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Phew! I managed to hand in my last tutor marked assignment (TMA 03) two weeks ago. I was more than happy to press send on that 7,500 monster, packed with evidence and, hopefully, insightful commentary. It consumed so much of my time in January and early February that I didn’t have a spare thought to blog. It also had the added pressure of being worth 50% of the overall assignment marks. Writing for fun is so much easier. When you have to submit content for marking it is really stressful. Well for me, anyway.

The assignment situation reminded me of Daniel Pink’s book “Drive” and his chapters on intrinsic motivation. Here he discusses research undertaken by Amabile on commissioned and non-commissioned art work and the role creativity plays in it. He states that a panel of experts, not privy to the design of Amabile’s experiment, constantly rated the non-commissioned art work as more “creative”. The artists even stated that they felt constrained by commissioned pieces. Sometimes it seems the boundaries of the task or the context itself really “fences you in” to paraphrase Cole Porter.

Although the end of my OU MBA journey is in sight, I still have one last exam to complete. This time I have to submit a 2,000 word essay on the role of management theory and whether a perfect manager can ever exist. I can certainly think of examples of what makes a bad manager! I have started with my refreshed mind-mapping skills and had fun reversing the open exam question. It’s funny how looking at the question in a different light can give you a new perspective. I hope to complete this essay by the end of March – then I can enjoy a stress-free Easter break.

But the more pressing question for me is what happens next? Once my B830 module is completed in April I will just be awaiting my final MBA result. So far I’m focussed on two potential areas continuing on with academia and embarking on a Ph.D. or just writing more. In order to take more action on the former, I’m attending the Post-Graduate Ph.D. Fair in Victoria this weekend. I’m hoping to meet some university representatives and discuss their different management programmes. I quite like the idea of going to CASS or Birkbeck because I could self-fund my studies. On the latter, I’m going to blog more regularly and launch my online management magazine. My husband even bought me the Genius Guide to WordPress – I think he’s worried that I’ll have too much time on my hands soon!

Networking is definitely a broad-church term encompassing online/offline; internal/external; work colleagues/friends; and acquaintances/family. But how do we grow our networks without looking narcissistic and shallow?

Ibarra and Hunter (2007) say that networking is about “creating a fabric of personal contacts that will provide support, feedback, insight, resources, and information”. But many managers, from their study of 30 managers, find networking insincere or manipulative and fail to utilise their contacts effectively. Being time-poor is also an issue.

Singleton and Tarnowska (2010) answer to this is that you should learn to cultivate your relationships whether they be from work, school, college, home or clubs. Probe, ask questions, be interested and share information. Keep in touch, and offer relevant information such as thought-provoking articles, and tips, as and when appropriate. There is no point just collecting more and more business cards and LinkedIn contacts if you are not willing to make an effort to build on your relationships.

There is also the issue of working out how to manage your networks. Ibarra and Hunter (2007) suggest that there are three main types of networking: operational, personal and strategic. Operational networking is about good working relationships both internal, such as peers and superiors, and external, such as suppliers and customers, to the organisation. These connections are relatively straight-forward in the sense that everyone is connected to the organisational network so there are obvious synergies in working with one another even if the relationships are not always easy.

Personal networking encompasses connections made through professional associations, clubs, personal interest groups and alumni. These connections are made out of choice. Ibarra and Hunter (2007) state that this group provides important referrals, information and development support. It can also create a good basis for strategic networking. The issues with personal networking are that you are most likely surrounded by like-minded people who you share personal interests with. Therefore it becomes difficult to work out how valuable this type of network is. It can also reinforce mind-sets.

Strategic networking, however, is about creating inside-outside links for future business and functional purposes. These types of connections can be political, but if you are not in touch with the “bigger picture” and aspire to leadership roles, you can often lose out to someone who is. Strategic networking also requires a lot of time and dedication. It is often one of the reasons given for why women rarely reach a board-level position in an organisation. Balancing the demands of family-life with organisational development is no easy task for anyone.

For the novice networker, Ibarra and Hunter (2007) suggest finding a networking role model and watch and learn. Maybe find an outside interest, say the cinema, and find ways of encouraging it within the organisation and with clients in order to find time to interact with them. Re-allocate your time and workload effectively to find time to network and connect. Nurture your connections. The benefits of networking take time and need constant gardening. In time, it will bloom.

References:

Ibarra H, & Hunter M (2007). How leaders create and use networks. Harvard business review, 85 (1) PMID: 17286073

Singleton, T., & Tarnowska, I. (2010). Take Networking to the Next Level Strategic Finance (February), 19-20

I’m so glad that I have found Herminia Ibarra (2002) articles. She has a lot of useful comments on personal and career development. She is also very practically focused, which suits my EBI requirements. Ibarra (2002) also has a different take on the whole career redevelopment approach, which is outlined in her Harvard Business Review article “How to stay Stuck in the Wrong Career.

Ibarra (2002) believes that instead of wasting too much time planning, analysing, and researching career change options, you should take action first and work through the results iteratively afterwards. Through an action-oriented approach you can adapt, regroup your thoughts, and reorient your pathway from real-life experience. This means that your career change is never a pipedream that is too risky to implement because you are actively pursuing change. You have real-life information on which to base a decision.

It’s also a good way of exploring our many different “selves”. Ibarra quotes research from cognitive psychologist Hazel Markus (1986), Possible Selves, which explores the idea of multiple adult identities formed in the present, past and future. Ibarra argues that her own research reflects this idea that we have many identities. Her career-change subjects identified job opportunities that arose from volunteer opportunities, married life, and networks outside of the workplace. Some subjects had wild ideas of becoming tour guides or scuba instructors whilst others found identities in the non-profit sector. Ibarra does not believe that we can find our one “true self” and that too much introspection will amount to nothing more than daydreams. It’s action that counts.

