The biggest challenge in life is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everybody else! >quot;We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them,>quot; is a mantra used many times in life. >#0160;
No organization has ever been successful without new and innovative ideas. Innovation, be it in business or education, is all about challenging the status-quo. >#0160;Before an organization can begin to innovate, it must answer a few difficult questions. >#0160;The most important questions are: “What does innovation mean to your institution? >#0160; Does your institution enable or stifle innovation? >#0160;What about your competitors…how innovative are they?” >#0160; >#0160;
Sometimes, colleges and universities have to remind themselves that they don>#39;t have to do what everyone else is doing. >#0160;So, how do you accomplish that task? >#0160;You accomplish innovation by going through 4 stages: generate ideas; refine your ideas; select the specific ideas that you want to try; and lastly, implement the ideas. >#0160;The problem with many institutions is they want the BIG ideas, but never have a plan to see them come to fruition. >#0160;In other words, they may be good at listening to the innovative ideas of their employees, but never research them enough to say, >quot;I think we want to go with that idea and run with it.>quot; >#0160;
Many times, innovators see the biggest enemy as the institution itself, the reason being that institutions are not designed for innovation, they are designed for ongoing operations. >#0160;In education, we serve our stakeholders, who might be students, boards, trustees, taxpayers, or any number of customers or patrons. >#0160;In the end, we strive for productivity and efficiency; therefore, we evolve and deliver what is being sought by them. >#0160;When it comes down to it, educational institutions have to focus on serving their students BETTER than other schools, or stakeholders will spend their hard-earned money somewhere else. >#0160;With that being said, there is continuous pressure to be more efficient and profitable and to continue to advance in new areas. >#0160; When institutions want to be >quot;innovative>quot; there will inevitably be conflict within. ‘Repeatable’ and ‘predictable’ are the stakeholders’ friends.>#0160; Predictability is especially powerful because it serves as a baseline for future expectations and holding people accountable. >#0160;In many organizations, budgets are set based largely on predictable outcomes. >#0160;
Ultimately, when any educational institution decides to pursue innovation, the leadership must have a vision for the future. >#0160;When you think about it, titles or positions don>#39;t really matter though, ideas do! >#0160;If you want people who possess the skills to innovate, they have to be the faculty and staff who remember why you are in business in the first place…for the student. >#0160; They must be open-minded enough to new ideas and resist the urge to say, >quot;We have tried that before and it didn>#39;t work.>quot; >#0160;In the end, when we want innovation…we must THINK DIFFERENTLY!
Rich Flotron, 2016 Region III Leadership Fellow
