What is your job/position?
Innovation Manager, Advocate Health. I work for a corporate innovation team within a large healthcare system. We're a small but mighty group with the objective to make healthcare more accessible, economical, equitable, and of a higher quality by creating new business models using innovation tools and methods. We partner with startups and incumbents, conduct consumer research by interviewing and observing patients and staff, and prototype experiences and workflows to improve the delivery of care. The work is invigorating and also infuriating at times, yet it feels good to be an agent of change.
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
Prior to graduation, I applied to several Masters of Healthcare Administration (MHA) graduate programs. My wife was applying to graduate school at the same time—though for a different degree—and we resolved to apply to the same schools and make our final selection based on which university accepted the pair of us. I ended up attending The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Armed with my American Studies education, I thrilled at the history that constantly surrounded me in the city—in the buildings, the names of the streets, the monuments, etc. Given that my classes were in the evenings, I sought out an internship to help me get more on-the-job experience and fill my daytime. That internship was a role in a healthcare startup company, and I ended up working there for almost the entirety of my graduate school experience.
I loved the energy and pace of working at a startup and, when it came time to apply for jobs, wanted to recreate that environment as much as possible but with more financial stability. Rather than applying to the same types of jobs to which my peers were applying, namely hospital operations, I applied to an in-house strategy consulting team. I wrote business plans and financial pro formas and endless PowerPoint decks. My projects were often complex, and there were never easy answers to the problems, which I liked. But I felt that I was far away from where healthcare really happens, so I applied for a role in the innovation team. There I found a team that would spend time interviewing the patients, then taking their insights back to the administrators and advocating for changes to be made. I was able to connect to the work in a more emotional way and could more readily see the impact. Healthcare innovation has been a great fit for me.
What are the specific competencies you cultivated as an American Studies student that you now use in your professional life and that set you apart from your colleagues?
Quoting from the American Studies website: "The American Studies major examines the sweep of American experience, society, culture, and civilization from a variety of viewpoints." The competency of being able to approach an issue and see its contours and angles from a variety of viewpoints has been an invaluable skill that my American Studies experience instilled in me. The interdisciplinary nature of an American Studies education, in my opinion, makes it superior to so many others because life itself is not a vacuum but an amalgamation of so many forces and factors. For example, in our classes we learned not just about literary theory but about why and how that literature was a product of its economic and sociopolitical context. A phrase we often quote within our innovation circles is, "Context creates value and contrast creates meaning." In my role, contextual understanding is critical for problem identification, root cause analysis, and creative problem solving. Because of my American Studies training, I can approach a business problem or opportunity and consider the multiple viewpoints and interplay of various stakeholders, regulations, financial constraints, clinical processes, technologies, behavioral economics, and more.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
Two ways come to mind: My American Studies degree has helped me be more kind in my reading of history. Instead of judging people in the past by present standards of cultural propriety, I can look at the historical milieu in which they lived and give them the benefit of the doubt (which I hope people in the future will offer to me). I've found that choosing curiosity over judgment also helps when I encounter individuals who hold different views than I do.
Another is that my personal scripture study has been enhanced. My interdisciplinary training helps me go beyond a surface level understanding of the text and dig deeper into the historical context to understand why Moses or Paul or Nephi or Joseph Smith were inspired to write what they wrote. Attempting to see Christ and the prophets within their context also helps them become more real to me.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
Savor this precious time you have to read. As you enter your career and/or start a family, the time and energy you have to read diminishes. I so wish I had the time to dig into Emerson or Fitzgerald or Angelou, but 10 minutes before bed, exhausted from a busy day, usually means I'm turning to lighter fare.
*You can contact Benjamin with questions about his American Studies story at benjamintingey@gmail.com.