July 14th

for2021 | Aimee Thompson | 973 words

Sensemaking Essay
Advice Sonnenfeld
Making Effective Contributions
Do Your Homework

If you want to make effective contributions to this school, you will need to understand on a deeper level
who your colleagues are, what motivates them, and what they may perceive as a threat - only once you
have this perspective will you be able to build strong, strategic relationships to support your ambitions. It
will not be enough to just observe, you will need to ask questions! Ask your colleagues what matters to
them as researchers, educators, and ambassadors of Emory. You have taken a good first step by coming
to me, but it is important that you broaden your network here by talking to faculty at all levels and taking
notes to help yourself stay objective throughout the process.

You should, of course, go beyond the empirical and look at the numbers. Take stock of who our key
donors are, their relationships to our faculty, Emory’s KPIs as a rapidly growing institution, and the areas
where we have fallen short. The Dean, for example, is under enormous pressure to raise both the profile
of our school and its endowments – it is critical that you understand the scope of his objectives and your
role in supporting them. Do not forget, as you absorb this new information, to do so with a critical eye – it
is important for you to be objective and avoid generalizing or oversimplifying people, situations, and
dynamics. In short, ensure that you have explored the landscape at Emory, consulted with others, and
kept your own biases and preconceived notions in check.

Frame What You Know

Forget what you know about other schools, things are different at Emory. Administrative power here is
absolute, and President Chase is a self-proclaimed fascist. Frameworks for mapping out ambiguity in a
democratic institution will not work here, so let the information you have gathered lead you to a framework
that is a better fit for this environment. This may look like a diagram of formal and informal relationships
within the organization, a sketch of who has power and in what capacity, or a graph of Emory’s
endowment growth and correlating environmental factors – what your frameworks look like will be up to
you and the situation as you see it, but it should ultimately help you to simplify the complex environment
that is Emory and your place in it. Taking a step back at this early stage of your career will allow you to
make sense of the information you have gathered and save you a lot of headaches later, trust me.

Test the Waters

I know you were recruited with grand expectations based on your impressive track record, and I cannot
ignore the highly competitive environment we work in. These factors may influence you to shake things up
here by taking on ambitious initiatives right away, but I implore you to take small steps at first. The
networks dynamics and personalities here at Emory are complex, and you cannot be certain of the
outcome for any given initiative until you have tested it. If I were you, I would start by taking on a small,
uncontroversial initiative - something that unites the faculty instead of accentuating the zero-sum nature of
academia. What about tackling plastic straws in the cafeteria? I hear they kill turtles.

Whatever you do to test the waters, it is important that you learn from the outcome. It is not the metrics of
the initiative itself that you should be concerned with, but rather the effect it had on the components of
your framework and how you understand Emory as an organization. Perhaps you overestimated your own
significance here and even a coalition of you and three other respected faculty are not enough to
convince students to abandon their straws. Or, maybe you learn that the act of boasting openly about
your success at eliminating single-use plastics at Harvard deters students from your cause instead of
mobilizing them in support. Regardless, observe these results and take them as an opportunity to refit
your framework of understanding. This way, when you are ready to take on more substantial initiatives at
Emory, you will be less likely to ruffle feathers along the way.

Staying Out of Trouble

Speaking of ruffling feathers, it is inevitable that you will cause some controversy in your ambitious
pursuits, but you can use what we have discussed already to minimize this risk. Your previous successes
have allowed you to enjoy the “Matthew Effect”, but if you are careless with organizational politics, you
may lose this favorable status and find yourself in a “Doom Loop”. As with your ambitions to contribute,
the first step you should take to avoid political trouble is to gather information. In this sense, pay special
attention to the relationships between the colleagues you speak with, and listen carefully for cues on what
their underlying motives might be. As before, find a way to frame this information and make sense of it
before you begin to test your new relationships.

Do not fool yourself into believing that despite your best efforts, your colleagues will not envy your
success – they will. You can protect yourself by anticipating this, and you can other take measures to
keep your status here intact. Chase says that “Muffin Day” is optional for senior faculty but be sure to
make an appearance to show that you are not above a casual chat with those below you. Spend time with
faculty members at all levels to avoid perceptions of elitism and avoid boastful references to your contacts
and accolades. Most of all, try to give back to Emory more than you take. Be generous with your time,
contacts, and ideas, and do not expect more from others for it.

Thanks for lunch!