Ways of Thinking, Being, and Doing: The Scholar-Practitioner Mind-Set for Successfully Innovating HRD

The Problem: A number of scholars write about scholar-practitioners, including their role, general competencies, and the work processes they undertake. This literature reflects our understanding of the nature of the scholarly practice but does not extend to the consideration of the attitude or mind-set that can distinguish the contribution of scholar-practitioners in the field. The Solution: In this article, we add to the discourse by considering the mind-set of successful scholar-practitioners who seek to provide a competitive edge to their organizations by transcending trends and conventional wisdom with innovative human resource development (HRD) approaches. We examine a few tenets for developing habits of thinking, being, and doing, and offer practical counsel to support those who wish to adopt a scholar-practitioner mind-set. The Stakeholders: For individuals who wish to develop and maintain identities as scholar-practitioners, this article provides information that will help them and their leadership team better understand the distinct benefits from integrating scholarship and practice. For organizational leaders, this article sheds light on ways to foster a culture that will support the scholar-practitioner mind-set to yield competitive advantage.