4Sight Chats

Also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRKNGF95rN0

[08:29] What’s the biggest challenge that prevents leaders from changing their communication style?

[11:23] How long does it take for a leader to see substantial change in their communication style?

[13:03] Is letting others know that you are working on your communication style any useful?

[15:23] Tips for facilitation

[19:20] Tips for situations where the person we talk to is in fight mode

[22:30] Is leaving difficult conversations an option?

[25:05] Why communication is often not in the business school curriculum

[29:04] Advice for educators who are considering to start using YouTube

[35:15] Success as an educator-YouTuber

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1_GjzfOkKqA

[02:38] Henry's latest book "Understanding Organizations...Finally!"

[15:29] Can scenarios help us to determine/improve strategy from the futures in the same way synthesis of experience helps us to determine/improve strategy from the past?

[20:02] Isn't scenario planning a prediction of several possibilities?

[22:58] Henry's ideas about the “obsession with theory” in management research and the detachment of PhD programs in management from management practice

[30:00] Advice for business schools' deans on ways out of the problems in management education

[34:43] Henry's work on rebalancing society: guidelines for policymakers

[41:13] Canoeing and the view of the lake out of Henry's house

CHAT OUTLINE

[02:58] Can you give us a quick introduction to your recent book “Why Managers Matter: The perils of the Bossless Company”, with Peter Klein?

[10:21] Mark 1 and Mark 2 authority and how the bossless company narrative confuses them

[15:14] The bossless company narrative in in high power distance contexts and its psychological costs

[17:15] When does the bossless company actually work?

[23:23] The bossless company narrative in highly turbulent/highly uncertain environments

[25:14] The deeper epistemological and political values behind the bossless company narrative

[31:20] The bossless company narrative and postmodernism

[34:03] Why do companies go woke?

[36:16] The public response to Nicolai's work on bossless company and wokeness

[40:10] Why do business schools do so little research on sensitive themes such as wokeness and capitalism?

[44:52] What are the biggest problems in management research?

[54:52] Lighthearted closing question: What is your experience as a business school professor in Bocconi (Italy)?

[14:20] What are the conditions of old age we would do away with if we were to achieve longevity escape velocity?

Daniel is a sociologist and transdisciplinary thinker specializing in metamodernism, the stage of societal development that comes after and goes beyond postmodernism. Alex is Co-founder and Head of Foresight at the Ideactio Centre for Foresight Research & Consulting (Singapore).  

Also available in video format:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-x1xVy4n8o

CHAT OUTLINE 

[04:03] For an audience of which mental development stage is this self-help book? In contrast, for an audience of which mental development stage are Peterson's self-help books? what is the difference between the two? 

[18:50] Why it is not necessary to wait until one has resolved personal problems to engage in social critique, contrary to Jordan Peterson’s argument

[35:33] Why it is more important to pursue day-to-day happiness/joy of being rather than or beyond meaningful goals (AKA what’s meaningful), contrary to Jordan Peterson’s argument

[48:53] Hanzi Freinacht's self-help vs Jordan Peterson's self help as self-help for the remembering self vs self-help for the experiencing self. [56:45] What kind of new public intellectual and new philosophical framework, i.e., metamodernism, does this book point us to? 

[1:06:14] Why talking to Daniel (and metamodernism in general) makes Alex feel more intelligent and more stupid at the same time.  

MENTIONED SOURCES 

Freinacht (2023). 12 Commandments: For Extraordinary People To Master Ordinary Life: https://www.amazon.com/12-Commandments-Extraordinary-People-Ordinary-ebook/dp/B0BR62T9QG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N0F46GPX1UUA&keywords=hanzi+freinacht&qid=1672985297&sprefix=hanzi+freina%2Caps%2C1483&sr=8-1 

Support Alex's videos: https://www.patreon.com/alexfergnani 

Audio by Bensound

George is a professor of management science at the university of Strathclyde (Glasgow), Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making and Editor-in-Chief of the recently launched Wiley journal, Futures & Foresight Science. Alex is co-founder and head of foresight at the Ideactio Centre for Foresight Research & Consulting (Singapore).  

Also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSLE0Q7ayyY

CHAT OUTLINE: 

[1:10] Introduction, scope and vision of the journal "Futures & Foresight Science" (FFS) 

[05:39] Why would  futures/foresight/scenario planning researchers and practitioners want to publish their work in FFS?  

[10:57] Why would management and organization researchers/executive educators want to publish their work (about foresight/scenarios and related topics) in FFS?  

[15:08] The experience of the FFS review process from an author's perspective 

[18:43] The experience of FFS from a reader's perspective    

MENTIONED SOURCES: 

Mills & Wilner (2022). The science behind “values”: Applying moral foundations theory to strategic foresight: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ffo2.145  

Schoemaker (2020). How historical analysis can enrich scenario planning: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ffo2.35  

Spaniol & Rowland (2018). Defining scenario: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffo2.3   

Support Alex's videos: https://www.patreon.com/alexfergnani

Dennis Tourish is a professor of leadership and organization studies at the University of Sussex Business School. Alex Fergnani is the co-founder and head of foresight at the Ideactio Centre for Foresight Research and Consulting (Singapore)  

Available in video format:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD5kuYFHg0w

CHAT OUTLINE: 

[02:35] Some statistics about the crisis in management studies 

[05:20] Summary of the many interlinked problems behind the crisis in management studies (overemphasis of theory, questionable research practices, lack of relevant research, overemphasis of journals' impact factors, etc.) 

