Lecture

Organizers:

Date:

June 1st, 2023

Time:

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Fee:

FREE

Location:

Aula, University of Aruba

Organizing with the trouble: developing agency in collaborative tensions

Lecture

Description:

To solve complex challenges, like tackling public health issues, we need diverse perspectives and many sectors to contribute to such challenges. Yet, collaboration itself is challenging and it is hard to foster lasting change. This already holds for individual organizations, let alone across organizations from different sectors. In this public lecture Maikel Waardenburg will share insights from current research on inter-organizational collaboration, coming from the domains of public health and sports, such as community sports initiatives. Using inspiration from the broad field of organization studies, one angle of the lecture will focus on the argument that in order to solve complex challenges we need strategies that are grounded in small-scale actions. To this end, we can learn a lot from insights on hybrid organizing. Second, the lecture will focus on a paradox lens as a way to increase one’s agency in collaborative dynamics. Collaborations are rife with paradoxes, creating tensions that need to be navigated. How can we contribute from our individual organizational expertise and interests, while striving for collaborative impact? There is a tendency to opt for simple solutions by only paying attention to one side of a paradox, rather than learning from it and turning paradoxes into opportunities. As someone involved in (inter-)organizational collaboration, how can you learn to work through such paradoxes? Here Maikel will lean on experiences from his fellowship with the Center for Unusual Collaborations.

Speaker:

Dr. Maikel Waardenburg is an assistant professor in Organization Studies and Sport; Society at Utrecht University’s School of Governance. He is an expert in institutional and organizational change. His research focuses on public-private interactions, in particular in relation to human services, public health, and sports development. Central themes in his research are institutional logics, organizational culture, and hybridization. Since 2019 Maikel has been involved as a semi-regular host with the Talking About Organizations Podcast. This podcast blends emergent conversation with academic rigor into dynamic episodes that cover key works and themes in organization studies.

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