BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
really only catalysed capabilities that we already had in place and provided us with a reason to scale these capabilities, in terms of our operations. Where I see the big change is in the general market acceptance of online education. We’ve known for a long time that the experience of students in our online and blended programmes is fantastic – not only in terms of explicit learning, but also in terms of the depth and quality of the relationships that students develop with each other in the digital world. I think that now the market understands this. The perception of education in digital formats is much more positive, and this is opening doors for us in terms of methodological innovations that might have been more risky before. Your own work and research centres on behavioural fitness and positive leadership, and in particular, on translating and applying behavioural science to help professionals optimise their performance in the workplace. Having worked in a major corporate organisation prior to joining academia, could you share insight into how your work bridges the gap between business thinking and business practice? In general, acquiring a lot of knowledge through education is great, but… it doesn’t necessarily translate into real-world impact unless the knowledge is wrapped within skills – and to acquire skills, one needs to have experiences. What kind of experiences? When you look at what distinguishes people who are successful in the workplace from those who aren’t, it often comes down to differences in their ‘impact skills’ or ‘soft skills’ – which, in reality, are not in any way ‘soft’. These skills are often the most difficult to acquire because they involve behaviour change. So, what we are doing at IE Business School is focusing on how to create the kind of game-changing experiences that change mindsets and forge more impactful behaviours. These game-changing moments are behavioural moments in which there is turbulence and friction… that lead to growth. When you take a diverse group of students and give them an intense challenge and a short deadline, this is when you get turbulence. In the right academic setting, this turbulence leads to positive and lasting changes that can underpin a successful career. Which innovations in business education have inspired you most over the past 18 months? I think various forces at work in the world have given rise to questions about the role of business in society, and in the world more generally. We are living at a time of great challenges – such as pandemics, climate change, poverty and inequality, social and political division, cyberwarfare and ongoing regional conflicts. When I talk to both aspiring and rising business professionals, I repeatedly hear the word ‘purpose’. People want to link their work and their lives with a broader,
self-defined sense of purpose, meaning, and impact – beyond their own professional results. Business Schools are embracing this and we are asking ourselves important questions about how we should educate the next generation of business professionals with this critical concept of purpose as a core part of their training and thinking. This is inspiring, as business has the power to play a positive role in shaping the future of our planet and society. What are the biggest challenges facing international Business Schools over the coming 18 months? The education sector in general has become very dynamic in recent years, with new entrants, new technologies and the need to adapt to unexpected forces, such as the global pandemic, major political and societal trends and various other factors. This is particularly true for Business Schools. So, I think we have some self-reflection to do in order to understand where our sector is heading. We must make big changes now so that we can be leaders in what’s coming next. And finally: do you feel optimistic about the future of business, Business Schools, and the global economy? There are some major upheavals happening at the moment, and predicting where the global economy might be heading is difficult. I am cautiously optimistic about its direction, but current events could change things very quickly. With respect to the future of business education, I am very optimistic. Business – however it may evolve – will always be a driver of markets, economies and society. The career opportunities available to young and rising professionals are enormous, and I see the overall demand for business education continuing to grow – even if the relative demand for one programme category over another might vary.
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Lee Newman is Dean of IE Business School and Professor of Behavioural Science and Leadership at IE University. He was formerly an Enagagement Manager at McKinsey (Chicago) and a Founder and Senior Manager in two tech startups (New York City). Lee holds a PhD in cognitive psychology and computer science (U Michigan), an MBA (MIT Sloan) and a BSc in engineering (Brown University).
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