The Power of Saying Yes
As a UNBC student, you get invited to countless events and seminars through your email inbox. I always try to attend these events, believing they offer fresh perspectives on different subjects and valuable networking opportunities. As a Computer Science student, I find it particularly enriching to venture outside my technical field and explore diverse subjects. While algorithms and programming might seem worlds apart from business theory and sustainability, I’ve learned that some of the most valuable insights come from cross-disciplinary exposure. Plus, observing different presentation styles and public speaking approaches helps me develop my own communication skills – something crucial in any field.
An Unexpected Journey
When I received an invitation for a research presentation by Dr. Niki Khorasani, a postdoctoral fellow from the Alberta School of Business who was interviewing for an Organizational Development Professor position at UNBC’s School of Business, I was immediately intrigued. Her presentation title, “Trojan Mice: Unraveling Institutional Myths Through Entrepreneurship,” sparked my curiosity. As I added it to my calendar, I thought this might also make for an interesting article for Over The Edge, UNBC’s student newspaper, allowing me to share these innovative ideas with the broader student community.
What struck me most was how her research could apply to our daily lives as students and community members. While we often think about success in terms of constant growth – better grades, higher salaries, bigger businesses – Dr. Khorasani suggested that sometimes “enough” can be better than “more.” This perspective challenges how we typically think about success and progress in our lives.
The Research: Small Changes, Big Impact
Dr. Khorasani’s research looks at something we rarely question: the idea that businesses must always grow bigger. She calls this the “growth myth” – the belief that success always means expansion. Through interviews with 50 entrepreneurs and 80 hours of watching how they work, she discovered something interesting: some business owners are choosing a different path. These “Trojan mice,” as she calls them, are making small but meaningful changes to how they run their businesses.
Think of it like this: instead of trying to become the next Amazon or Walmart, these entrepreneurs ask themselves “What’s enough?” They focus on what their community needs and how they can make a positive impact, rather than just making more money. Some share their business solutions with others instead of keeping them secret. Others choose to grow slowly, like a tree, rather than rushing to expand.
A New Perspective on Success
This way of thinking about business might seem unusual, but it’s catching on. From local farmers’ markets to community-owned shops, we can see examples all around us of businesses that prioritize community benefit over unlimited growth. Perhaps the most fascinating takeaway from Dr. Khorasani’s research is that meaningful change doesn’t always require massive disruption – sometimes small, thoughtful adjustments, like mice quietly making their way through walls, can lead to powerful transformations in how we think and act.
Lessons for Student Life
As students, we often feel pressure to constantly achieve more, grow faster, and compete harder. Dr. Khorasani’s research reminds us that there might be alternative paths to success. Maybe success isn’t always about being the biggest or the fastest, but about finding what works best for us and our communities.
Final Thoughts
While I walked into this seminar with my computer programming mindset, I left with new perspectives on how we might think about growth and success in our own lives. Sometimes the most valuable learning experiences come from stepping outside our usual subjects and listening to different viewpoints. That’s the beauty of being part of a university community – these unexpected encounters can reshape how we think about success, growth, and what really matters in our careers and lives.
