Webinar offers instruction on fighting the status quo

Part of the Creative Campus Initiative’s mission is nurturing innovative thinkers who turn ideas into action, but few people may be aware of the process involved.

Fortunately, the organization’s involvement with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) afforded it access to a Webinar on the topic. Creative Campus was among 120 groups worldwide who tuned in on January 16 to hear David Horth speak on “The Politics of Innovation: What it Really Takes to Move an Idea into Action.”

A Senior Enterprise Associate at the CCL and President of the board of trustees of the Creative Education Foundation, Horth is considered worldwide to be a subject matter expert on organizational creativity. He also has been involved with the creation of programs that develop creative leadership skills.

Part of the CCL’s “Leading Effectively” series, the Webinar was geared toward middle managers, managers of innovation, and individual innovators interested in learning how to accelerate ideas through “the system.”

Topics covered included how to set up an idea for successful navigation through an organization, critical roles played by the innovator and others in the organization, and the political obstacles that need to be addressed both in navigating through the organization and in influencing the organization to sustain the new idea.

Scott Bridges, director of Creative Campus, said that obstacles arise because innovation is a style of “rocking the boat.” He cited an example Horth discussed of a 12th-century architect who wanted to transform the Canterbury Cathedral from the traditional Norman architecture to the then-new Gothic style.

“He had to convince people it was a good idea,” Bridges said. “What he was doing was fighting the status quo.”

Horth pointed out that ideas can come from anywhere in an organization, and that most frequently, they come from low in a company’s ranks. Bridges said that regardless of one’s position, it takes creative leadership to champion new ideas and move them into action.

“You can be the third-ranking person on a committee and still have important leadership opportunities,” Bridges said. “Creative leaders are the people who implement ideas that change the world.”

Martineau

Baltes

Creative Campus also hosted a webinar on February 13 entitled "Evaluating the Impact of Leadership Development." Jennifer Martineau, director CCL's Design & Evaluation Center, and CCL research associate Jessica Innis Baltes led the session, which provided basic education about evaluation techniques; examples of evaluation design processes and tools; a flexible framework that can be adapted to any evaluation project; and practical advice ranging from developing questions to disseminating findings.

According to CCL's Web site, evaluation is essential to "keep leadership development initiatives on track and contribute to organizational learning so that organizations remain responsive and resilient."