The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

A few years back, I was invited to participate in a meeting with leaders from the US Department of Education. Others in attendance at the meeting included university presidents, representatives from the teacher unions and a handful of others. All told, there was about 20 people in the room.

The objective of the meeting was to identify ways to “radically innovate” the K through 12 education system in the US. Talk about an ambitious goal. The metric that the organizers were using as “proof” (or incentive .. Or rational) that there was a crisis was where the US students came out on the rankings of the standardized test scores when compared against students from other countries.

A quick side note — since 1965 when the first of such tests where administered, the US has never ranked higher than in the middle of the pack. When compared to GDP growth, the tests are not predictive of the future.

When I was asked about my view on the issue, I shared that I’m not an expert in education or curriculum development. I view myself as a “purchaser” of the output from the education system. I hire scientists, engineers, strategists, technicians — a highly skilled workforce to do the work we do.

I then told the attendees in the meeting that as a purchaser, I didn’t want what the education system was producing. I need an organization staffed by highly innovative individuals who will have the skills to solve problems we don’t even know exit using technologies that haven’t been invented yet.

From my perspective, the focus on “test scores” results is a system that generates the worlds greatest test takers — where success is defined by memorization of facts and formulas. Graduates that memorize yesterdays’ answers using yesterdays technologies will not be the workforce for tomorrow’s innovation economy.

Leadership In Transforming The Education System

Let me pause here for a second. While I’m talking about the US and my work with the government here, the same can be said in most countries around the world so don’t stick your head in the sand thinking this is just a US issue.

I don’t want to sound like I’m blaming educators. The ultimate responsibility falls on us parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for the education and training of our next generation.

So what skills should we ensure our kids have to be competitive in future innovation economy?

In a recent study of US and China parents, we can gain some insight in the priorities they have for their kids. What I found most interesting in the survey was the distinct difference between the two groups of parents. More than half of the US parents identified “Math and Computer Sciences” as the number one skill their kids need to succeed in the future innovation economy – while #1 skill China parents ranked was “Creative Approaches to Problem Solving”.

3 Critical Skills for Innovation

So what do I think are the skills needed for future success in the innovation economy?

* Critical Thinking: Our kids need to be taught how to think rather than how to memorize. Its not about finding the one right answer for a test but instead the ability to search out a range of the possible solutions to a challenge or opportunity and then learning how to prototype possible answers.

It might happen while you’re taking your morning shower, or maybe you’re in the middle of your morning commute when a flash of creativity strikes: a great idea for a mobile app, a way to hack your Ikea bookshelf to solve a pressing storage problem or a brand new business idea. Why does it seem like our best ideas come when we are doing absolutely nothing?

Studies show connection between boredom and creativity

The idea that “bordem” is somehow a catalyst for creativity is not as crazy as it sounds.

Researchers at Penn State University asked subjects to watch a video and then attempt two creative tasks. Those who watched a boring video performed better on a creativity test involving word association than those who watched videos evoking happy, relaxing, or stressful emotions.

Which argues against running that motivational video just prior to a brainstorming session.

As one study doesn’t prove a theory, a second study at the University of Central Lancashire provided more evidence for the phenomenon of boredom driven creativity by asking one group of participants to copy numbers out of a phone book, while a control group did their normal tasks. Then each member of the study was asked to come up with as many ways as possible to utilize two plastic cups. The group forced to do the menial, boring task of copying phone numbers outperformed the control group in creativity.

And when the researchers changed the task to passively reading out of the phone book (“the rough equivalent of hearing someone drone on in a monotome voice at a meeting”), the subjects were even more creative than the ones who performed the active task of copying numbers.

What is it about boredom that leads to creativity? Why is it that our best ideas come to us when we are in the middle of cleaning the bathroom or mowing the yard?

One theory is that boredom is motivating. When you’re bored, it reminds you of your desires to do something more, or something different, or better than what you are currently doing. In other words, boredom can help motivate you to change your life and pursue activities that are more stimulating.

And beyond that, boredom encourages daydreaming. When you let your mind wander, it can lead to interesting connections between seemingly disparate ideas, or novel solutions to problems that you wouldn’t have thought of if you were constantly engaged in activities that held your full attention.

Take advantage of boredom

The connection between boredom and creativity is borne out in the real world. In 1905, a then-unknown Albert Einstein wrote his four groundbreaking papers on the theory of relativity, the photoelectric effect, the mass-equivalence relation now known as the famous e = mc2, and the Brownian motion of particles. Einstein’s ideas, which now form the basis of modern technology and scientific understanding, were enormous creative leaps in thinking so advanced that other scientists initially thought they were completely ridiculous. And he came up with all of them while working a boring, menial job at the patent office.

Many writers and artists swear by the practice of cutting themselves off from all opportunities to entertain or distract themselves – they disconnect from the internet, lock themselves in a room with completely blank walls, or force themselves to perform dull, repetitive tasks in order to call forth their c...

In a recent discussion among patent attorneys and engineers, the question was asked about the requirement of originality before something can be issued a patent. Younger engineers tend to have the belief that only truly original ideas can be patented. That is not the case. In fact, when you file a patent application, you have to present the “prior art” — work that came before your patent on which your idea is based. Is anything truly original

If we are honest with ourselves, we can trace back any idea we come up with  to something that inspired us. Look around and there are numerous examples — such as music sampling. Is a song that uses samples an original piece of music?

When I started podcasting +9 years ago, I was early in the space but not the first. I was inspired by others such as Adam Curry (who mentioned my podcast on his show and put it on the map). My inspiration for producing the podcast didn’t stop there. I can trace my inspiration back to 1981 and Earl Nightingale who produced a monthly cassette tape for his listeners of which I was rapid follower. We are all inspired by something or someone.

Listen to this week show, Is Anything Truly Original?

Is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) the answer to preparing our kids to be the innovators of the future? That’s the question I was recently asked during the Q&A session at the end of a speech. Based on what other attendees said, I got myself wound up about the question and my belief on what is really needed.

In a nutshell, while STEM is a great start, its not sufficient to win in the emerging creative / innovation economy.

Whats missing?

* Critical thinking skills

* Discovering personal creativity

* Learn that failure builds self-confidence

Listen to this weeks shows – “Is STEM enough to win in the innovation economy?”

http://media.libsyn.com/media/philmckinney/Is_STEM_enough_to_make_innovators.mp3

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During a recent meeting where team members provide updates on their innovation projects, one of the project leads pushed back when I challenged the team to “go faster”.  All the person said was: Law #4.

The person was quoting from a blog post called the 7 Laws of Innovation.  Law #4 is the Law of Patience.  In this case, the project lead was on the mark by pushing back on me.  I had gotten so excited about the project that I had lost my patience.

When we loose our patience, we exhibit worry and anger.  If we are the boss, we have a tendency to want to jump in to the project and start micromanaging.

So what should you do when you feel you patience is waning on a project?

* Take a deep breath:  Step back from the project.  Go spend a few days helping someone else with their project.  Then come back with fresh eyes.

* Re-read the Law of Patience:  Since I got that gentle rebuke from a project lead, I’ve gone back and refreshed my memory with the 7 Laws.  Each one of us needs to be reminded from time to time.

* Find a coach/mentor:  Find someone who you can check your concerns with.  You might be valid in your concern – but then again, you could be inpatient.

* Get Perspective: Take a vacation.  Get away from it all and don’t think about work.  You don’t want to the turn into “that person”.

Innovation takes longer than you expect.  Get used to it.