Education Innovation

Thinking with Alligators

Why is creativity so difficult?

Today I was sharing some ideas with a few colleagues about how to increase attendance. No sooner had I shared a portion of my idea then it was attacked. “It can’t be tracked.” “Who will monitor it?”  “Why would we do it this way, it won’t work.”

My idea was just spouting and was stomped. It is a natural reaction. It brought to mind something I just read about in a great book called Think Better by Tim Hurson.

Tim calls this Gator Brain. Gator Brain is a strategy used to avoid having to think about an idea. You see, alligators don’t have much choice about how to react to new stimuli or sensory input.

“If a new creature comes into it’s territory, a gator can flee, it can try to feed on intruder, it may try to mate with the intruder, or it can freeze.” So depending on the size or nature of the intruder the gator is limited to those reactions.

My idea was the intruder!

“When encountering a new idea, your gator brain will see it either as a threat and therefore fight it or flee from it or as prey and therefore destroy it by devouring it. If your gator brain recognizes the invading idea as an old idea (like an alligator of the opposite sex), it may try to mate it, simply reproducing and reinforcing the old idea. Finally, if the invading idea just doesn’t fit at all, your gator brain’s response is to freeze.”

My idea caused some to attack and some to freeze. Most of us can relate. Gators are all around us. The shame is, education is in dire need of fresh ideas, but there is no telling how many great ideas ended up a victim of gator brain.

I can’t recommend Tim’s book enough.

Education's Idea Killing Virus and The Miracle Cure

Satisfice: A virus that results from the combination of satisfying and sufficing. Known to frequently infect educators who are being asked to develop ideas and plans of action for schools and school districts.

It is a deadly virus that infects grade level, department, PLC, school leadership, and district decision and planning meetings. The virus does not harm the host educator, but rather kills potential creative innovative ideas that might arise from the host by creating an urge to hastily accept the first idea or decision that satisfies the members and suffices as an acceptable outcome.

Matthew May, author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why The Best Ideas Have Something missing explains the virus.

“In 1957, economics Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon published a book called Models of Man. In it, he examined the default human decision-making process in which we tend to go with the fist option that offers an acceptable payoff. Simon said that by nature we ‘satisfice’—his term, combining satisfy and suffice. In other words, we have a tendency to settle for ‘good enough,’ opting for whatever seems to expeditiously meet the minimum requirement needed to move us closer to achieving a given goal. We then stop looking for other ways, including the best way, to solve the problem. We rationalize that the optimal solution is too difficult, not worth the effort involved, or simply unnecessary.”

“We mistakenly pose the question “What should we do?” before asking “What is possible?” We want a solution, but we don’t have the patience to wait for the optimal one, favoring implementation over incubation. We throw some resources at the problem and move on, or tweak a previous solution and fit it to the current situation. We fail to look more holistically at the challenge. The result is we simply don’t see the best, most elegant solution.”

While the prognosis may seem grim, there is a cure, a miracle cure that can save thousands of educators from falling victim to satisfice.

Tim Hurson, author of one of my all time favorite books, Think Better: An Innovator's Guide To Productive Thinking calls this “The Miracle of the Third Third.”

“Studies have shown that in Osborn’s kind of good brainstorming, the first third of the session tends to produce mundane, every-one-has thought-of-them-before ideas.”

“Generally the second third of a good brainstorming session produces ideas that begin to stretch boundaries.”

“The third third is where the diamonds lie. These are the potential breakthrough ideas that often lead to innovative solutions. These are the unexpected connections. Whereas bad brainstorming tends to stop at the first reasonable idea and judge all others out of existence, good brainstorming encourages the generation of long lists of ideas by separating creative thinking and critical thinking.”

In other words, education has for too long been suffering from the satisfice virus and ignoring the cure. The cure is great ideas. Creative ideas. Innovative ideas. The satisfice virus has confused our brains into accepting the first idea that seems to move the agenda along. And all of education has paid the price.

“Bad brainstorming is binary; ideas are either good or bad. Good brainstorming is full of maybes. In bad brainstorming, we never get to the third third. In good brainstorming getting to the third third is the point”

Imagine the impact for students, teachers, parents, schools, school districts, and communities if more educators used “The Miracle of the Third Third” in their planning and decision making meetings to defeat the satisfice virus. You might not believe in miracles now, but just wait until you feel the healing effects of the third third in your next planning or decision-making meeting.

