Mandolen Mull: Generalist artistic scientist
Is your company on autopilot? Relying on past success and doing the same things slightly differently? This approach, while comfortable, can stymie creativity and hinder innovation.
Meet Mandolen Mull, Ph.D. a change scientist, professor, leadership consultant, and entrepreneur, who suggests starting with a clean slate to achieve revolutionary change.
Mandolen lives the principle ‘what got you here won’t get you there’ as she helps others think outside the box and consider new solutions.
She is a proponent of minimizing the dependence on past experiences as a way of forecasting future outcomes and encourages the exploration of original approaches.
Rather than viewing business strategy as a binary system, she sees it as a dynamic set of dimmer switches that can be adjusted based on the unique context of each situation.
To try this mindset for yourself:
Accept that you haven’t been here before (specific people, constraints, resources)
Consider what you are going to do and assess differently
Catch thoughts like: ‘I’ve been here before’ or ‘we’ve got this’ when they crop up
Interrupting these well-established patterns is easier said than done. Even Mandolen finds herself getting caught up in old habits.
Recently, a partner gave her feedback about her how to improve her business website. Her default reaction was to push back.
After a minute, she realized she was getting in her own way.
The reason she had asked for advice was that she didn’t know better and didn’t have a perfect plan. She chose to try the suggested changes and learn from the experience.
She reminds generalists that we are uniquely positioned to embrace a clean-slate approach:
As a generalist, you have a unique gift of balancing art and science. You have many tools in your toolkit and can select when you need a hammer vs. a wrench and how much of each tool is required.
If you’re getting shoehorned into a scientist role, use your creativity and your artistry to amplify your talents and the talents of the people around you
Mandolen Mull, Ph.D. is the founder of MullMentum Consulting, LLC, a bespoke leadership and organisational development firm. With a Ph.D. in organizational development and change, and an MBA in international business, her expertise lies in change management, operations, and leader development.
Prior to joining the realm of higher education administration, Mandolen accrued over a decade of corporate leadership experience in the fields of healthcare, property preservation, and logistical distribution. Possessing an extensive background in leadership performance, she consults with organizations across the globe, providing analysis and interventions targeted to improve organizational performance outcomes. Specifically, she customises group training and one-on-one leadership mentoring programs to develop sustainable success for individuals, teams, and organisations.