{"id":1158,"date":"2019-12-28T03:05:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T03:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nixhome.com\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2019-12-28T03:21:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T03:21:00","slug":"building-a-research-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nixhome.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/28\/building-a-research-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Strategic Research Agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The catalyzing moment came as I saw this picture on social media<\/a> three days ago.\u00a0 Since then, I\u2019ve been focused on creating a plan NOT to fall into that trap. I must complete each project that I begin.\u00a0 In order to do that, I need to begin to sift through the project-opportunities and learn to refuse some of those.\u00a0 I need some guidelines for those decisions!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Yes.\u00a0 That. As a lifelong learner who has served in primarily administrative, coaching, and consulting roles, building a research agenda has been a daunting task.\u00a0 I\u2019ve worked on this though the first year of my current position as a tenure-track faculty member. My goal is clear-cut, I want to achieve tenure in my sixth year.\u00a0 After a professional career helping others achieve greatness, how do I use those principals for my own success?\u00a0 I\u2019ve never considered a traditional \u2018career vision\u2019 because I decided many years ago to use my career to achieve a childhood goal of traveling around the world.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to approach the end of my days on Earth wishing I\u2019d visited all the places about which I had read. \u00a0I\u2019ve spent one night in every U.S. State and at least another night in each of 13 countries. I\u2019ve lived and worked where I wanted to live and work. There are only two places left (on the bucket list) for me to visit, and I can easily visit those during a summer off, or after retirement is officially upon me.\u00a0 With that goal nearly accomplished, how do I manage my own career so that I achieve the individual milestone of tenure?\u00a0 Until now, I never intended to be anywhere (in terms of employment) for this length (six years!) of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by\u00a0Brooke Lark<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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As I approach one year of investigating research-directions, wondering how I could ever focus on anything long enough to accomplish this goal, I suddenly had an idea.\u00a0 Why not develop a research strategic plan?\u00a0 I\u2019ve facilitated the creation of more than a few of those in my career.\u00a0 Granted, those were for organizations, institutions, or divisions\/departments within those settings, but why will those same principles not be useful for an individual?\u00a0 After all, one of my most significant project accomplishments used strategic planning concepts to transition and retain a population with at-risk characteristics into college and university.\u00a0 I know it works, so why haven\u2019t I applied it to myself?\u00a0 So today, I did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by\u00a0Anne Nyg\u00e5rd<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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First, I created a research vision.  What is it that I want as the result?  How does the future for \u201cVince the researcher\u201d\nneed to look for me to consider that a success? Allow me to present the outcome\nof a half day of review\/edits here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vince Nix is recognized as an ethical\nresearcher that provides clear evidence-based solutions for individuals,\norganizations, and institutions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by\u00a0Marc Schulte<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Then, how do I get there? As I\u2019ve trained so many over the years, \u201cthe mission statement is the road-map to your vision.\u201d I\u2019m sure that is a distillation of many people\u2019s works and publications, but Fred David<\/a> wrote the textbooks I used in nearly all the strategic planning courses I\u2019ve taught since 2008.\u00a0 There is bound to be a bias, in terms of influence, so let\u2019s get that clear.\u00a0 Thank you, Dr. David!\u00a0 After another two hours of categorizing and organizing the half-started research projects, I\u2019ve written the mission statement for \u201cVince the researcher\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vince Nix conducts mixed methods research\nsituated in an international organizational institutionalism framework that\ndraws from diverse academic fields including anthropology, economics,\neducation, management, leadership, political science, psychology, and\nsociology.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by\u00a0NASA<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Then, I spent a half-day more conducting an internal factor evaluation (IFE<\/a>) and an external factor evaluation (EFE<\/a>) by listing four notebook pages (one each) of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.\u00a0 Afterward, I ranked and weighted those using the free strategic planning tool<\/a> that Dr. Fred David provides for students in strategic planning courses that utilize his textbooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by\u00a0Alvaro Reyes<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, I paired those into SO, WO, ST, and WT strategies.<\/a>\u00a0 I think I might be on to something here!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I came up with the following (12) research projects. Each one has different potential in terms of immediate versus long-term payoff.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n