George Couros’s book is immensely read-able…his writer’s voice is intensely genuine and although there are big ideas that he presents, the reader never feels overwhelmed with jargon.  So in a nutshell, George does quick recap of the first two parts of the book:

Innovation is creating something better…the key to doing that is developing relationships. 

That’s tweet-able!  Do you and I have the power to unleash the talent in our building? Do we have the power to leverage that talent to bring our vision into being?  Part III promises to kick start these ideas.

Truthfully, Part III starts to feel a bit out of my realm as I think my leadership is best described as a quiet coaching.  I explore and I model. and I’m not sure that I possess the scope of influence needed unless I have my community with me. That’s not to say that I haven’t enabled innovation.  What I’d really like to get good at though is to enable people to be leaders!

a) What opportunities do you have for informal learning, exploration and play in your work?  Do you provide any of these opportunities?

b) Are there ways that you or your leadership team could “lessen the plate” of your staff and organization to allow for more innovation?

c)  On pg. 185 we are presented with the 8 Things to look for in Today’s classroom…and then to see if you have these same 8 things as a professional in your own learning.  Do you see some of these in your own professional learning?  What elements are lacking?

Derrick Schellenberg and I had a great conversations about structuring time with students (and colleagues) for unstructured exploration. We both had concerns that we need to find new strategies for measuring rigour, accountability, and sharing with peers (and even beyond the classroom.  How have you managed to rejig your strategies to make room for unstructured time?