Transcript Slide 1

Forget CFO, Call Me
“King of Cashola”
Meaning in Idiosyncratic Job Titles
Adam M. Grant
Daniel M. Cable
Justin M. Berg
Dork of Diving and
Difference-Making
Professor of
Special Sauce
Minnesota
Magician
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Expressing identity and values linked to…
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Engagement (Kahn, 1990)
Self-esteem (Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999)
Learning (Pratt et al., 2006)
Creativity (Swann et al., 2000)
Adaptation to new roles (Ibarra, 1999)
Coping with stress (Britt & Bliese, 2003)
Psychological well-being (McGregor & Little, 1998)
Organizational identification (Dutton et al., 1994)
Organizational commitment (Grant et al., 2008)
Meaningfulness (Bunderson & Thompson, 2009; Wrzesniewski et al., 2003)
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Culture
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Strong cultures (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996)
Low psychological safety (Kahn, 1990)
Professionalism (Sanchez-Burks, 2005)
Norms favoring conformity
(Ely & Meyerson, 2009; Martin et al.,1998)
Practices
LIMITATIONS
Until you spread your
wings, you’ll have no idea
how far you can walk.
◦ Hot desking, hotelling, temporary offices
◦ Strict emotional display rules (Hochschild, 1983)
(Elsbach, 2003)
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Job titles
◦ Symbolic artifacts (Rafaeli & Pratt, 2006)
◦ Signal identity to coworkers, customers,
friends, family members… and even first dates
◦ Often first information shared about oneself in
interviews, client meetings, cocktail parties
◦ Displayed in business cards, plaques, email signatures…
◦ But virtually ignored as a source of identity, meaning,
and motivation
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Personalized, customized to
signal unique identity
Possible starting point for…
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Idiosyncratic deals (Rousseau, 2006)
Idiosyncratic jobs (Miner, 1987)
Making jobs fit (Black & Ashford, 1995)
Job crafting (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001)
CEO of Love
Chief Know-It-All
Director of Chaos
Evangelist
Energy Focuser
Revenue Raiser
Grand Pooh-Bah of
Gear
Director of First
Impressions
Upward Mobility Big
Shot
Experience Geek
You didn’t get to choose them, but how did you react?
Tender of Tensions
and Twins
Canvasser of
Clandestine
Creations
Symphonic
Sensemaker
Leader of Lift
Purveyor of
Prose and Pluck
Crafter of Careers
and Callings
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CEO encouraged every employee to create an
idiosyncratic title
◦ “The CFO, his title is King of Cashola. If
you’re a fundraiser, people know you’re
asking for money, so why not have it? I
find that people in business love it… fun
titles don’t cost you a dime. They make
people smile and make you proud of it. I
don’t know why people don’t do more of
it… I can’t tell you how many of our
families love it.”
~Fairy Godmother of Wishes
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Our goals
◦ Understand psychological mechanisms activated by
the idiosyncratic titles
◦ Explore possible outcomes
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Methods
◦ 13 interviews
◦ 23 hours of observation
◦ 100+ archival documents
Meaning Mechanisms
Outcomes
Personal
meaning:
Selfexpression
Idiosyncratic
Titles
Relational
meaning:
Selfverification
Social: rapport and
relationships
Psychological:
stress and wellbeing
Behavioral:
motivation
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Bringing unique, authentic identity to work
◦ “My magical title is Lady of Laughter and Giggles, because
the most meaningful and fun thing for me is to hear a child
giggle. It brings me up and makes me feel good… I think
it’s unique.”
◦ “These titles make them feel that they are in touch with
their creative side. I think it has a positive impact on their
self-esteem and who they are.”
~Outside graphic designer
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Reflected appraisals of
unique, authentic image
◦ “I feel special when people see the name; I love being
introduced as that. It makes you feel a lot of pride
and joy. It gives permission to people to have fun.”
~Minister of Dollars and Sense (COO)
◦ “The title is like, you can almost have a little superhero
cape on… Most people love to hear these titles, its fun… It
empowers people to have fun and to translate that fun to
the community.”
~Princess of Pennies (Development Team Leader)
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“With the very serious work, for staff, it makes
it a very fun and desirable place to work.”
~ Oncologist and Chair, Board of Directors
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The titles…
◦ “Help prevent the staff from burning out”
◦ “Keep things inspiring”
◦ “Help you realize that although this is a severe
situation, you can still focus on the joy that is left”
◦ “Lighten up the seriousness of our work”
◦ “Keep everybody’s spirits up”
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“It’s an icebreaker for people we meet;
it opens up dialogue.” ~King of Cashola
“It makes people smile… it creates curiosity. It’s
a conversation starter.” ~Royal Ambassador of Really Cool Kids
“There’s nothing better to meet someone new and say, ‘I’m a
wish manager, also known as a Fairy Tale Pixie.’ It opens up
conversation, ‘Oh, what does a Fairy Tale Pixie do?’ Sometimes
vendors that I work with to try to get donations will see it in my
email and write, “I hope your wings don’t get wet, Pixie—it’s
raining it.” It gives you a little pick-me-up when you hear that;
it’s fun, unexpected, and enjoyable.”
“It’s catching on wherever we go. We met with an advertising
team, and they wanted fun titles too.” ~Heralder of Happy News
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It’s just a reminder that… even if something might be
difficult, the bottom line of our Foundation is that we’re
making wishes come true… it makes the staff want to have
fun, and do a good job, and work hard, and really go above
and beyond… it makes us really want to come in to work.”
~Heralder of Happy News
“At first, it took a little while to get used to. I came from a
much more business oriented non-profit. After I got used to
the title, I really appreciated it more. I enjoy the name a lot
now. I’m much more excited to come into work.”
~Empress of Enchanting Magic Makers
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“The fun titles, some people thought that was too silly. But
when they get really positive responses from cards and
emails, it reinforces it.” ~Fairy Godmother of Wishes
“I was one of the ones who that that it was not a great use
of our time, but in the end it, really has generated a lot of
response from people, which is kind of fun. And so my
attitude about it has changed. I would describe myself as
the accountant type, where if some things sounds or
seems silly to me, then I wouldn’t be comfortable with
that. But being considered ‘Keeper of Keys and Grounds’
doesn’t sound silly to me. It gives a pretty good visual of
what I do. It is actually the title of Hagrid from Harry
Potter, and I love those stories, so it has a little extra
meaning for me.”
~Keeper of Keys and Grounds
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3 field experiments
◦ Testing emergent model
◦ Providing employees with the opportunity to create
idiosyncratic titles
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Call centers: in progress
◦ 3 sites: titles, control, business cards
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2 health care orgs: planning
◦ Experimental and control units
Painless Patty
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Prince of Pledges
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The Sharpest Raiser
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Baron of Bread
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Gift Getting Goddess
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Savvy Solicitor
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Ambassador of Giving Back
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Daymaker
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Fundraising Ninja
I don’t take
telemarketing calls
during my dinner.
Can I call you back
during your dinner?
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What strikes you as particularly interesting?
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What challenges would you raise?
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Do you see any mechanisms or outcomes that
we didn’t discuss?
When and where would you expect
idiosyncratic titles to fail or backfire?