Replying to LO25909 --
Dear Cheryl,
As an educator, I share your interest in change and innovation. Failure
teaches as much as, probably more, than success, yet schools are places
where most faculty, staff, and administrators are loathe to take risks and
the system is equally loathe to encourage the kinds of behavior -- e.g.,
innovation -- that have an element of risk.
A few years ago, Lew Platt, a top executive of Hewlett Packard, was
invited to speak to our faculty. What I remember vividly from his talk was
the following anecdote. A number of years ago, he was in charge of the
Research & Development unit in England. Over a period of time he noticed
that the failure rate of their projects was decreasing to something below
60% and this, to him, signaled a serious problem. Now, we in the audience
were puzzled. How could a drop in the failure rate be a problem? As Lew
Platt explained, the purpose of an R & D group is to push the envelope, to
try things that defy presupposed limits. If their failure rate is
decreasing, then they are not taking enough chances. As he saw it, his
job was to encourage risk-taking, not discourage it.
I have never forgotten that story and I have found lots of opportunities,
some large and some small, to encourage faculty, staff, and students to
push the limits. But the important thing to remember is that if I am going
to exhort my colleagues to take risks, I have to be there to support them
just like Lew Platt was there to support the R & D group. And that
presupposes an educational organization that likewise supports me. All of
us have to be prepared for failure and see it for the learning opportunity
it is. Not so easily done in a professional bureaucracy!
That's a bit off to the side of the questions you raised, but I thought
I'd share it.
Harriett.
Harriett J. Robles
hjrobles@aol.com
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