The approach Ibarra (2002) recommends in anyone’s career change action is called “the practice of working identity”. This is a practice of applying effort to reshape our identity. This skill is one that Ibarra (2002) says can be learned by anyone seeking professional renewal. She calls this the “test and learn” model of change.  Ibarra advocates three main ways of a working through a career-change process: crafting experiments, shifting connections, and making sense of your journey.

Through crafting experiments we can test out new activities and professional roles in small manageable ways. Find an opportunity to learn a new identity through a related work project, a volunteer option, further training, or by freelancing. Concrete experience is what is required if you really want to move in a new direction.

Although feedback is a good way of gaining insight into your personality and ways of working, in practice, people who are too close to us have their own biases and agendas. They can have a vested interest in keeping the status quo. Networking away from our friends and family and current workplace, shifting connections, can provide a necessary new perspective on what is achievable. It may even open you up to new possibilities that have not been considered.

Making sense of your change requires a narrative to explain your new direction. What triggered your epiphany? What were the defining moments? How did you get there? By creating a personal narrative, we can explain our new direction to others and believe in it ourselves. It also solidifies the action taken and defines your purpose.

Ibarra (2002) concludes that those that successfully reoriented their career pathway took smaller steps that allowed them to learn from experience. Nobody in her research followed a linear pathway. She states that most career transition takes three years and it must start with action.

Overall, Ibarra has given me lots to think about. Despite her research being based on only 39 career-change case studies, I think she has a point in stating that you must actually take action if you want to change. It links very nicely with Kolb and Fry (1975) experiential learning cycle, which is about learning from action, reflecting, and then implementing further change.

So far, I have already filled in an online career inventory with CASCAiD, http://www.cascaid.co.uk/ . That has given me a top 20 list of roles that it claims I am suitable for, some of the roles I have already thought were possible. I also have an MBTI profile. And I also have various opportunities to network with others either through volunteer opportunities or networking groups. I guess it is time to start taking action!

References

Ibarra H (2002). How to stay stuck in the wrong career. Harvard business review, 80 (12) PMID: 12510536

Kolb, D.A., & Fry, R. (1975). Towards an Applied Theory of experiential learning Theories of Group Processes, 33-57

Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible Selves American Psychologist, 42 (9), 954-969

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I experienced a great OU Res-School at Lane End Conference Centre, Buckinghamshire, over the weekend just gone. I caught-up with fellow B830 tutor group members and some previous module colleagues. I was a member of Richard’s tutor group and also a member of a randomly generated learning set group formed to work through all our EBI proposals.

This EBI bullet-proofing process required us to map who we perceived as main EBI stakeholders on our power-interest matrices, define our EBI with the key issues outlined, and explore potential areas of theory relevant to our chosen EBIs.

I have decided to focus on a personal and very individually-focused EBI. I feel that I need to analyse my skill set, family commitments and employment opportunities in detail and work out the best career pathway for me. The best way of doing this, I believe, is to audit my work experience and competencies with a career coach. I have already had one session with David at C2 Careers and I already have some action points to work on following the meeting.

At the moment, I feel a bit like Dorothy traversing the Yellow Brick road to the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. But instead of one road to Emerald City I have numerous choices and crossroads! I recognise that too much choice is a nice problem to have, but it complicates the process markedly. It doesn’t help when everyone has an opinion on the best way forward depending on their interest in my background and skillset.

Right now I feel that I need to follow a very divergent process in order to explore and narrow down my choices. I can see this process of self-discovery being extremely iterative as I work through my options and converge on a suitable pathway. I think I’m likely to follow the Buffalo 6-stage creative problem solving process during my EBI. I already feel that I am at stage two of the divergent fact-finding part: discovering suitable work structures and work opportunities for me following the completion of the OU MBA.

As part of my career audit I think that I can use the CV Plus method mentioned by Dealtry (2004) in his article The Savvy Learner. He believes that existing and prospective managers need to establish where they are in their learning-to-learn journey. He argues that CV Plus is a diagnostic self-appraisal tool that provides a framework of six core areas (Family, Location, Education, Work Experience, Social Activity, and Political Opinion) in order to help an individual work through their past learning experience and ideology. By mapping the learning progress from birth to adulthood, without thinking of a particular job or industry influencing the self-analysis, it is hoped that an individual can understand how they arrived at their present career path.

Dealtry believes it is important that an individual knows three main things about themselves in relation to their learning journey: their learning styles profile, learning diagnostics and team profile. He states that knowing the learning self leads to the recognition in differences in behaviour in those people we work with and live with. But this insight needs to be managed within the context of the influences that affect an individual’s learning development such as job context, culture, methods of learning etc and their own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Fundamentally, Dealtry argues that an individual’s learning-to-learn journey is about managing all the stakeholders involved in the learning experience: the learner, the organisation, and also work colleagues, family and learning providers. We do not learn in a vacuum. Furthermore, how an individual shifts his/her world-view paradigm after discovering new ideas can markedly impact others and the way they are perceived by them. It’s important to recognise the changes in you and the positive or negative impact it may have on your personal or work relationships.

References:

Dealtry R. (2004) “Professional Practice: The Savvy Learner”, The Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol.16 no 1, Emerald Group Publishing, pp 101-109.