Forget CFO, Call Me “King of Cashola”

1. Meaning in Idiosyncratic Job Titles Forget CFO, Call Me “King of Cashola” Adam M. Grant Daniel M. Cable Justin M. Berg Dork of Diving and Difference-Making Minnesota Magician Professor of Special Sauce

2. Bringing Self to Work • Expressing identity and values linked to… • Engagement (Kahn, 1990) • Self-esteem (Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999) • Learning (Pratt et al., 2006) • Creativity(Swann et al., 2000) • Adaptation to new roles (Ibarra, 1999) • Coping with stress (Britt & Bliese, 2003) • Psychological well-being (McGregor & Little, 1998) • Organizational identification (Dutton et al., 1994) • Organizational commitment (Grant et al., 2008) • Meaningfulness (Bunderson & Thompson, 2009; Wrzesniewski et al., 2003)

3. But Organizations Often Stifle Identity Expression • Culture • Strong cultures (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996) • Low psychological safety(Kahn, 1990) • Professionalism (Sanchez-Burks, 2005) • Norms favoring conformity (Ely & Meyerson, 2009; Martin et al.,1998) • Practices • Hot desking, hotelling, temporary offices (Elsbach, 2003) • Strict emotional display rules (Hochschild, 1983) LIMITATIONS Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can walk.

4. How Can Organizations Facilitate Self-Expression? • Job titles • Symbolic artifacts (Rafaeli & Pratt, 2006) • Signal identity to coworkers, customers, friends, family members… and even first dates • Often first information shared about oneself in interviews, client meetings, cocktail parties • Displayed in business cards, plaques, email signatures… • But virtually ignored as a source of identity, meaning, and motivation

5. Idiosyncratic Job Titles • Personalized, customized to signal unique identity • Possible starting point for… • Idiosyncratic deals (Rousseau, 2006) • Idiosyncratic jobs (Miner, 1987) • Making jobs fit (Black & Ashford, 1995) • Job crafting (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001) CEO of Love Chief Know-It-All

6. Director of Chaos Evangelist Energy Focuser Revenue Raiser Grand Pooh-Bah of Gear Director of First Impressions Upward Mobility Big Shot Experience Geek

7. Your Idiosyncratic Titles You didn’t get to choose them, but how did you react? Tender of Tensions and Twins Symphonic Sensemaker Leader of Lift Canvasser of Clandestine Creations Purveyor of Prose and Pluck Crafter of Careers and Callings

8. Qualitative Study: Make-A-Wish • CEO encouraged every employee to create an idiosyncratic title • “The CFO, his title is King of Cashola. If you’re a fundraiser, people know you’re asking for money, so why not have it? I find that people in business love it… fun titles don’t cost you a dime. They make people smile and make you proud of it. I don’t know why people don’t do more of it… I can’t tell you how many of our families love it.” • ~Fairy Godmother of Wishes

9. The Study • Our goals • Understand psychological mechanisms activated by the idiosyncratic titles • Explore possible outcomes • Methods • 13 interviews • 23 hours of observation • 100+ archival documents

10. Emergent Model Meaning Mechanisms Outcomes Personal meaning: Self-expression Social: rapport and relationships Psychological: stress and well-being Behavioral: motivation Idiosyncratic Titles Relational meaning: Self-verification

11. Personal Meaning: Self-Expression • Bringing unique, authentic identity to work • “My magical title is Lady of Laughter and Giggles, because the most meaningful and fun thing for me is to hear a child giggle. It brings me up and makes me feel good… I think it’s unique.” • “These titles make them feel that they are in touch with their creative side. I think it has a positive impact on their self-esteem and who they are.” ~Outside graphic designer

12. Relational Meaning:Self-Verification • Reflected appraisals of unique, authentic image • “I feel special when people see the name; I love being introduced as that. It makes you feel a lot of pride and joy. It gives permission to people to have fun.” ~Minister of Dollars and Sense (COO) • “The title is like, you can almost have a little superhero cape on… Most people love to hear these titles, its fun… It empowers people to have fun and to translate that fun to the community.” ~Princess of Pennies (Development Team Leader)

13. Psychological Outcomes: Stress and Well-Being • “With the very serious work, for staff, it makes it a very fun and desirable place to work.” ~ Oncologist and Chair, Board of Directors • The titles… • “Help prevent the staff from burning out” • “Keep things inspiring” • “Help you realize that although this is a severe situation, you can still focus on the joy that is left” • “Lighten up the seriousness of our work” • “Keep everybody’s spirits up”

14. Social Outcomes: Rapport and Relationships • “It’s an icebreaker for people we meet; it opens up dialogue.” ~King of Cashola • “It makes people smile… it creates curiosity. It’s a conversation starter.” ~Royal Ambassador of Really Cool Kids • “There’s nothing better to meet someone new and say, ‘I’m a wish manager, also known as a Fairy Tale Pixie.’ It opens up conversation, ‘Oh, what does a Fairy Tale Pixie do?’ Sometimes vendors that I work with to try to get donations will see it in my email and write, “I hope your wings don’t get wet, Pixie—it’s raining it.” It gives you a little pick-me-up when you hear that; it’s fun, unexpected, and enjoyable.” • “It’s catching on wherever we go. We met with an advertising team, and they wanted fun titles too.” ~Heralder of Happy News

15. Behavioral Outcomes:Motivation • It’s just a reminder that… even if something might be difficult, the bottom line of our Foundation is that we’re making wishes come true… it makes the staff want to have fun, and do a good job, and work hard, and really go above and beyond… it makes us really want to come in to work.” ~Heralder of Happy News • “At first, it took a little while to get used to. I came from a much more business oriented non-profit. After I got used to the title, I really appreciated it more. I enjoy the name a lot now. I’m much more excited to come into work.” ~Empress of Enchanting Magic Makers

16. A Dark Side? • “The fun titles, some people thought that was too silly. But when they get really positive responses from cards and emails, it reinforces it.” ~Fairy Godmother of Wishes • “I was one of the ones who that that it was not a great use of our time, but in the end it, really has generated a lot of response from people, which is kind of fun. And so my attitude about it has changed. I would describe myself as the accountant type, where if some things sounds or seems silly to me, then I wouldn’t be comfortable with that. But being considered ‘Keeper of Keys and Grounds’ doesn’t sound silly to me. It gives a pretty good visual of what I do. It is actually the title of Hagrid from Harry Potter, and I love those stories, so it has a little extra meaning for me.” ~Keeper of Keys and Grounds

17. Next Steps • 3 field experiments • Testing emergent model • Providing employees with the opportunity to create idiosyncratic titles • Call centers: in progress • 3 sites: titles, control, business cards • 2 health care orgs: planning • Experimental and control units Painless Patty

18. Sample Titles from the Call Center • Prince of Pledges • The Sharpest Raiser • Baron of Bread • Gift Getting Goddess • Savvy Solicitor • Ambassador of Giving Back • Daymaker • Fundraising Ninja I don’t take telemarketing calls during my dinner. Can I call you back during your dinner?

19. Where We’d Love Your Feedback • What strikes you as particularly interesting? • What challenges would you raise? • Do you see any mechanisms or outcomes that we didn’t discuss? • When and where would you expect idiosyncratic titles to fail or backfire?