Don’t make innovation less scary

Each year I take volunteers to South Africa to work in underprivileged communities. Most of it is hard and rewarding work. At the end of the trip, we, take time out with the group and head into the beautiful South African bush for a couple of days. On one of the mornings, we get up before sunrise to ride an African elephant.

You begin to get quite comfortable with the tranquillity and beauty of the surroundings even though you are on the largest land mammal in lion territory. You rock gently on the massive beasts who move incredibly quietly through the bush. The elephants tend to snap off a twig here and a branch there until suddenly a trunk is wrapped around a tree and a mighty pull occurs. After a few attempts, the elephant dips its head and gives the tree a mighty shove. The sounds of the tree being pulled and pushed from the ground and the might of the elephant are awesomely frightening and impressive at the same time. You are suddenly jolted from the serenity of the bush into the reality of the power of the elephants and the risk you are taking in riding these wild animals in a wild environment. It sure beats looking at an elephant in the zoo!

Innovation over the years has been dressed up as a tranquil journey by creating tools, models and cultural change programmes to make innovation easier and to reduce fear and uncertainty. But, no matter how safe you try to make it, the reality is, it’s not. (The elephant carers don’t for a moment lull us into a false sense of security). Trees come crashing down. Wild animals are lurking in the bush.

Will there ever be a point, besides in entrepreneurial firms or with people ‘hard-wired’ to innovate, when people are comfortable with innovation just to do it? Will they innovate because we, as leaders, have made it less scary? Probably not.

Our schooling system, adult training, and cultural expectations have created generations of people who seek to get the right answers, not the most creative solutions. We have robbed them of the ability to think creatively, to dream up innovative ideas and to question the status quo. They are not future-ready equipped with the mindset and skill sets to seek alternate and possibly more risky approaches. People aim for efficiency improvements and not game-changing ideas.

We are creatures of habit and seek to repeat actions and tasks. We use the same methods and processes and create products and services that look very similar to previous ones. We revel in the comfort zone and it takes a lot to move us out of it. Even when we make innovation simple and fun or give people tools, innovation is too risky for most people to step out. Many people only see the wild animals and hear the crashing trees. They aren’t interested in the journey. It’s the unknown power of the beast that frightens them. So they steer clear of innovation with its risk and uncertain outcomes.

How do we innovate? As a leader, future-proof your organization by leading for innovation. Create discomfort as a catalyst to shift people. You don’t experience the size of an African elephant until you are on its back. You don’t experience the raw power of an African elephant until it uproots a tree. We need to create discomfort around the status quo. External threats, massive budget cuts, huge market shifts create discomfort. Innovation suddenly becomes a little more appealing when things are uncertain. Let’s not try to eliminate fear and uncertainty around innovation because that may never be possible. Let’s rather create discomfort to drive innovation opportunities. Good leaders can do this by making staff aware of trends, products, potential disruptive behaviors in the market.

But more often than not we sit around and wait in the comfort and profitable state of the status quo. Suddenly a shift in regulations, a tough competitor and a new business taking customers threatens the status quo and innovation becomes an option to be considered albeit an uncomfortable one. Don’t wait for this reactive form of innovation. Rather create discomfort with the status quo and engage people in constant innovation.

Perhaps by seeking to eliminate discomfort we have crushed innovation and the opportunity to feel that rush of adrenalin sitting on the back of a massive elephant as the tree comes crashing down. If we are to innovate we need stop looking at the elephants in the zoo and to jump onto the back of one in the African bush.

By Peter Dry, 2018.

Getting ready for innovation and exponential change or maintaining the humdrum? A look down the road of education (Part 2)

Will schools significantly change or are we in danger of another generation where we tinker with an outdated model? Technology has the potential to shift the way we do school making learning has become more accessible, more mobile and more personalized. What are some schools doing now and how might schools adapt in the future?

Technology is impacting schools. Students rely more on technology than teachers for information. In fact, students tend to use YouTube more than other search engines to learn. School and learning are now highly mobile, accessible and personalized. The web and cloud computing means “school” can be accessed anywhere, anytime. Yet, schools look and feel industrial and impersonal and consequently students tend to feel disconnected and disengaged. The future will see schools leveraging mobile technology to support a more personalized approach (vs. standardized as in the old factory model)  of the learning environment.

A more personalized approach is needed so that the individual and community needs are considered. In a world that can increasingly cater for individual and diverse needs, education needs to accept that one size does not fit all. A school culture that emphasizes this will enable relevance and rigor in the classroom, and higher levels of student engagement.

