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When I discovered the field of family governance over a decade ago, it was just that, a burgeoning field.
In the intervening decade plus, it has continued to evolve and now feels like more of an ecosystem.
See From Multidisciplinary Field to Interdisciplinary Ecosystem from 2022.
There is ever more activity, interest, attention and buzz, and that’s generally a good thing.
As a participant in and evangelist for this space for all that time, regular readers will note that I have been going to all sorts of related events and reporting the progress being made in real time.
I’m never shy to check out an event that looks compelling, and have added new ones to my regular repertoire over the years.
So when I heard about the latest family business case competition, I was intrigued and declared that I was definitely in.
A Twist on the Case Competition: Adding FEA’s to Teams!
Last May in Halifax at the FEC Symposium, Ivey professor and longtime FEA Program supporter David Simpson announced a new event.
I’ve known him for years and as a long time judge at UVM’s FECC (see Re-FECC-tions on 10 Years of Judging at SG-FECC), I connected with him and offered him any assistance I could give.
But then when I dropped in on my alma mater to see him last fall to discuss what he was planning, he threw me for a loop with his idea.
He wanted his MBA students, who’d be taking his Managing the Family Business course during the winter semester, to be put in teams that also included a Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA ™) as participants in the competition.
Hmmm, this was way different, and possibly “out there”, but as I said, I was certainly intrigued, and committed to be involved in whatever way made sense.
Returning to My Old Stomping Grounds
So on a recent Friday, I returned to the campus where I met my wife over half my lifetime ago.
And I was about to be part of a team, rather than one of the judges, which was the role I had become accustomed to.
Things were nicely organized so that on the Friday evening, we were introduced to our teammates over dinner, allowing us to get over the awkwardness before we were to get to work on our slide deck and pitch on Saturday morning.
It also allowed me to learn about how the MBA program has evolved in the decades since I was a student.
I’ll be back in London in the fall for Homecoming, for the 35th anniversary of my graduation.
During my 2 years there we worked on hundreds of cases, but not a single one was about a family business.
A Refreshingly Live Family Case
It’s nice to know that students can learn about family business in (some) business schools these days, and the idea of having them team up with practitioners who also work with families was a great learning opportunity.
The other great part of the weekend was that instead of reading about a business family which is usually how cases are worked on, we got to hear the members of the family in their own words.
The Friday dinner was followed by a “fireside chat” in front of the whole room of competitors.
Simpson conducted an extensive interview with the five family members (both parents and three of their four adult offspring), and then an extensive Q & A period ensued.
A Bit Too Competitive?
Learning about business using the case method has been going on for over a century since its origin at Harvard in the 1920’s (Thanks Google!).
I’m not sure they envisaged how competitive it could become, but I guess it’s yet another way to gamify learning to increase interest.
These competitions usually take place between students from different schools, so things can get very tense.
The Ivey version we worked was more of an “intra-mural” contest, and therefore a bit less competitive.
Debriefing with some of the FEA’s afterwards, it seems like the level of effort was pretty high, even though the stakes were not enormous.
Family Governance Goes More Mainstream
I realize that it would be an exaggeration (along with some wishful thinking) to state that the idea of family governance has gone mainstream.
But it certainly does seem like we are seeing it pop up in more and more places.
And that’s probably a good thing. Let’s keep this going.
