Comments on: When Innovation Gets Difficult

By: Eduardo

Eduardo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:31:07 +0000

Estoy de acuerdo en que la mayoría dominante tratará de mantener el status quo. Por eso, en esta reflexión que enlazo: La Web 2.0 y la construcción social de la universidad pública. Dificultades para innovar y planificar el cambio (http://www.aprenderenred.net/?p=129) planteamos un proceso de guerra de guerrillas para afrontar y dinamizar los procesos de cambio institucional.

By: Robert Bell

Robert Bell — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:24:02 +0000

In his seminal 1972 work, Management, Peter Drucker issued a prediction. He said that the biggest challenge facing the science of management was to find a way to manage nonprofit institutions and government bodies as efficiently as businesses. In business, market pressures tend to compel performance. For “too big to fail firms,” it can take almost geologic time before a succession of mistakes leads to collapse but in small to midize companies, market pressures ruthlessly force performance or failure. But institutions and governments lack natural market pressures. Drucker said it was up to us all to figure out substitutes that would create the same kind of incentives and feedbacks, because institutions and government would play an increasingly powerful role in society going forward.

By: The Long March Through The Institutions | writinginthewild.com

The Long March Through The Institutions | writinginthewild.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:53:32 +0000

[...] recent posts– one on the Progressive Historian blog and one on Iterating Towards Openness– reminded me of Gramsci. (It’s interesting to do search on the phrase, “The Long [...]

By: leighblackall

leighblackall — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:32:56 +0000

I dunno, most of me wants to agree, I get paid by them too. But I’m yet to see something like what you describe. Leadership equaling innovation? Not sure. Leadership being deliberate, going to plan, and remaining principled, it doesn’t exist but in afterthought. What and wherever we see change, those who are outside that particular institution need to do more in acknowledging and celebrating it. Because one thing we probably would agree on, is the impact a big OUTSIDE voice has on the actions going on inside.

By: Mike Caulfield

Mike Caulfield — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:39:44 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you.

I had a particularly rough day today — got really excited about a well defined plan to put CELT’s focus on two major, easy to grasp initiatives in stead of splitting it across 50 little projects — and then I was brought back to earth and told to be careful, it will seem like we have too much of a top-down agenda. [and the person told me this as a favor, mind you -- worried about the reception].

If we are not effective, people say what the heck are we doing with our time. If we are effective they circle the wagons.

Anyway, I really appreciate this. Tomorrow I’ll be back rolling eggs through the minefield, but it’s nice to be reminded it is not for nothing.

By: Jared Stein

Jared Stein — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:12:53 +0000

Right on @David, and I love everyone's comments here, too. This thread loops into one of the unexpected effects J. Seely Brown's BYU pres had on me, namely depression. Describing workplaces like Google as exemplifying innovation cultures is nice, but not really useful for those many who may be working in stratified, often monolithic institutions with little interest in the true causes of innovation--suspicious that creative approaches = risk = potential loss (of reputation, revenue, control, etc). So that particular message is for those who can make an impact ("leaders"), but there's a more important, day-to-day message for the rest: change from within, or get out, or shut up and sit out.

By: Steven Egan

Steven Egan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:06:15 +0000

Teachers teach, and leaders lead. The first is leading people to the path of self improvement, called learning. A leader without followers is in bad shape, and it’s the people’s choice whether or not to follow.

It may be that we will have to create a network of small groups that interact and build a whole “institution” for the sole purpose of motivating and enabling individuals to create small pockets of change.

I have plans in that direction, but little ability to proceed with them. Edubacon.com is one of my steps in building up to it. My blog (blog.IgenOukan.com) was the first. I’ve talked with Jim Groom about my ideas and took the Mozilla open education course this last spring to help facilitate the networking needed. However, those who have goals to help education generally have a very narrow focus for what they want to do that includes working with other almost solely on their project. I’m interested in getting more interdisciplinary projects going that have focus groups within them.

Perhaps an online “course” on communication could help get people to interact more effectively to bring about the institutional innovations.

By: Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:50:17 +0000

Hi David – Whether to stay within traditional institutions (eg, universities) and help them change OR whether to help drive the forces that underlie that change, well, this is a decision that each of must make. We need good decent people making each decision and pursuing each course of action. And, goodness, a decision made today is not irrevocable. In my case, I simply got frustrated with the intransigence and glacial speed evident in most universities. From the other side, I wish you well. … Gary

By: Brennan Novak

Brennan Novak — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:10:57 +0000

What an excellent post. Wow! So congruent with all the things I have been observing in the world. Life has shown me that by bringing together or at least identifying two polarized sides of something, then a big bang of innovation can occur. Humanity / technology are the two that most interest me. How can we make our technology more human, and help humans learn how to think more scientifically.

By: Doug Stein

Doug Stein — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:47 +0000

Nicely stated. Here’s a shorter version: “Crossing the Red Sea was a technological innovation – but even the Lord needed 40 years to prepare the Israelites to cross the Jordon. THAT was an institutional innovation!”

Hopefully we won’t have to wait for another generation to die off to transform learning. I work with K-12 companies (mostly) and feel the pressure since close to 5 million kids enter (and exit) the system each year in the US. Incremental change isn’t doing them much good