Barry Dornfeld, Author at The Anthropology Career Readiness Network

About Barry Dornfeld

Barry Dornfeld, Principal, has been a strategic advisor to organizations in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, and is an expert on organizational culture and change, strategy, leadership, and governance. He draws on his many years of consulting, teaching, and industry experience to help guide clients through complex organizational challenges, using ethnographic skills to analyze challenges and engage groups and develop strategies for change. Barry speaks to a wide range of groups across healthcare, non-profits, and higher education in the US and internationally, and leads CFAR’s Higher Education practice. He teaches extensively, leading executive programs on culture and change, strategy, influence and persuasion, and leadership and governance in places like the Harvard Macy program “Leading Innovations in Healthcare,” AAMC’s Advanced Leadership Program, the Chief Nursing Officers Academy, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Organizational Dynamics program. Barry’s experience as an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker trained him to listen and ask insightful questions, working with executives in ways that are attuned to their needs, culture, and leadership styles, and help them reach their organizational goals. These skills help him connect to clients easily, work productively in a variety of settings, and effectively advise and teach executives. His recent work in healthcare and higher education has focused on ways to help leaders maximize value within and outside of their institutions—with particular depth in universities, academic medical centers, and professional associations. Barry is co-author of The Moment You Can’t Ignore: When Big Trouble Leads to a Great Future, published by PublicAffairs Books in October 2014, and has authored many other articles and papers and produced documentary works. He holds a BA in Anthropology and Economics from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School of the University of Pennsylvania, and has been a faculty member at New York University and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

How Can We Help Advance the Future of Organizational Anthropology?

The future of organizational anthropology, a field I have identified with for over 20 years, has claimed more attention for me over the last year or two. One result has been two fascinating roundtable sessions I co-designed with colleagues* for conferences that brought together anthropologists working with organizations. While organizational anthropology has existed as a practice or sub-discipline for almost 50 years, this field has received less recent attention outside the academy than, say, design anthropology or user experience work. Yet there continues to be a community of people working with organizations across a variety of sectors—not-for-profit, healthcare, corporate, and [...]