When I saw the title for this position, it set me to
wondering. Perhaps the Mid-Pacific
Institute felt the need or the desire to have such a person on their senior
staff and I am confident they gave it much thought before establishing the
job. Kudos to them!
However, in this era of specialization and
sub-specialization, is it really necessary or is it one more layer of
bureaucracy that might separate those charged with implementation from those
who design the plan? That is one
question. I have several others.
Innovation seems to be the latest buzz word in circles that
pride themselves on the latest and greatest move designed to solve a problem or
fill a gap. In fact, a recent
article suggests that one reason schools cannot move forward and are stuck
where they are is because there is a flaw in leadership that cannot provide
what is needed. http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gt-chief-innovation-officers-schools.html
The job of the innovation officer in one case is “to provide
visionary leadership and support school leaders as they help students learn how
to collaborate, communicate, think critically and solve problems.” And all this time I thought that was
the job of every classroom teacher and why schools exist in the first place.
One organization called Mind Matters offers a white paper
entitled “Five Ways to Make your Organization More Innovative by the End of the
Day.” That’s intriguing but not
enough for me to order the paper.
The state of Maryland has hired a chief innovation officer to challenge
the entrenched status quo (I like that challenge) and to make government more
efficient and effective. Good luck
with that!
If you are considering a chief innovation officer, here are
10 questions which should help you decide if you need one beyond setting
yourself apart from other organizations just like you. I guess that a school with a chief
innovation officer can point to their progress as a compelling reason why
students should attend there. Or
should the CEO also be a CIO?
Here are the ten questions, along with a few answers that
you might consider: http://www.worth.com/index.php/component/content/article/2-make/5379-10-questions-for-your-chief-innovation-officer
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