly/Hsieh-Collisions) . Hsieh doesn’t seem to think that a collision is necessarily even a meeting or a discussion about a business proposition. Rather any interaction between entrepreneurs, even random ones, are believed to have an accelerating effect on successful small business venture.

What came out of the “collision” event that I orchestrated was quite amazing to watch. In talking with those who attended, a number of things happened:

– At least half a dozen follow up meetings at a later time took place among those who met that evening.

– Several of these meetings did, in fact, lead to joint projects or business opportunities.

– A number of folks have shared ideas or asked for input from the others on product ideas, website designs, operational challenges, business strategy, and many others.

– There have been several shared requests for referrals for potential employees or providers.

– Contact info was circulated and several individuals made requests to join each other’s communication networks, participate in upcoming events, etc.

– A number of folks have mentioned how the interaction with other entrepreneurs just gave them a renewed boost in enthusiasm for their business, stemming from being able to share what they are doing with others who are in similar circumstances.

I don’t want to overstate the impact of the moment, but the anecdotal feedback from this small experiment seems very much to support the notion that “collisions” do fuel entrepreneurship.

In closing, I’d like to take these learnings back into the organization – leave it to the org design scholar/behavioral scientist to try to turn a party into an experimental learning opportunity…

If Intrapreneurship is the act of applying entrepreneurial concepts inside a corporation, then what works for self-employed business owners should also hold true for self-led employees. If so, the following seem like useful applications:

1. An intrapreneur should “collide” with as many other intrapreneurs as possible.
2. No need to wait for “collisions” to occur naturally – host your own collision – bring people together who have nothing in common except you.
3. Share ideas with other intrapreneurs and actively seek out their feedback.
4. Invest time in conversation and thought about the ideas of other intrapreneurs and provide feedback where you think you can add value to them (even if there is no immediate return on this investment).
5. When you do “collide” with another intrapreneur, think about who else you know that this person would find to be a valuable connection.
6. Stay connected after collisions occur by linking up through social media and other communication channels – share and promote each others’ ideas.

Perhaps “collisions” aren’t the silver bullet in every respect for successful entrapreneurs and intrapreneurs, but this experience suggests that there might something to it.

Time to collide!

Please follow me on Twitter: @jhwilsonphd @themailroomceo

Let's be Myth-Changers!

Let's be myth-changers!

Of course, before we can be myth-changers, we have to start with a more basic question - What is a Myth?

At first glance it seems like a myth represents something that is false or untrue. This is particularly so when we think of expressions like "myth-busting" or "that's just a myth".

However, I'd like to propose a different definition of a myth and I'll build it out here one piece at a time.

A myth is a story...

A myth is a story we believe to be true...

A myth is a story we believe to be true that shapes our perceptions...

A myth is a story we believe to be true that shapes our perceptions, that in turn, shape our reality.

 Think about that for a moment...

A myth is a story we believe to be true that shapes our perceptions, that in turn, shape our reality.

How then, could we influence the myths of those around us in a way that shapes the best reality for them?

I had a recent experience that illuminated the effect of myth on reality for me. I had the opportunity to spend some extended time in Spain with my wife and three small children. We discovered shortly before we left that my 7-year-old daughter, was apprehensive about the trip. When asked why, she said it was because she didn't think she could have any friends in Spain. The reason she believed that she couldn't make friends in Spain was because she didn't speak Spanish. My wife assured her that there is a universal language among all kids everywhere, and it is spelled P-L-A-Y. I tried to help her to learn some Spanish words and phrases to help start conversations. In spite of these efforts, we had a similar experience over and over again while we traveled. We would arrive at a playground and invariably a little girl about my daughter's age would approach her, eager to play. She would tense up, and move away, showing visible signs of stress and discomfort. No amount of coaxing would convince her to just say hello or to go down the slide with her newly found would-be companion.

The story my daughter believed to be true was that you have to speak the same language to be friends. Therefore, her perception was that she could not be friends with this young person she was encountering. And as a result, she didn't make a friend, and eventually, the other little girl would give up and look for someone else to play with. This myth shaped her reality. It was heartbreaking to observe.

There is good news though - a breakthrough moment when her language myth was challenged. We were at the beach one day, when a girl approached her while all three of our kids were digging a giant crater in the sand near the water. My wife and I watched painfully as the usual routine ensued. My daughter quickly moved to the farthest edge of the crater and turned to face in the opposite direction. Unlike with previous times, this little girl was extremely persistent -refusing to give up. After 10-15 minutes of spurned overtures to connect, I couldn't bear it anymore. I joined the four kids in their sand-digging operation. I introduced myself to our visitor and asked her name.

"Triana" she said.

I motioned to my daughter and introduced her to Triana. I continued, "she is very shy because she doesn't speak Spanish".

"Oh. [she said] ella esta muy guapa".

I translated for my daughter, "Triana said that she thinks you are very pretty". A moment passed and then she turned ever so slightly in the direction of Triana and said in the mousiest voice she could muster... "gracias". I aided the conversation for a few minutes before they both got up and ran off together to collect shells and catch sea creatures. They played together for the entire afternoon without any further translation and I returned to my Hemmingway novel as my services were no longer required.

As I reflected on what happened, it became so clear to me. The story my daughter was telling herself was that she had to speak Spanish to make a friend in Spain. This narrative was shaping her perception, which in turn was shaping the reality of her experience. When she allowed herself to change this story, she was able to experience a new reality, embracing the universal language of P-L-A-Y.

