Prologue: The Next Big Thing
I love this commercial. It's funny, surprising, and it is well written. However the reason that I played it during a recent keynote is because it demonstrates a business model of idea generation that has no place in 21st century education and this blog post is a play in three acts that explains exactly what I mean by that. Enjoy.
Act I: Once Upon a Time...
...in education, new ideas were hard and having innovators mattered. Organizations were by in large bound by the quality of the ideas that came from within. It would not be uncommon to hear a teacher say something like "Ya, we do PLCs, but I'm the only ________ (insert random course/grade level/role) teacher at my school". Even if a school or district had innovative teachers and leaders, the isolating nature of education often kept those ideas on a short leash.
In the same way it can be hard to see the forest through the trees of one's everyday life, the end game of this scenario is that an individuals capacity to be creative at work was once bound by the ideas that they could generate themselves or were exposed to by others in close proximity. This lead to over valuing "creative" educators as loosely modeled by Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd.
Act II: The Problem with Innovators...
...is that they are hard. Hard to understand why they are innovative, what makes them that way, what are the conditions that drive it, etc. Sometimes people are innovative because of the organizations, systems, and environments support it. Other people are innovative because their organizations, systems, and environments are so unhealthy it becomes a necessity. What is certain is that it is almost impossible to know you are sitting across from one at an interview table no matter how carefully one crafts their questions and works to gauge responses. The final note to this idea of coveting innovators is that it is a behavior that is very hard to make systemic because by in large most people don't see themselves as "creative"....more on that later.
Act III: It's a Good Thing None of this Matters Any More.
In 1965 Ford released the Mustang, sold 22,000 units the first day and shattered annual sales records for the industry at over 400,000 cars. It was amazing...and other companies noticed. The years that followed saw the release of the Chevy Camero, Pontiac Firebird, Dodge Charger and countless other "muscle cars" in the style of the Ford Mustang. Guess what?...they all did really well and two of those three copy cats continue to be the lead model for that makers class of car almost 50 years later. Unlike market economies, all the arrows point in the right direction in education. Had the "1965 mustang", been a "2014 classroom innovation", the designers from Ford would have called the designers at Chevy and let them know what they were up to and asked them for help. We are not trying to outsell each other.
The point is that now that sharing is easy, we don't have to sweat any more for good ideas. Social networks, the web, blogs, even email are all operating systems that allow for the fast exchange of ideas that break down the innovation-value paradigm have put skills like seeking, network building, and curiosity at the new frontier of professional growth. Best of all the capacity to find new ideas is SOOOOO much easier to scale than the ability to be creative or innovative. Fearless, daring, reflective REPLICATORS will always be more valuable in a world where good ideas are no longer scarce.
Prologue: The Power of Public
This was the title of my keynote and the close to this blog. Leaders, make a concerted effort model the movement of professional learning into public spaces and design public space systems at your schools and in your districts where others can observe, contribute, and learn. Our days of being alone-together are over, we just need our leaders to remind us of that from time to time.
Cheers.