3 Barriers to Creative Brainstorming In Professional Learning Communities- And How To Overcome Them

In a previous post (The New Rules of Brainstorming For Professional Learning Communities) I discussed the “New Rules” for brainstorming in PLCs. There are, however, problems that are common to PLCs that can and do interfere with powerful brainstorming.

According to Keith Sawyer, there are 3 possible reasons brainstorming groups are less creative than individuals brainstorming on their own and bringing their ideas to the group to be assembled later.

Problem 1: Production Blocking
“Group members have to listen closely to other people’s ideas, which leaves individual members with less mental energy to think of new ideas. Also, individuals might be distracted from their own ideas by the flurry of idea generation around them. This is why productivity loss is greater with larger groups: Each person has less time to talk as the number of members goes up.”

One cause of Production Blocking is Topic Fixation. “…groups become fixated faster and stay in the same category for longer. The way to prevent topic fixation is by giving group members time periods to work alone, alternating with group interaction.” 

I often ask PLC members, prior to PLC meetings, to develop their ideas, write them down, and bring the ideas with them to the meeting. We then go around the table sharing the ideas they wrote down. Instead of having to think of ideas while at the same time listening to others sharing their ideas, PLC members can devote their energy to listening and considering the value of the ideas.

The other advantage to this is that PLC members share their ideas regardless of what they have already heard. This avoids Topic Fixation. Ideas developed alone or outside of the PLC meeting are not subject to being influenced by the discussion in the PLC. Of course this doesn't mean that ideas can be added to or improved, it just means that the first person to speak doesn't drive the topic in a certain direction.

Sawyer provides two ideas. Electronic Brainstorming and Brainwriting.

Electronic Brainstorming—“…where ideas are typed by each group member into a shared computer screen like a chat room—results in more creativity because topic fixation is reduced.”

I have encouraged many of the PLC teams I work with to use Google Docs, but I have also used bubbl.us, Vyew.com, WiziQ.com.

Brainwriting–“…in which each member of the group takes five minutes to write out his or her ideas alone and then passes the list to the next person..."

Problem 2: Social Inhibition
“This is when a group member holds back an idea for fear of what the others will think.”

There are many reasons for social inhibition within a PLC. Differences in length of teaching experience, types of experiences, training, beliefs, values, etc., are all possible sources of social inhibition.

Sawyer points out that to reduce the negative effects of social inhibition PLC teams must first, “make sure that the team members or the group feel truly equal and that no authoritarian figure is present.” 

This is one reason that principals sitting in PLC meetings can be an issue. If principals inject themselves in an authoritarian evaluative role, social inhibition is likely. If, as an administrator, you feel the need to be in PLC meetings, then it needs to be clear that you will not act the part of the “boss” and will not be using the meeting in an evaluative nature for teachers.

I sit in PLCs 2-3 times a week, but it took a year of building a culture of trust to the point where this became possible without social inhibition. However, I am always conscious how my presence may impact the flow of conversation.

Second, “is to use a trained facilitator to draw people out and to note who is holding back.” This is a great idea if you have someone who can play this role. In most cases, this is the grade level or department chair, but as I mentioned above, if the principal is going to play this role, then trust is paramount.

Problem 3: Social Loafing
“When people are in a group they don’t feel as accountable for the outcomes as they do when they’re working alone; the responsibility is distributed among the group members, so individuals relax a little and perhaps don’t work as hard.”

It is essential that a culture of accountability be developed within your PLCs. One of the very reasons that I ask PLC members to bring their ideas to meetings is to ensure that all members participate. The manner in which meetings are facilitated is also important. If all members are to participate, then meetings need to be facilitated in such a way as to ensure that all members are required to participate.

These 3 problems are common to all PLCs, but if you address Production Blocking, Social Inhibition and Social Loafing, then your PLC teams will be more productive and PLC members are bound to feel that their contributions are being valued, it is a safe place to share, and that all are being held accountable to the same standard.

Net Gen Education Challenge

I am a big fan of Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital: How The Net Generation Is Changing Your World and co-author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

Don Tapscott, Vicki Davis aka CoolCatTeacher, and Julie Lindsay  of E-Learning Journeys fame, have teamed up to create the Net Gen Education Challenge. They are taking on some of the true X-Problems that face education, world institutions, and institutional thinking. It looks like a great opportunity for students and schools alike.

Don explains the challenge below...

 

Net Gen Education Challenge Underway

Posted on : 13th March 2010

I’m delighted to say that I’ve again joined with Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay (Beijing (BISS) International School, China) to issue two global video challenges on how the social web nurtures teaching, learning, collaboration, and innovation for the 21st century.

