Qualities of Entrepreneurial Design Conversations

In our daily practice of teaching and coaching students how to develop their business proposition for their high tech new ventures, we build on innovation and design sciences. In developing their business proposition, students engage in several activities simultaneously and also change their activities frequently. How can we, as educators, understand this process of always changing activities while being in the midst of coaching students? We investigate this process by analysing coaching conversations we have with students in our course Clean Tech Launchpad. Based on the theory of complex responsive processes of relating and the participatory innovation construct ‘quality of conversation’, this paper discusses how design as a social activity around the business proposition takes place in the interaction between coaches and students. Therefore, we introduce the term ‘Quality of Entrepreneurial Design Conversations’. This local creation of meaning helps to design the business proposition development process of students.

How trainee hospital doctors lead work-based projects

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how trainee hospital doctors led work-based projects undertaken on an accredited development programme in England. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study of a leadership programme for hospital-based specialty trainees. The programme included participants leading work-based projects which were submitted for academic accreditation. Accounts of 35 work-based projects were thematically analysed to explore how participants led their projects. Findings Leadership was often informal and based on a series of individual face-to-face conversations. The establishment of project teams and the use of existing communication processes were often avoided. The reasons for this approach included lack of opportunities to arrange meetings, fear of conflict in meetings and the personal preferences of the participants. The authors discuss these findings with reference to theory and evidence about conversations and informal leadership, highlighting the relevance of complexity theory. Research limitations/implications The data are limited and drawn from the best accounts written for a specific educational context. There is therefore limited transferability to the leadership work of hospital-based specialty trainees in general. Future research into medical leadership might explore the micro practices of leadership and change, particularly in informal settings. Practical implications Leadership development programmes for trainee hospital doctors might concentrate on developing skills of conversation, particularly where there are or may be perceived power imbalances. Exploring conversations within the theory of complex responsive processes should be considered for inclusion in programmes. Originality/value This paper adds some detail to the general understanding of learning leadership in practice.

A New Research Agenda for Project Management Communication Theory

<p>Based on an analysis of 272 peer-reviewed articles on project management communication, the authors found that only four percent of the articles advanced project management communication toward a better contemporary understanding of the complexity of communication. The authors posit that project management communication research needs a new research agenda based on complex responsive processes of relating. The new research agenda proposal comprises three major areas of study: emotional intelligence; communication complexity theories; and complexity leadership. Adopting the new project management communication research agenda will help establish more effective communication tools and methods for project management practitioners while providing new research opportunities for communication scholars.</p>

A New Research Agenda for Project Management Communication Theory

<p>Based on an analysis of 272 peer-reviewed articles on project management communication, the authors found that only four percent of the articles advanced project management communication toward a better contemporary understanding of the complexity of communication. The authors posit that project management communication research needs a new research agenda based on complex responsive processes of relating. The new research agenda proposal comprises three major areas of study: emotional intelligence; communication complexity theories; and complexity leadership. Adopting the new project management communication research agenda will help establish more effective communication tools and methods for project management practitioners while providing new research opportunities for communication scholars.</p>

Uncovering paradoxes from physicians’ experiences of patient-centered ward-round

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover paradoxes emerging from physicians’ experiences of a patient-centered and team-based ward round, in an internal medicine department. Design/methodology/approach Abductive reasoning relates empirical material to complex responsive processes theory in a dialectical process to further understandings. Findings This paper found the response from physicians, to a patient-centered and team-based ward round, related to whether the new demands challenged or confirmed individual physician’s professional identity. Two empirically divergent perspectives on enacting the role of physician during ward round emerged: We-perspective and I-perspective, based on where the physician’s professional identity was centered. Physicians with more of an I-perspective experienced challenges with the new round, while physicians with more of a We-perspective experienced alignment with their professional identity and embraced the new round. When identity is challenged, anxiety is aroused, and if anxiety is not catered to, then resistance is likely to follow and changes are likely to be hampered. Practical implications For change processes affecting physicians’ professional identity, it is important for managers and change leaders to acknowledge paradox and find a balance between new knowledge that needs to be learnt and who the physician is becoming in this new procedure. Originality/value This paper provides increased understanding about how physicians’ professional identity is interacting with a patient-centered ward round. It adds to the knowledge about developing health care in line with recent societal requests and with sustainable physician engagement.

Complex Processes and Social Systems

In this paper the authors consider two contrasting viewpoints; Complex responsive processes which deal with interactions in the present, and complex adaptive systems which focus on learning through the production of what are called mental models. The paper shows that rather than being contradictory, these viewpoints are – at least in some respects - complementary. From the resulting perspective we are able to identify qualitative synergies between the two approaches. Complex responsive processes involve reflections on interactions that take place in time. But you cannot stop time so these present reflections always refer back to a present now gone. Complex adaptive systems are analytic tools. They are not explicitly in the present or in time at all, but they shape our thoughts and actions which are in the present. They shape how people behave, respond and think in a context. In this way people can combine, or reorganise, the approach to complex responsive processes and complex adaptive systems to show how humans address the complex notions of our world.

Making Sense of Collaborative Practices: Practice as a Social and Scientific Phenomenon

Workshop Description (objectives, methods, results, conclusions): The concept of “practice” has received little attention in healthcare literature. This is an important oversight as practitioners tend to equate the dominant scientific discourse with practice. This covers over the social nature of individual and team-based practices. Social theorists argue that human nature is ‘helplessly’ social and interdependent. This failure to recognize the social construction of knowledge and knowing influences our ability to engage in collaborative practice and provide whole person care. We cannot see where “hidden practices” (the practice equivalent to 'hidden curriculum') influence what we can see and what remains hidden, what we can say and what we must keep silent about, or which actions are encouraged and which are constrained. We will explore the paradox of the co-existence of rational science and social constructionist views of knowledge and knowing and propose that practices are complex, responsive, processes of relating that are informed by, and in turn, challenge and further inform science. Using a mix of presentation, personal reflection, and case studies in small groups, this 90 minute workshop we will explore the social nature of practice, the theory/practice (science/experience) paradox, and consider how this “two-eyed” understanding could facilitate the provision of whole person care.Specific Objectives: Participants will be able to:1. Define collaborative practice2. Elaborate and understand their own experience of collaborative practice3. Differentiate between social and scientific paradigms and explain the differences and implications4. Explain the concept and implications of the practices of particular communities and of first- and second-order breakdowns5. Understand the nature of collaboration and distinguish it from included and related concepts of communication, coordination, cooperation, and co-location6. Articulate personal definitions of and strategies for and identify personal commitments to collaborative practice related to whole person care.