[12:08] Taking a complexity view of the issue, what is/are the problem(s) that we absolutely have to address first? 

[15:40] Why we are underestimating our agency to solve the problem 

[18:20] Why referring to scientific publications by using the phrase “playing the game”  is deleterious 

[20:20] Taking a (simplified) foresight view of the issue, what is the best case future scenario and the worst case future scenario of management studies?

[24:06] Possible solutions, e.g., a shorter review process, grant lottery for researchers, etc. 

[28:57] Research malpractice, e.g.,  only positive results are shown, tautological hypotheses, etc. 

[31:37] The necessity of promoting abductive research and case studies 

[33:38] P-hacking and the crisis of reproducibility 

[34:26] How to address the problem collectively 

[39;28] Resistance to change 

[42:37] Why and how to do more relevant management research? 

[48:02] What has recently changed in the field about the problem  

MENTIONED SOURCES: 

Tourish (2019). Management Studies in Crisis: Fraud, Deception and Meaningless Research: https://www.amazon.com/Management-Studies-Crisis-Deception-Meaningless-ebook/dp/B07S7DWWDB/ref=sr_1_2?crid=DZBBU4AVB09C&keywords=dennis+tourish&qid=1668507482&sprefix=dennis+tourish%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-2 

Tourish (2020).The Triumph of Nonsense in Management Studies: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amle.2019.0255 

Haley et al. (2022). In Search of Scholarly Impact (AMLE Editorial): https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amle.2022.0327 

Sharma et al (2022). Cocreating Forward: How Researchers and Managers Can Address Problems Together: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amle.2021.0233 

Ramani et al. (2022). Defining, Measuring, and Rewarding Scholarly Impact: Mind the Level of Analysis: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amle.2021.0177 

Fergnani & Chermack (2021). The resistance to scientific theory in futures and foresight, and what to do about it: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffo2.61 

Responsible Research In Business and Management network: https://www.rrbm.network   

Support Alex's videos: https://www.patreon.com/alexfergnani 

Audio by Bensound

Marcus is Associate Professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology in Zhuhai, China. Alex is PhD Candidate at NUS Business School, Singapore.  

Also available in video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Ug2Frhcco

Gerard is Vice Dean for Research of the Faculty of Humanities and Professor of Strategic Management and Behavioural Science at Alliance Manchester Business School. Alex is PhD Candidate at NUS Business School, Singapore. 

Available in video format:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqvNxpeG90k

Chat outline: 

-The role of emotions in foresight and strategic decision making 

-How to take emotions into account as foresight practitioners (both in others and ourselves) 

-Risks as feelings 

-The science-practice divide 

-Critical realism as a philosophical framework to study futures and foresight  

MENTIONED REFERENCES: 

Hodgkinson and Wright (2002). Confronting Strategic Inertia in a Top Management Team: Learning from Failure: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0170840602236014 

David Teece’s dynamic capabilities framework: https://www.davidjteece.com/dynamic-capabilities 

Kahneman (2013). Thinking, Fast and Slow: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555 

Loewenstein, Weber, Hsee, and Welch (2001). Risks as feelings: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11316014/ 

Evans (2008). Dual-processing accounts of reasoning judgment, and social cognition: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18154502/ 

Evans and Stanovich  (2013). Dual-process theories of higher cognition advancing the debate: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691612460685 

Anderson, Herriot and Hodgkinson (2001). The practitioner–researcher divide in Industrial, Work and Organizational (IWO) psychology: Where are we now, and where do we go from here?: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-10499-002 

Fergnani and Chermack (2021). The resistance to scientific theory in futures and foresight and what to do about it: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffo2.61 

Hodgkinson (2021). Why appealing to the virtues of scientific theory (and method) is necessary but insufficient for effecting systemic change: A commentary on Fergnani & Chermack 2021: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffo2.79 

Hodgkinson and Healey (2008). Toward a (Pragmatic) Science of Strategic Intervention: Design Propositions for Scenario Planning: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0170840607088022 

To know more about Gerard, see: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/gerard.hodgkinson.html 

Support Alex's videos: https://www.patreon.com/alexfergnani 

Audio by Bensound

This conversation is an interview between Tom Chermack and Alex Fergnani about Tom's latest book, "Using Scenarios". Tom is a Professor in organizational learning, performance and change at Colorado State University. Alex is a PhD Candidate at NUS Business School.  

CHAT OUTLINE: 

-Motivation behind writing the book 

-How to choose which "after scenarios" method to use 

-Translating scenarios into financials 

-Responding to potential criticism 

-The rationale behind the design of the book cover

The conversation is also available in video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgmfkHtGURk

"Using Scenarios: Scenario Planning for Improving Organizations" can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Using-Scenarios-Scenario-Improving-Organizations/dp/1523092882 

Tom's previous book on scenario planning, "Scenario Planning in Organizations: How to Create, Use, and Assess Scenarios" can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F9FMYGO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

You can support Alex's podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/alexfergnani