We believe that innovator is a critical role and performance area not only for faculty who are committed to personal growth and professional development, but for the most successful students as well.
Innovators are…
Willing to take the risk of trying new perspectives, approaches, and ways of working in order to improve educational outcomes; not only accepts that willingness to change is a key component of growth, but also embraces the idea that creativity and experimentation are positive attributes for both learners and educators.
In honor of innovation, we’d like to share our thinking and hopefully open up a dialog on the idea of innovation. We thought it might be interesting to examine this role and process in the light of current scholarship about innovation. One paper that caught our eye was What Kills Innovation by Jacob Sørensen. In the final section of the paper, he cites the 10 enemies of innovation [from Secrets from the Innovation Room: How to Create High-Voltage Ideas That Make Money, Win Business, and Outwit the Competition by Kay Allison].
We found the list interesting and would like to offer up the original list of the 10 enemies, as well as our own thinking about each.
10 Enemies of Innovation
- Fear of how I’ll look
- A fixed vs. fluid point of view
- Logic vs. energy
- Same action only harder
- Addiction to answers
- Be serious
- Relying only on experience
- Not my job
- Avoiding friction
- No time
Fear of how I’ll look
We’re generally uncomfortable with publicly risking ridicule or judgment; this is why most of us are willing to sing along with the radio when we’re alone in the car but would rather perform community service than be caught singing in public. Unfortunately, this fear of being judged (and found wanting) is deadly, not only to innovation, but to a sense of community and the spirit of collaboration as well.
A fixed vs. fluid point of view
Think of this as rigidity versus flexibility. A rigid perspective says, “We do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” and very often means that we only see what we expect to see; a rigid point of view is not ready or willing to be surprised. A fluid point of view is not willingness to change so much as a willingness to entertain the idea of change—to think outside the proverbial box, be willing to adapt to a situation, and see with new eyes.
Logic vs. energy
When we like an idea, we generally like it because it strikes us as logical and it makes immediate sense. How often are we willing to entertain a new idea that may not make immediate sense, but which is presented energetically or enthusiastically? Don’t we tend to dismiss the energy and enthusiasm as ‘hype’ and assume that if the idea were really good, all that ‘hype’ wouldn’t be needed?
Same action only harder
Thinking that, to improve, we need to do what we do today, but just work harder, is a serious enemy of innovation, as it implies that nothing is needed except greater effort. While it is true that 100 people can move a stone that is too heavy for one person to move, an innovation such as a lever makes increased effort unnecessary and downright inefficient.
Addiction to answers
Since childhood, most of us have been conditioned to believe that there is an answer for every question and that it is the answers that matter. Willingness to entertain questions and ask questions about questions without a readily available or even promise of an answer tends to encourage innovation. Proceeding without the safety net of an answer feels like ‘leaping without looking’ to many people.
Be serious
Innovation requires a willingness to experiment and engage in creative thinking. This is often thought of as “play” rather than “serious work.” When we feel ourselves under increasing pressure or stress, we tend to become increasingly serious, and less willing or able to allow for experimentation and creative thinking. Granted, no one wants the clown firefighting brigade to show up when their house is on fire but are the work and professional situations we find ourselves in really as serious as a house on fire? Always?
Relying only on experience
Experience is a great teacher, but it only ever teaches about the past. Experience does not look forward and, if relied upon as the sole voice of wisdom, cannot possibly prepare us for experiencing the truly novel and new. Experience can cause us to reject, out of hand, that which is unfamiliar.
Not my job
It is true that very few people have explicit job descriptions that include “innovate” as part of what they are paid to do. Then again, growth, professional development, and job satisfaction are rarely spelled out in job descriptions either. If we draw the line on what we’re willing to do because something is or is not in our job description or we’re paid or not paid to do it, then we risk replacing personal growth and professional improvement with a transactional employment model where things only matter professionally if we’re explicitly tasked and paid to do them.
Avoiding friction
Innovation differs from invention. Innovation largely takes from what currently exists and reorders, revises, adapts, and changes it. This means that there is bound to be some degree of competition between what was/is and what could be. Ideas never exist in a vacuum and very often compete with one another. If we’re unwilling to experience the friction or dissonance of competing ideas, we are not able to grow and change for the better.
No time
Again, if innovation is based upon exploration and creative thinking, how often do we allow time for those admittedly open-ended activities? In a culture that equates time with money (time = money), are we even willing to allocate time for professional activities that are unpaid and not required?
We’d love to know what you think about innovation and our decision to identify the role of innovator as an integral part of being a strong and successful educator. And what do you think of the “enemies of innovation”? Do they sound familiar?