In the technologically prolific age that we now live in, the human experience can be a bit overwhelming on one hand or invigorating on the other. Yet for many, there are residual myths from the past that may be adversely affecting the perceptions that shape our shared reality.

One example I like to use when talking to groups about effective leadership is a Smart phone. Imagine what the technical schematic drawing for a Smartphone would look like [http://bit.ly/smart-phone-specs]. Consider all of the complex silicon and electronic components that would be displayed - far beyond the comprehension of most anyone who isn't directly involved in the design or production of these devices. Then consider what the home screen of a smartphone looks like, the pure simplicity of it. These represent two different views of the same thing. One complex and difficult to understand; the other simple and easily understandable. Moving from the complex and ambiguous to simple and usable is often just a matter of changing myths.

In my observations and experience, part of being an effective leader is taking the opportunity to affect a transformational change in the myths held by those whom we lead. Here's how:

• We can connect people with one another
• We can help them to overcome barriers that make it hard to communicate with one another, and
• We can help them to see the unlimited opportunity in front of them to make an enormous contribution to society, along with a multitude of pathways to achieve their life goals

In this way, perhaps it isn't that we should strive to be myth-busters, but rather myth-changers; Those who help transform the story held by those whom we lead. So that they can discover new perceptions about the world they live in and their part in it; in a way that can shape a new reality for us all.

Let's be myth-changers!

Please follow me on Twitter: @jhwilsonphd @themailroomceo

5 Attributes of The Mailroom CEO Mindset

Does it feel like you could contribute so much more to the organization that you work for if you just had the chance ? This seems to be a challenge for both new and seasoned employees in many companies, with individuals at all levels often feeling like they may as well be working in the mailroom for as under-utilized as they feel. For this reason, I'm often asked to repeat the story of The Mailroom CEO as a metaphor and model for self-leadership along with the five attributes that comprise The Mailroom CEO Mindset. The full story can be found as part of this article, http://bit.ly/1fau6pA, but here's a quick summary:

The Mailroom CEO story is about Jill, a recent college grad who took a job in the mailroom at a rapid package delivery company for lack of better employment prospects. One morning, she overheard a conversation in a coffee shop and realized that a disruptive technology developed by a competitor is likely to threaten the stability of her employer. After her apathetic supervisor refuses to escalate her concerns, she leverages her personal network to gain a better understanding of the risks that the company is facing, while she still continues to move throughout the building delivering the mail. Through this process of assumed leadership, Jill also gains support from several of her key contacts to help her raise the alarm. Ultimately, she leads this coalition of individuals from key areas of the business to bring this threat to light, along with possible responses.

The Mailroom CEO mindset is a little different from the cheesy-maze runners of 20th century conventional wisdom, which involved waiting for "higher-ups" to set out incentives for their underlings to chase after. Instead, The Mailroom CEO Mindset is about understanding your business environment for yourself and exercising self-leadership, Intrapreneurship, and relational collaboration. These characteristics that are ideal for the organic, non-heirarchical organizational design models that are emerging in the 21st century (i.e. #holocracy, Teal orgs, etc.) that downplay positional authority and a chain of command (i.e. Zappos, Gore-Tex, etc), but are equally effective in traditional hierarchies. Here's what these characteristics look like:

1. Self-leadership in action - What if you didn't have a boss - Is that even possible? If you didn't have a boss, you would have to take on the responsibility to understand the bigger picture that surrounds your work. You would need to identify the most important tasks to complete and monitor your own progress against these objectives. You would also have to celebrate and censure your own successes and shortcomings. In effect these are all actions that you can perform for yourself.
2. Self-leadership through natural rewards - What do you love most about your job? What is it about your work that you find enjoyable or rewarding? While you might be thinking that there isn't much, it is likely that you could identify tangible and intangible rewards you experience through your work if you give it some consideration. Self-leadership through natural rewards is mentally zeroing-in on these when you must complete tasks that you aren't that excited to do.
3. Self-leadership through self-talk - It isn't crazy to talk to yourself, especially if you are doing it with a purpose. Self-talk is about coaching yourself through difficult challenges, mentally rehearsing conversations in advance, or visualizing yourself succeeding - all as ways to help yourself achieve your best results.
4. Intrapreneurship - You read that right, it isn't a spelling error. Intrepreneurs are a lot like entrepreneurs, but they work as employees of a company rather than on their own. The characteristics are similar though - create innovative products/service, or perhaps, new ways to do things that will give the organization a competitive advantage. Being a successful intrepreneur involves developing new ideas, gaining support through collaboration, and securing funding and other resources to turn ideas into a reality.
5. Relational networking - Whether through personal contact, social media, team interactions, etc. relational networking is about being known by and respected by a lot of people. There are lots of ways to go about this, but the most important thing is to be authentic, take an interest in people, and look for ways to help others accomplish their goals.

For Jill, self-leadership and collaborative leadership of others was not about using authority to get things done. Instead, she combined a keen understanding of the business she was in, she was alert to changes in the environment, and she leveraged strong relationships to affect meaningful change. These characteristics mindset are available to all of us, regardless of the job title on our business card.

Be a Mailroom CEO!

 Twitter: @jhwilsonphd @themailroomceo

References:

Business without bosses: How self-managing teams are building high-performing companies, by Charles Manz & Henry Simms

Intrapreneuring: Why you don’t have to leave the corporation to become an entrapreneur, by Gifford Pinchot III

Never eat alone: and other secrets to success, one relationship at a time, by Keith Ferrazzi