Questions & Issues/Areas from Dr. Soderlund for Alternative Experiences

 

Option 1 – Exploring Industry(ies) of Interest

In addition to questions you develop, Dr. Soderlund asks that you make sure to address the following questions in each informational interview you conduct. For each question, there are several examples of items individuals could share/address in terms of the broad overarching question. You could offer some of these examples to the individuals you are interviewing to help solicit responses and/or offer these examples after they respond to garner further details/depth.

• How would you describe the leader/follower dynamics in your industry/organization? (could provide the following kinds of examples to generate insights)
  • how work is structured in this industry/your organization (e.g. teams, departments, virtual teams, etc.);
  • how work is directed in this industry/your organization (e.g. are employees autonomous and self-directed or do they follow standardized procedures);
  • the ways in which decisions are made in this industry/your organization (e.g. centralized, decentralized, etc.);
  • the various leadership styles/approaches of individuals at different levels of the industry/your organization; and
  • what leadership styles/approaches are most effective in this industry/your organization.

• How would you describe the organizational culture in your industry/organization? (could provide the following kinds of examples to generate insights)
  • the values, attitudes and expectations about work in this industry/at your organization;
  • the norms and the process of learning these norms in this industry/at your organization;
  • the ways in which people in this industry/at your organization interact (formally or informally);
  • the ways in which people in this industry/at your organization communicate;
  • how your organization’s context (type of industry or history) affects the way it functions and is led, including whether the site’s context requires the leadership to be more attentive to certain issues than to others; and

• How do you identify and address issues/problems in this industry/your organization? (could provide the following kinds of examples to generate insights)
  • the ways in which this industry/your organization evaluates performance and outcomes;
  • how this industry/your organization responds when performance/outcomes do not meet expectations/stated goals;
  • how this industry/your organization respond when mistakes are made, decisions result in unexpected consequences, etc.; and
  • how this industry/your organization stays abreast of trends and develops strategy to respond to such industry/societal changes.

 

Option 2 – Shadowing Individuals

In addition to the issues/areas you develop, Dr. Soderlund asks that you make sure to consider the following issues/areas when shadowing both individuals you identify. For each issue/area, there are several examples of items that are part of the broad overarching issue/area. When possible, you may want to ask the individuals you shadow about these broad issues/areas and you can provide the examples listed beneath each broad issue/area to the individuals to help solicit responses and/or offer these examples after they respond to garner further details/depth.

• The leader/follower dynamics you observe shadowing each individual. (could consider these examples to generate insights)
  • how work is structured (e.g. teams, departments, virtual teams, etc.);
  • how work is directed (e.g. are employees autonomous and self-directed or do they follow standardized procedures);
  • the ways in which decisions are made (e.g. centralized, decentralized, etc.);
  • the various leadership styles/approaches of individuals at different levels of the organizations where you shadow; and
  • what leadership styles/approaches seem most effective within the organizations where you shadow.

• The organizational culture of the organizations where you shadow. (could consider these examples to generate insights)
  • the values, attitudes and expectations about work at the organizations where you shadow;
  • the norms and the process of learning these norms at the organizations where you shadow;
  • the ways in which people at the organizations where you shadow interact (formally or informally);
  • the ways in which people at the organizations where you shadow communicate;
  • how the organization’s context (type of industry or history) affect the way it functions and is led, including whether the site’s context requires the leadership to be more attentive to certain issues than to others; and

• How the organizations where you shadow identify and address issues/problems. (could consider these examples to generate insights)
  • the ways in which the organizations where you shadow evaluate performance and outcomes;
  • how the organizations where you shadow respond when performance/outcomes do not meet expectations/stated goals;
  • how the organizations where you shadow respond when mistakes are made, decisions result in unexpected consequences, etc.; and
  • how the organizations where you shadow stay abreast of trends and develops strategy to respond to such industry/societal changes.