Rajkumar Subash

Situations

Who is he?

Another Situation

Who is he?

Complex Situation

Rapid Decision

Is he Smart?

Is he brilliant?Is he an emotional intelligent?

“Deep Smart”

Good Judgment

Others could not diagnose

“Go To People”

Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

Rajkumar SubashFall 2011 - MGMT 6600 – Study of Organization

Prof: Dr. Thomas Li-Ping TangMiddle Tennessee State University

Authors

Dorothy LeonardWilliam J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita

Harvard Business School

Walter SwapProfessor of Psychology emeritus and former Chairman of the Psychology

Department of Tufts University

Author: Dorothy Leonard

• William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita, joined the Harvard faculty in 1983

• 3 yrs of teaching at the Sloan School of Management, MIT• Has taught MBA courses in managerial leadership, corporate capabilities, new

product and process design, technology strategy and innovation management• Also served as a Director of Research for the Harvard Business School and Director

of Research and Knowledge Programs for Harvard Business School's non-profit organization, HBS Interactive

• Education– M. A. Harvard University (Honorary), 1992– Ph.D. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1979 – M.A. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1968 – B.A. Principia College, Elsah, IL, summa cum laude, 1963

• Served as Board of Directors in – American Mgmt Systems, Fairfax, VA – 1992-2004– Gannett Communications, 1997-99

• Been in Advisory Boards of– Prod Dev & Mgmt Association – 2002-Present– Creative Realities – 2004-Present– Ash Foundation – 2004-Present– Daimler-Chrysler, Stuttgart, Germany – 1999-2001– ViOS – 1999-2000 & Nordia – 1999-2001

Journals Published36

Chapter Written20

Author: Walter Swap

• Professor of Psychology Emeritus • Former chairman of the Psychology Department of Tufts University• Was also a professor of Gordon institute at Tufts- offers degree of engineering

management at practicing engineers and scientists.• Served for 9 yrs as the Dean of the colleges

• Education– Bachelors from Harvard – Ph.D in Social psychology – University of Michigan

• Has written numerous chapters and journals• Author of

– When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups (1999)– Groups Decision Making (1984)

Research

• 2000 - First Wave– US and Asia: India, Singapore, Hong Kong - 125 individual

• Mentor Capitalists, Venture Capitalists, Incubator Managers, paired with the Entrepreneurs/Teams being coached in 35 companies, plus informants in industry

– Longitudinal Studies: 1 VC-coached, 1 MC-coached companies– In-depth HBS case studies: 1 Incubator, 2 VC-backed startups, 1 MC-backed startup (A & B cases)

• 2001 - Second Wave– US and Asia: interviews in same 35 companies, with Coaches and Entrepreneurs– What have you learned?

• 2002-2003– Details case studies of knowledge transfer in large, established organizations e.g., NASA/JPL, Best

Buy, Whirlpool

• 2004-2006– Further Research: Raytheon, Large Software Company, US Forest Service

Deep Smarts

What are Deep Smarts?

A Potent Form of expertise, based on first-hand life experiences, providing insights drawn from tacit knowledge, shaped by beliefs and social forces

Know-How more than know-that

Interactive relationship and Make Swift

Expert decisions based on system level comprehension

Connects with experiences

Develops based on observations

Much organizational capability is in the heads and hands

Can MBA help you to be a DEEP SMART?

Deep Smarts cannot be attained through a formal education alone

but,Can be deliberately nourished and grown and transferred or re-created

with DEDICATION

Technical Deep Smart

• 1980, 2 companies were competing for a multi-billion dollar government contract for tactical missiles

• Stalemate situation• A scientist from one of the companies – a technical

wizard – 20 yrs experience• For several hours – enthralled the team with complete

design changes• The company won the project – 400 people team for

1.5 years long• More than 20 yrs, it is still reaping the harvest sown by

this man with deep smarts

Managerial Deep Smart

• 1997 – Intuit sold off its bill-paying operations• A serious situation – requires strategic solution• CEO Bill Campell persuaded the board members

and the next few months proved him right• Course set out in board meeting was successful• Campell’s promise to employees was fulfilled

Technical & Managerial Deep Smarts

Technical deep smarts are most easily recognized

Managerial deep smarts are harder to identify

Other Examples

Dr. Neil Clark Warren, FounderDr. Warren is a clinical psychologist with 35 years of counseling thousands of married couples, Dr. Warren observed a set of characteristics that seemed to be present in all successful relationships. He called them the 29 Dimensions of Compatibility.

Ten years later, eHarmony's compatibility matching is responsible for nearly 5% of U.S. marriages

Reed Hastings, FounderMr. Hastings established Netflix in 1997 and reached peak customer volume in Q1 of 2011. He recently increased pricing of DVD-by-mail and Streaming by 60%. It upsets many customers.Last week, it announced splitting DVD-by-mail as a separate company as Qwikster. Couple of very bold decisions by Mr. Hastings.

Stock price moved south more than 50% - unknown future

Experts are good

Not all – sometimes over-confident

Why do we care about Deep Smart?

