For the better of a decade, higher education thought leaders have pointed to the urgent need for administration and faculty to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset to better position for the transformation and disruption ahead in higher ed.
BOSI (acronym for Builder, Opportunist, Specialist, and Innovator) is the framework higher leaders will be able to leverage for several much-needed outcomes.:
- Help each employee discover their innate entrepreneurial DNA and discover the pre-wired strengths and weaknesses of that behavioral profile.
- Help teams and working groups identify the complementary and competing DNAs in the room so that innovation can actually take place.
- Help leaders identify talent within the institution, and during the recruiting process, to best align roles to the decision-making lens that drives each individual.
- Help managers have a better understanding of how each team member is wired to make decisions, and how they process things like opportunity, risk, ideation, and failure.
- Design strategy based on the unique Institutional DNA of a school, rather than falling for the fatal trap of chasing “best practices” of schools that have a completely different DNA. (Hint: Just because Arizona State or SNHU is doing something innovative doesn’t mean your school can, or should as well. If you don’t have their Institutional DNA, you will not be successful in implementing their strategies).
- Assign professional development pathways for individuals based on their DNA rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that borders on discriminatory and exclusionary.
- Provide professors and administrators with a tool to better understand each student, and their behavioral profile so that everything from course selection, to team assignments can be customized to that who that student is.
The History Of BOSI
Discovered in 2008 amidst research conducted with startup founders, the BOSI framework led to the authoring of the book Entrepreneurial DNA (McGraw Hill 2011). Over 1,000 individuals participated in the original research, and over 200,000 individuals worldwide have completed the assessment since then. 
The BOSI framework is currently used in incubators, early stage companies, academic coursework, non profit organizations, and the Fortune 500.
The framework has now been adapted for Higher Education and will be available for individuals and institutions starting 2023.
Ways To Leverage BOSI
BOSI will be available publicly in several formats starting March 2023.
- The free 10-question assessment for individuals (mobile friendly and under 5 minutes)
- The Advanced Assessment for individuals that uncovers all 4 DNAs by percentage and includes a multi-page pdf report.
- The Team Assessment for teams of 10 to over 1,000. Plots the entire team on one BOSI quadrant for rich insight into team dynamics and innovation capacity.
- A certification program for individuals (2024) who will administer the assessment and coach leaders in their professional development.
- Ongoing thought leadership and insights delivered via the Beyond Academics blog and on Linkedin with BOSI founder Joe Abraham.
- ThinkSpace sessions hosted by Beyond Academics that are open to the public.
- The BOSI Leadership Academy (2024) where emerging leaders in higher ed will go through multi-day programming to build their leadership skills and get certified.
- Workshops, events, and keynotes for associations, and institutions as-requested.
As we better understand the ways higher education leaders will leverage BOSI to move their institutions forward, we will continue to innovate ways to support.
The BOSI Assessments will open to higher education on March 1st 2023.
Questions? Contact us by emailing team@beyondacademics.com
