Inciter Art

a writing, co-learning, and resource sharing space for an arts ecosystem with big ideas and bigger questions.

Tim Cynova

Tim wears a multitude of hats, all in service of creating anti-racist workplaces where people can thrive. He currently is co-CEO of Fractured Atlas (an entirely virtual organization with staff spread across multiple states and countries) and a Principal of the consulting group Work. Shouldn't. Suck. He serves on the faculty of Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity and The New School teaching courses in People-Centric Organizational Design; he's a trained mediator, and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Earlier in his career, Tim was the Executive Director of The Parsons Dance Company and of High 5 Tickets to the Arts in New York City, had a memorable stint with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was a one-time classical trombonist, musicologist, and for five years in his youth he delivered newspapers for the Evansville, Indiana Courier-Press. Also, during a particularly slow summer, he bicycled 3,902 miles across the United States.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Mindfulness | People Operations | Resilience | Self Care

By Tim Cynova
December 13th, 2018

Apps, articles, books, and courses to build a reflective & resilient self-care practice in your life & work After months of seeing that documentary about tiny homes pop up repeatedly in my Netflix queue, I finally sat down and watched it. And that lead to watching this one about adopting a minimalist approach in life, and then books like Dan Harris’s 10% Happier and Jeffery Pfeffer’s Dying for a Paycheck, and a course on Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. By that point, I had fallen firmly down a rabbit hole of research on resiliency and self-care.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Bootcamp | Culture | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
November 28th, 2018

Deadline to Apply: January 15, 2019 We’re thrilled to announce that we are once again offering our one-day Strategic HR Bootcamp on Saturday, February 23, 2019 in New York City. Only 25 spots are available for this cohort due to space constraints, and the deadline to apply is January 15, 2019. (Don’t sweat, it’s a brief application with only two questions aside from your name and contact information). Cost, with scholarship, is $100.

Theory of Change Workbook

Theory of Change Workbook

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Blog Feature

Big Ideas | How We Work | Leadership | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
May 15th, 2018

An Early Look Into Fractured Atlas’s Shared Leadership Model Preamble Those playing along at home will recall that Fractured Atlas recently embarked on a few new adventures. One of which is the creation of a four-person, non-hierarchical leadership team for the organization. (I recently shared a collection of research on the topic. If you can wait a bit longer, I’m publishing a subsequent post that distills the key findings from the hundreds of hours I spent reviewing material.)

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Leadership | People Operations | Human Resources | Shared Leadership

By Tim Cynova
March 30th, 2018

Photo by Oliver Fluck. (Image unfortunately does not represent the setting of my actual think week, which is more along the lines of small apartment in New York City.) I’m going off-the-grid for a sorta annual Think Week. On the docket for this year: process and distill learning from material related to non-hierarchical, shared leadership teams, the role of the CEO, and — if I have time (fingers crossed) — global virtual teams.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | How We Work | People Operations | Human Resources | Scarcity

By Tim Cynova
December 21st, 2017

Resource scarcity leads us to borrow, and that pushes us deeper into scarcity. Why? Because when we have scarce resources we tunnel (i.e., we focus on the here and now, the fires, what needs to get done right now). Tunneling leads us to neglect. Tunneling today creates more tunneling tomorrow, and leads us to borrow — in a borrowing from Petra to pay Paula and eventually needing to pay back Petra with significant interest scenario — so that we’re using the same physical resources less effectively, placing us one step behind.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Culture | Employee Engagement | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
November 22nd, 2017

Why People Ops Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow This piece details a core belief of mine, and why, especially if you’re a leader in the cultural sector, I believe you should share it too. Strategic HR — or People Operations — is a senior-level management competency that needs to be embedded in every decision we make in our organizations.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | How We Work | Arts | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
November 16th, 2017

The Education/Experience Proxy is what I call the phrase organizations include near the end of their job postings: “High School Diploma Required,” “Bachelor Degree Required,” or “Masters Degree Preferred.” Please nix it. It’s a lazy proxy used to approximate experience or ability that’s making it harder for otherwise talented people to be a part of your candidate pool. It neglects people who learn differently, or have different life experience, from being considered for positions.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Learning | Professional Development | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
November 7th, 2017

Learning with Others to Improve Ourselves Learning new things with other people is fun! After publishing an extensive list of HR resources and announcing the launch of our Strategic HR Bootcamp in January, a colleague recently asked me where I turn for my own professional development training. Here are some of the highlights I’ve enjoyed for structured learning:

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Arts | Culture | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
November 3rd, 2017

Hi, Philadelphia artists and arts organizations! I’ll be in town for some meetings this Wednesday, November 8 and have a few open windows in my schedule.

Blog Feature

Big Ideas | Bootcamp | Culture | People Operations | Human Resources

By Tim Cynova
October 18th, 2017

Deadline to Apply: November 30, 2017 I’m thrilled to announce that Fractured Atlas will be offering a one-day Strategic HR Bootcamp on Saturday, January 27, 2018 in New York City. Only 20 people will be accepted into this cohort, and the deadline to apply is November 30, 2017. (Don’t sweat, it’s a brief application with only two questions aside from your name and contact information).