“Innovation is the calling card of the future.” – Anna Eshoo

Lately, PLP has been thinking a lot about innovation and what it looks like across organizations. Specifically: Innovation in education, and in particular, the regulation of the pace of change within an organization.

For example, buy-in: do you wait/work for buy-in as you try and integrate innovation throughout your organization or as Thom S. Rainer says, “You don’t need buy-in if you truly want to innovate because if you wait for it, you’ll never get it.” In some cases Rainer suggests asking permission rather than seeking buy-in. As it is easy to get permission.

A quick review of articles resulted in some quick tips for those trying to innovate in a culture of tradition. Treading lightly as you do not want to totally alienate everyone you are seeking to help.

Check out these ideas:

Move Past Ideas:
Creatives must actually create something. It is one thing to generate countless great ideas, but it is only the ones you act upon that count.

Follow Through Is Mission Critical:
Typically, innovative, big idea people do little follow-up on the vision. They sort of throw it out there and expect the team to catch the vision and self direct with the same passion. Follow-up with people and on the projects you are leading

Ideas need time to mature:
The first iteration of an idea is rarely the best one. Just like slow food cooked at home on a grill tastes better than frozen fast food in the microwave, so it is with ideas.

Growth:
Organizations who constantly innovate and introduce new things often experience high levels of growth. Want to grow? Want to increase momentum? Then as Seth Godin says, “Ship!” Have a *design thinking* mindset. Beta test multiple ideas. Try them out on smaller groups. But keep innovating. Keep shipping.

Collaborate:
You simply accomplish more with a team than you can alone, plus it is way more fun. Collective intelligence is hard to beat when you are innovating and pushing ideas around.

Design Is Important:
How things look and feel often are determining factors in whether visitors will return or not. Design tells visitors, “We were expecting you. Here is where you fit in.”

Use Technology:
Apps, bots, interactive websites and frequent touch points allow people to be impacted by your ideas and services in both one way and two way communication. Co-created content with lots of organic feedback is the fruit of using technology well when you innovate.

Artificial Intelligence:
We are all over the place with this one right now. Good? Bad? Indifferent? But one thing is for sure- if your role is innovation, AI is going to be at the forefront of your thinking. Example, by the end of the decade holograms will be a huge part of how we do more with less.

Big Data:
Statistics tell us about trends. They also tell us about people. Every number has a name. Every name has a story. Innovators know how to leverage data to suggest solutions that not only align with mission and vision, but help people through innovative ways not done before.

Digital Giving:
Online stores are important. Selling your services through marketing is important. But having ways to encourage *digital giving* will create a residual stream of revenue to support innovations as you develop them. Think year-round angel funding.

I’d love to hear from you in the replies. What is your take on innovation and the pace of change? Let’s innovate.

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Sheryl is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Powerful Learning Practice. She works with schools and districts from around the world helping them to infuse technology into their curriculums and by leading other digital conversion efforts. Sheryl also consults with governments, educational organizations and non-profits in development of their various professional learning initiatives. Sheryl is a sought-after presenter at national and international events, speaking on topics related to digital and online learning, teacher and educational leadership, online community building, and other educational issues impacting children of poverty. Sheryl served on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Board of Directors for six years. She co-authored The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age with Lani Ritter Hall. Sheryl has four children and four grandsons, Luke, Logan, Levi and Tanner and a trio of dachshunds. You can find out more on her blog and on Twitter @snbeach.

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