Influencing Generations of Business Leaders

PROVO, Utah – Jun 14, 2018 – In David “DK” Kryscynski’s past career as a chemical engineer, molecules were predictable but people weren’t. Now as an associate professor of strategy at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Kryscynski has come to understand that in the same way magic happens in chemistry at the molecular level, magic happens for organizations among individual people.

Kryscynski has implemented this concept into his teaching methods as he seeks to reach individuals who have different styles of learning. In order to tailor his teaching to their intellectual needs and create magic in his classroom, he creates animated videos of strategy principles to supplement his classes.

Each video is six to ten minutes long and is flexible enough that students can speed it up, access it however they want, and watch it as many times as necessary. These videos allow Kryscynski’s time in class to be spent on interactive discussions and activities that will solidify concepts, rather than on lecture. When students come into the classroom, they’re ready to dive right in.

“My philosophy is that before class, you climb up onto the diving board,” Kryscynski says. “In class you dive off.”

Aside from creating these videos, Kryscynski has the opportunity to do exciting things as a professor, including a recent sabbatical to Singapore and Italy to teach and research with colleagues at Singapore Management University and Bocconi University. 

However, he didn’t always want to be a professor. Before he went back to school to earn his PhD, Kryscynski was working as a chemical engineer at a plant that mass-produced molecules. After he had worked there for a while, he realized that he had the system figured out—except for the unaccounted-for disruptions that employees caused. He knew how to create the exact conditions to have success with molecules, but he didn’t know what the right conditions were for magic to happen among the employees. 

Kryscynski decided he wanted to go back to school to understand the interaction between people and organizations. Initially, he planned on earning his MBA to become the CEO of a company because he wanted to have influence. Conversations he had with a mentor helped him see that academia was the place for him.

“I realized that as a business school professor I could have the opportunity to not only influence a company but also to influence generations of business leaders to make the world better,” Kryscynski says.

When the opportunity came for Kryscynski to interview for his job at BYU Marriott, he and his wife were not excited at the prospect of moving because they had no ties to Utah or BYU. However, he still wanted to be as prepared for the interview as possible, so he read through the materials that had been sent to him preceding his visit, including the university’s mission statement and aims.

“As I read through those statements, I felt power in what we do here at BYU Marriott,” Kryscynski says. “My perspective shifted from coming here just to interview to feeling truly honored that I could potentially have an opportunity to contribute to that mission.”

Kryscynski is passionate about teaching strategy and about his research on human capital and strategy because he wants to gain the best understanding of how and when companies can achieve a competitive advantage through their people. He is excited to have the opportunity to influence countless leaders through his work as a professor.

“There is no place I’d want to work other than BYU Marriott,” Kryscynski says. “Being able to be on the faculty has been one of the most incredible blessings of my life because of who I get to be when I’m here, what I get to learn, and how I get to engage with the students and my colleagues.”