Getting nowhere fast ... going somewhere else

I decided to just let my mind wander ... which it did into "worldview" with the opportunity for Jeanie and me to push our AoM presentation paper into a theme issue for Journal of International Business Education.

It wandered into this week's major sorting task - of all the toiletries and over-the-counter medicines from four

bathrooms plus a large stash of travel stuff. In the process all my lipsticks came home to roost -- I have been constantly searching for at least one lipstick for several months now. No more!

But wandering wasn't yielding results -- except lipsticks -- so I honed in on creating a symposium for EAM-2010 on "Hybrid Thinking" by doing an hour of serious library work. I'm not sure what my co-conspirators Diana and Deb will think of the idea -- I'd better write a page on the topic in the morning.

Progress? Not sure. Does it really matter?

Today's question

I've been sorting - pitching or regrouping -- piles and piles of papers: Notes, reprints of journal articles, magazine special issues, drafts of papers on their way to conferences and publications, teaching exercises, and the like -- what a lot of trees! At the same time I've started drawing my mind map -- how does all the stuff I've done before, and all the literature I've explored over the last 20 years that's currently swirling around in my head settle into an interesting new pattern for inquiry?

Off again-to Boston-in my quest for design understanding

DMI Design/Management Annual 34

Design Complexity and Change

October 18-20, 2009, Cambridge, MA

A great experience - top-notch presentations, a mixture of practitioner and academics (but not academic theory!) Lots for me to think about and explore further.

My overall learning from the conference:

1. Sustainability was not in the title, but every presentation (with the exception of one or two) was about sustainability. Presenters were tacking the bigger issues that will result in a sustainable world. àThe wickedest problem is complexity, and the role of design is to make complexity simple.

2. Design thinking was acknowledged by everyone as a fad discourse in business, and therefore of little use to the design community in their work. àWe should be using hybrid (multidisciplinary) discourses.

3. Social media are not a fad, rather, the web as a platform is a disruptive force. à The Business & Design Lab must find ways of connecting and making visible our individual and collective work.

4. Facilitation is an important competency for designers. à The Business & Design Lab must teach group facilitation skills (for agenda-less meetings!) to our students (and ourselves!)

And of course it was fun to be back in Cambridge and see some of the changes to MIT since I was there as a student in the mid-1960s.

Reconnecting -- October 3-12.

My 10 days in Sweden were as if it had not been 18 months since I was last there! It was good to be back living on the island of Ockero and working at the University of Gothenburg.

I was greeted warmly by previous colleagues Marcus and Anna, met others such as Katerina whom I had known only virtually before, and newcomers such as Ram and Kristopher. The Ph.D. seminar was an opportunity to see colleagues Lisbeth and Rachel from elsewhere in Europe -- and to experience a "Dumpster Dive" in addition to acquiring and sharing knowledge. I celebrated the news that the Business and Design Master's program was listed in the BusinessWeek top 30 design schools.

The 10 days went by too fast. I presented my credentials to Vice-Dean of the School of Business Economics and Law, Maureen McKelvey (who was born in Seattle and grew up in Texas), reinstated my library privileges, and acquired a GU e-address. The commands are all in Swedish, so I'm not sure what is happening to my messages!

I did learn a new word - fika. - Here's the cafe across the street from the Business & Design Lab where everyone stops to buy coffee and a delicious pastry for fika. (Next visit I'll make your mouth water with photos of the selection)

And -- biggest news of all -- the day I left the announcement was made that Ulla will be the first Professor in Design Management in Sweden!

Why my interest in design?

It's a parallel situation to how I accidently became an academic. Back then, I was trying to effect radical scale change in a non-profit, but no matter what I tried (including suggestions from at least two consultants), nothing worked. So, I decided more theory was needed-and several

years later I had a Ph.D. and an academic career.

I was content being a management scholar. But then the ironic ladies wrote the conference paper on Mary Parker Follett (based on our shared experience in the Great Books course at UMass). The 2007 European Academy of Design Conference in Turkey was a transforming experience . I was fascinated by

design thinking -- it just made intuitive sense. So, when I needed to lead an effort to radically change the Welch College of Business MBA program, I wanted to use design thinking. But no one else "got it" -- they were all analytical and linear. And the change attempt was a failure (again!). I didn't need more, but different theory. So, when Ulla offered me the opportunity to become affiliated with the Business and Design Lab, that was all the invitation I needed! I'm back to the reason why academic life was so appealing -- the opportunity to do research and engage with interesting people. I wonder where this iteration of my life will lead me!

Certainly to the library -

Jill (Re) Designed

Welcome to my thoughts and doings in the world and words where design meets management.

My redesign began in Izmir, Turkey, where the “ironic ladies” turned back towards epistemology,

stopping to gain inspiration from Mary Parker Follett.

If I had a design childhood, it was during my Spring 2008 sabbatical semester – a wonderous time spent in Sarasota, Sweden, and Stonington. I delved into the literature of design and design management, and met my colleagues at the Business & Design Lab at Gothenburg University. For the full story you must read all 200+ posts to my sabbatical blog.

As I transitioned out of my administrative world at the Jack Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University, I gained inspiration from the Professional Development Workshop on Design Thinking at the 2009 Academy of Management Meeting. That experience was more vibrant and valuable than all my other interactions with the 10,000 or so academics in Chicago for 5 days.