Innovation and Comfort Zones--Insight, Common Sense, Common Practice

Innovation is challenging for many reasons.  Amazingly enough, even though many people claim to want innovation, habits, comfort zones, and common practice all form an effective barrier to innovation.

Common practice is different from common sense (which may not be as common as the words indicate).  Common practice has people use elevators to get to the upper floors in high-rise buildings and to come back down.  In the event of an emergency (fire, explosion, etc.), the instructions are to use the stairs.  Common practice and habits often have the people waiting for the elevators as usual, even in emergencies.

Common sense may tell us not to use cell phones or text messaging while driving, especially in school zones and construction zones.  Common practice has us communicating all the time, often opposing common sense.

Innovation, at least in my experience, is frequently connected with insight.  As I approach a challenge--learning design, for example, insight lets me see into the process and to identify a different way of working that generates better results.  (See the Integrative Learning Design Jump-Start Workbook for an example.)  The Meta-Models I have created and posted on one of my websites all represent insight and innovation.

Getting others to accept these innovations and to work with them is a separate challenge.  When I began this blog, my intention was to begin to publish my work.  I felt that having the discipline to do a daily blog might give me a head start toward publishing.

I hope to publish this blog in book form soon.  If I wait for a year of entries, that might be too many pages in the book.  I'll have to think about that more to see what I have and what I need.

Common Sense vs. Common Practice (Revisited)

Common sense seems hard to come by.  Common practice, on the other hand, we live with every day.  The Democratic and Republican parties seem to be polarizing their views on public issues rather than to use common sense and honor the public trust they hold as elected officials. 

I received a call today from someone claiming to represent the Republican Party.  She asked if I thought of myself as a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent.  Regardless of what party affiliation I may claim for an election, I usually think for myself and vote for the person or issue I feel is the best.  That makes me an Independent in terms of responding to the call.  As soon as the word came out of my mouth, the caller hung up.  (Not a bad thing, anyway.  I'll have to remember that trick for the future.)

Group think is a concept that began being used in the 1960s and 1970s.  Media coverage can help polarize ideas and encourage group think.  Another factor that seems to influence the process is bias towards or against the person or party promoting an idea, rather than using a filter of common sense to look at the idea itself.

What have you done lately?--Common Practice vs. Common Sense

“What have you done lately?” --a question asked of me on Wednesday, August 12th. 2009.

Lately I've done what I have been doing throughout my 40+ year career, helping people and organizations learn to change to improve their quality of (business) life now and for the future.  I incorporate research-based best practices, years of wisdom and experience with more than 100 organizations and thousands of individuals around the world, what I have learned over the years--including earning a doctorate and two masters degrees--and applying all of that in practical, step-by-step approaches that can be learned by children and adults.

A better question could be--who have you done this for lately?  In the summer of 2009, my answer would be based on the different roles I have played. 

As an educator--Since 9-11-2001, I have been working with English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 school systems in Illinois, helping them learn both academic skills and how to work and learn using English.  In that time I have developed innovative techniques in helping students and adults to learn to read better by using audiobooks.

As a consultant--I have begun working on a project to do community needs analyses for chambers of commerce dealing with the workplace learning needs for their members.  The process involves developing a survey, sharing it with the membership, and analyzing the results--offering the results to local school systems who can help fill the learning gaps identified in the surveys.  The Chambers of Commerce take the credit for the survey with their members.  The outcomes help build community resources and economic development.

As a researcher and author--I have recently published 13 research-based working papers in the Education Research Information Clearinghouse (ERIC) focused on various intervention strategies to improve learning for English language learners.

As a reflective practitioner--I have engaged in the process of reflecting on what I do so that I can reach more people who need to learn how to change and have been implementing a variety of communication vehicles on the Internet that will allow more people to work with what I offer to help the people and organizations they work with.

(By the way, to see what I'm doing currently, visit my Projects Wiki space using the link above. I have a well-started pilot project and may need more participants, if you are interested.)