Just as we did last year, the Net Gen Education Challenge is a call for ideas to shape the future of education. However, this year we’ve also added the MacroWikinomics Challenge. We’re looking for ideas on how to fix the world’s institutions, such as business, government, social service, and the institutional thinking that prohibits creative problem solving.

The genesis of this year’s challenge goes back to the forming of the Flat Classroom Project, which was founded in 2006 to connect Julie Lindsay’s classroom at the International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Vicki Davis’ classroom at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. The project has grown to link more than 1,500 students from 20 countries in four projects with face-to-face conferences. The projects harnesses leading Web 2.0 technologies to connect students in powerful learning environments where they learn, connect, and improve their cultural understanding. For more details, visit www.flatclassroomproject.org.

This year’s grand prize winners for the Net Gen Education Challenge and the MacroWikinomics Challenge will receive US$1,000 and a one-hour webinar by me to include members of the winner’s organization or school. Each of the ten finalists will receive a signed copy of Grown Up Digital by me and a personalized signed copy of Wikinomics by me and Anthony D. Williams.

I’m also inviting people to nominate any school within the K-12 range for the eChalk School Prize, a prize that awards a school anywhere in the world with eChalk’s Anytime Package – a suite of online communication and collaboration tools pioneered specifically for teachers, students and parents – for one year. The prize includes a school website, group and class webpages and workspaces, safe email accounts for faculty, staff and students, and parent access accounts – all in one place to support learning. The winner of the eChalk School Prize will be determined by the school that receives the most votes.

Please join me and the online community to discuss the impact of emerging trends and technologies in building a sustainable future. Video submissions and school nominations will be accepted until May 10, 2010. Learn more at http://grownupdigital.ning.com/

 

Gever Tulley's Tinkering School

Brainstorming at the d.school

This video from the Design School (d-school) at Stanford provides a great look at what Brainstorming is and isn't. Useful for all Professional Learning Communities, Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives, and school leadership teams.

Essential Education: Tim Brown on Creativity and Play

Borrowing Brillance

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

Turning Your School Into A "Skunk Works" of Lateral Innovation

Innovation should not be linear. Most of us are familiar with examples of the great innovation teams from the business and engineering world. Examples such as Xerox- PARC’s group, to Apple’s Macintosh group, to Lockheed Martin’s famous “Skunk Works” have lead many of us to believe that innovative ideas should be developed by groups of “creative people” somewhere outside of school and then be brought into the school for teachers and administrators to execute. That is linear innovation and linear innovation should not be the goal of schools and school districts. Innovation should not be separated from schools and the district.

Group Genius author Keith Sawyer puts is this way..

“If innovation is linear, the idea stage can be separated out and placed in a more creative unit of the organization, and the execution can still take place in a more traditional bureaucratic structure.”

Many of us have been conditioned to believe this is the way is should work in our schools. Let the experts come up with the ideas and then tell us what to do. But if we allow that mindset to continue then the schools or school districts never develop the capacity to bring their creativity, knowledge, and ideas to bear. Simply sitting back and waiting for other to think it up for us does nothing to develop innovation abilities.

Sawyer points out that,"... although separation can be good for short-term creativity, it interferes with long term innovation: An isolated “skunk works” usually has trouble communicating with the rest of the organization because innovation requires collaboration across the company.”

In other words, for the long-term benefit of the school or district, the best innovation is not linear, but lateral. We need to innovation and create together because everyone at the school or in the district is needed to collaborate on the new idea of innovation to effectively implement it and embed it. Collaborating laterally, across the team, the grade level, the department, the school, and the district.

Different cultures, different styles of communication, and different perspectives are natural barriers to those on the outside of the school or district. It makes it difficult to interface with the school or district, which are being asked to execute their innovations.

“The skunk works model places all its hope on one big flash of inspiration that must come from a select group of special people. But we’ve seen that even the most transformative new products and systems emerge from many small sparks of insight. Successful innovative companies keep these small sparks inspiring the next one.”

Lateral innovation occurs when teacher and administrators working next to each other day-in and day-out collaborate on these “small sparks” of insight and inspiration to produce innovation from within. These innovations are more likely to overcome the barriers that innovation from outside faces. Lateral innovation has more buy-in, is more contextual, and more focused.

If you want to make innovation a strength and capacity of your school or district, don’t look outside for linear innovation, but look inside for lateral innovation.