5 Characteristics of an Innovative Organization
by George Couros • • 0 Comments
As the year has wrapped up for most North American schools, I look back at my year and realize how blessed I am to not only be able to travel the world and share my experience with others, but also the opportunity to still work with Parkland School Division on a part-time basis. I think that this allows me to still “do the work” in schools while also having the ability to share it with others as well. The balance that this has created to both see other organizations and share my work, and vice-versa, has been immeasurable for my learning.
From what I have learned about Parkland School Division, I believe it is a world-class organization, that is not just talking about newer opportunities for learning for our students, but is creating powerful learning environments for our entire community. We still teach the curriculum and we still have to “follow the rules”, but we try to be innovative within the parameters that are provided. The content that we have to teach is often decided for us, but the way that we teach, and more importantly our students learn, is where the magic truly happens.
So how did this happen? Well to be honest, we still have a lot of work to do, but that will always be the case. We are a “learning organization” which, by the nature of the term alone, means that we are focused on continuous growth as a district. It is not only that we have leaders that model themselves as learners, but it is done as at the organizational level as a whole. This growth as a group has led to the development of individuals.
Looking back, here are five things that have really stuck out to me this year and have helped us to grow.
1. Promotion and modelling of risk-taking.The term “risk-taking” is one of those “buzzwords” that drives many people crazy. An “innovative environment” will always promote this, but it does not mean that it is happening. It is only when the leaders of organization model the risk-taking that they talk about, does it happen en masse in schools. I have watched our superintendent Tim Monds, try many different things in his own learning that have been displayed openly to others in Parkland School Division. It started with things such as using Twitter, more focus on cloud tools such as Evernote and Google Apps for Education, and more recently, sharing his monthly message through YouTube videos. His understanding and willingness to try different ways of learn and sharing has trickled