For example, some schools around the country have ‘dashboards’ for each student where their personal progress is monitored in real time. Feedback is readily available and data can be extrapolated with ease. MAP testing is an example of how technology can be leveraged to build or advanced individual student’s skill sets. This allows the student, teacher, and parents to customize the learning for the child whether it be the need for reinforcement, redirection or moving on to the next topic or level. Students can create and navigate their own learning journey, tap into multiple online resources (like Kahn Academy) and use the teacher as a coach or facilitator.

Schools will continue to question the emphasis on standardized testing as the need for curiosity, ingenuity, passion, and curiosity grows. Education will move from information acquisition (the known) to knowledge creation (beyond the known). The trend is already towards the inventive use of knowledge and how people can add value to what is already know. Thus, schools will need to create intellectual entrepreneurs. Schools will need to explicitly teach the skills of collaboration, problem-solving, and communication. These are not new skills but there are greater demands now placed on the need to graduate students with these skills. Technology will be used to support these shifts to enable students to tackle real-world problems that may be occurring in their classroom, their school, their town or even globally (see an upcoming blog for what this looks like). 

Therefore, schools will need to develop an intensive and ongoing professional development program to better support teachers to deepen their understanding and expand their skill set on how to teach for the 21^st century, or in other words, nurture “future-ready students”. This is unknown territory for teachers, administrators, and parents where student learning outcomes are more about habits of mind (creativity, ingenuity, innovation, collaboration) than knowledge. That means the curricula, assessment, classes and the school day will look different. There will be greater emphasis on project- and place-based work, integration of classes, connections with the outside world and blended learning (see my next blog for insights into this topic). A school will also be more intentional about students creating connections, developing creative solutions to real problems and encouraging collaboration; skills prerequisite for employment. This will also be key to the survival and advancement of our society.

Schools may maintain the humdrum over the next few years, tinker with an outdated system, and continue to prepare students for a world gone by. Let’s hope though that schools do adapt to the changing needs of the students and the world and that courageous and thoughtful leaders see the role technology plays in this shift. Educators are passionate about developing future-ready students with the capacity to make a positive contribution to their world. Training, support, and high-quality professional development will help our teachers navigate the significant change our schools need.

Picture source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zqkjp39

Getting ready for innovation and exponential change or maintaining the humdrum?

Getting ready for innovation and exponential change or maintaining the humdrum?

A look down the road of education

(part 1)

Yes, we live in an age of disruption. Yes, we live in an exponential age. Yes, not much will change in education in the next 5 to 10 years. Should they? Yes! But, despite global forces, rapid technological changes and accelerated change, schools will look, sound and feel the same. Change in schools moves at a glacial pace. The question therefore should not be “How will schools be different in 5-10 years?” but “How should schools be different 5-10 years from now to ensure we are meeting the needs of the students?” Or, “How do we develop future-ready students?”

What are the trends that could affect education?

Technology – Preparing students for life in an ongoing technological revolution

This is the most pervasive and powerful trend for education. Classrooms are a pedagogical jigsaw as schools become an ecosystem with a variety of ways to learn (known as blended learning). Schools will have to give students the opportunity to learn online as preparation for later learning. At least one course should be taken in their school career. Importantly, students must be taught how to navigate the web, research and think critically. Mining for information, checking sources, synthesizing arguments and creating their own ideas will be a challenge for educators. Students will be exposed to coding, web design, and how to properly manage their online footprint and personal brand.

MOOCS have not been as impactful as first imagined. It seems that completing an online course requires a huge amount of self-discipline. We are essentially social creatures and like to learn in groups, even face-to-face. This may change with the current generation who feels more comfortable interacting and forming relationships online. Online study will impact Colleges far more than schools. Colleges are becoming too expensive and online colleges are increasingly more popular. Students can hold jobs while completing their degrees. It makes more economic sense.

Schools will be inundated with increasingly sophisticated ICT tools. Artificial Intelligence (robots interacting seamlessly with students using natural languages) and Virtual Reality (and in textbooks as they can offer rich and current 3D content) will play a role in classrooms with technology increasingly integrated into the classroom. Significant infrastructure and access to technology will be needed. Teachers will become increasingly comfortable with the use of technology and mobile learning and be able to use it to enhance the student experience and critical thinking.

Neurosciences will impact teaching as this becomes the fastest growing science. This is the branch of study that deals directly with how the brain learns. Will we be able to ignore these sources of information that equips teachers and students to learn better than ever before? 

Image source: https://www.alamy.com/reaching-a-crossroads-having-to-choose-between-stagnation-or-change-in-future-symbolized-by-two-feet-standing-on-two-different-colors-with-arrows-on-p-image177988506.html