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This PDW aims at discussing how to have a fulfilling academic career, which helps to make a difference to society and academia, while working in a scholarly system that is characterized by multiple constraints (e.g. journal lists). We use the concept of "intellectual shamans" (Waddock, 2014) as a springboard to discuss in what ways scholars, who have taken non-traditional paths (e.g. by challenging established thinking or by addressing emerging problems), can make a difference to scholarship in the SIM domain. The PDW is designed as a platform to debate (a) what it takes to have a fulfilling academic career while being confronted with the constrains of the current academic system and (b) what important topics are neglected by scholarship in the SIM, ONE, MSR, and CMS domains (e.g. because "getting published" on these topics is hard); and 3) how academics do the type of work that influences real-world, conceptual, or practice-based change.  Intellectual Shamans are healers, connectors, and sensemakers (or spiritual leaders) (Waddock, in press; see also Frost & Egri, 1991, for a perspective on OD practitioners as shamans). That is, they serve the world by performing a healing function-in the case of management academics, healing is associated with challenging existing ideas, theories, practices, and teaching-and can be aimed at the individual, organizational, and societal levels of analysis. Connecting involves a transdisciplinary, cross sector, or other boundary-spanning orientation (e.g., crossing the teaching-research divide, or theory-practice boundary). Sensemaking is an obvious role for academics-at least those who refuse to write or speak entirely in jargon and actually hope to have people understand their work and their ideas.   

This PDW uses the concept of "intellectual shamans" as a springboard to discuss in what ways scholars, who take non-traditional paths (e.g. by challenging established thinking), can make a difference to scholarship in the SIM domain. The PDW is designed as a platform to debate (a) what it takes to have a fulfilling academic career while being embedded in the current constraining academic system and (b) what important topics are neglected by scholarship in the SIM domain (e.g. because "getting published" on these topics is hard). The workshop starts with some focused input presentations, outlining how "intellectual shamans" can have a healing, connecting, and sensemaking function. Based on this, we move into a "walkshop", giving participants time to reflect on their own practices, ideologies, and beliefs. Participants are then asked to share their views during moderated roundtable discussions, taking the functions of "intellectual shamans" as a point of departure for organizing the discussion. Finally, each roundtable will offer feedback to the larger group on key take-aways.