• When Deep Smart leaves the company or moves to the different group – the experience goes with them

• Takes at least 10 years to develop through unusual situations• They recognize bear traps because of their pattern-recognition.• They make decision swiftly because of their expertise.• They recognize context because of their conditionalized knowledge.• They extrapolate alternatives because of their experience.• They make fine distinctions that are indistinguishable to an untrained

eye or ear.• They know what they don't know when they encounter an unusual

situation.• They know when rules don't apply because no two situations are

exactly the same

Experience Repertoire

• The science behind Deep Smarts• It control the center of the board - Chess• Menu of familiar options• Faced with wide variety of situations• A pattern matching mechanism• “Gut Feel” is really a form of “Gut Knowledge”

Most Common Experiences

Rare Experiences

Cultivating and Transferring Deep Smarts

Knowledge Framing

Beliefs & Assumptions

Knowledge Filtering

Social Influences

Knowledge BuildingExperience &

Expertise

Knowledge TransferringCoaching & Guided

Experience

External Influences(Other People)

Shaping Deep Smarts

Internal Influences(Self)

Acquiring Deep Smarts

Nine Dimensions of Deep Smarts

1. Skills & Know how2. System thinking3. Swift, Wise Decision-making4. Ability to take context into account5. Networks6. Distinguishing Signal from Noise7. Pattern Recognition8. Ability to Deal with Novelty9. Enthusiasm/Passion for the domain knowledge

Sink or Swim

• In America, it requires 2 weeks notice for many resignation• New people are thrown into Sink or Swim situation• An inefficient and ineffective strategy

Transfer Techniques

• SINK or SWIM is inefficient and ineffective• Need various techniques• Mentoring?• Constant reinventing?• Storytelling?• Someone who never played video games

may not understand the concept of Multiuser Domain

Ladder of Expertise

Novice(Beginner)

Apprentice(Intermediate)

Jouneyman(Advanced)

Expert(Master)

From

To

Knowledge Transfer - Techniques

Know-How Know-Who

Know-What Know-When

Know-Where

Learning by doing – Guided Experience

Difference Between Novice and Expert

Experts Novices Limitations

Speed of Decision-Making

Make Decisions swiftly, efficiently, without reviewing basic facts

Need to review all facts, choose among alternatives

Over-confidence; expert may ignore relevant data

ContextTake context into account: knowledge is "contextualized"

Rely on rules of thumb that minimize context

Difficult to transfer contextualized knowledge

Tacit Knowledge Extensive tacit knowledge drives decision making

Knowledge is largely explicit

Difficult to access tacit knowledge, so transfer difficult

Pattern-recognition ability

Have large inventory of patterns drawn from experience

Limited experience constrains number of patters

When no patterns exist, expert may be no better than novice

Modes of Knowledge Transfer

Passive Reception

Active Learning Guided Experience (Learning by Doing)

Socratic QuestioningStories with a MoralRules of ThumbDirectives, Presentations, Lectures

Guided Experience (Learning by doing)

Practice

Experimentation

Problem-Solving

ObservationGuided…

Modes of Knowledge Transfer

Passive Reception

Active Learning Guided Experience (Learning by Doing) - Guided Practice - Guided Problem-Solving - Guided Observation - Guided Experimentation

Socratic QuestioningStories with a MoralRules of ThumbDirectives, Presentations, Lectures

Guided Practice

Practice does make perfect

ExamplesMusicSportsDriving

See oneLead oneTeach one

Novice’s performance is observed by the

coach, who provides helpful feedback

Guided Observation

Just listen and learn

Pattern Recognition

Highly Contextual

ExamplesApprenticeInternship

Observing by shadowing a coach

and follow up discussion on what

had occurred

Guided Problem-Solving

Expert and novice tackle actual problems facing the company,

with the expert sharing perspectives

and thought processes along the way

Experienced Approach

Experience enhances

organizational know-how, alters belief

systems and contributes to

technical expertise

Focusing attention, sharpening process

skills, giving feedback, mimic an expert and building

experience repertoire

Guided Experimentation

Testing new products in pilot markets

Coaches offer good advice about where and how much to experiment and

improve the team attitude

Costly approach

Are they Deep Smarts?

William Wang Larry Page & Eric Schmidt

Steve Jobs

Mark ZuckerbergJames SinegalFrederick W. Smith

Strategies for building Deep Smarts

• Coaching• Buddy-Mentor System• Learning by doing with simulations• Capturing knowledge and

Documenting best practices• Team learning and Practice• Participation in conferences• Discussing knowledge gained and

lessons learned after every project• Rewards and incentives• Collaborative portals to capture

problems/issues and their solutions (Oracle-Online forums to capture external tacit knowledge)

• Informal sessions with experienced team members

• Shadowing systems• Apprenticeships and Internships• Creating an attitude towards

knowledge growing by sharing• Experts Connect – ability to

identify and quickly reach tacit knowledge

• Putting in place the right KPIs to measure and reward contributions

• Motivating talent to stay, share and grow within the organization

Future Trends

• Deep Smarts are always there• Technological advancements help deep smarts• Past studies help growing deep smarts • Challenges for smaller companies

References

• Gary, Loren: Build Your Company’s Deep Smarts, Harvard Management Update – Article Reprint No. U0508C

• Jenner, Mark: Out-of-Classroom Experience, Oxford Leadership Journal – Dec 2009, Volume 1, Issue 1

• Web References:– http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=1066329– http://www.witi.com/careers/2004/intcap.php– http://www.executiveforum.com/LeonardSwapBio.htm– http://www.hrc-group.com/resources/Uncommon%20Knowledge%20-%20

Applying%20Deep%20Smarts.pdf

Questions

Rajkumar Subash

Thank You