Dublin Over Part 2: Dublin the Fun

ByDavid

On Monday, I told you about four great lessons that I learned in co-creating and presenting a research-based tribute to my professional idol, H. Keith Hunt last week In Dublin, Ireland. This project could not have existed without the contributions of my friends Laura Egan and Newell Wright. I’d like to offer a few more of those terrific teachings today and tomorrow, until we round out the list of our learnings to an even Dublin dozen.

To set the context, I hoped to create a tribute to Keith suitable for publication in the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining  Behavior. However, the article that inspired me, one based on the great management guru Peter Drucker, took the form of a bibliometric analysis, which left me completely baffled.

Four more lessons:

  • 5. Laura and I were chatting before the conference commenced, and our conversation moved toward the article I was reading about Drucker and the notion of applying this sort of approach to Hunt.
  • LESSON: Great ideas aren’t created in a vacuum. They come from other ideas. Build on what’s already around you.
  • 6. But here’s the thing, I admitted: This methodology (bibliometric analysis, remember?) is totally foreign to me.
  • LESSON: It’s okay to be vulnerable. Be honest and authentic. Step out of your comfort zone.
  • 7. Well, as it turns out, my new friend Laura is a highly qualified expert in things like bibliometric analysis. She is a business school librarian and Head of Collection Strategies at the University of North Dakota.
  •  LESSON: There are people around you who are good at the things you aren’t. And there are those who need you to be good at the things YOU are good at.
  • 8. Meanwhile, and of great importance, the editor and host of the conference, Newell Wright, was already well into developing an issue of the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction substantially dedicated to Keith Hunt, the man who founded the conference and the journal.
  • LESSON: There are opportunities all around you. Open your eyes and see them. Or be creative and create them.

Come back here tomorrow for our final four lessons!