Get out of your office
Monday, April 7, 2014 at 04:26AM Creative thinking in business begins with having empathy for your customers (whether they’re internal or external), and you can’t get that sitting behind a desk. Yes, we know it’s cozy in your office. Everything is reassuringly familiar; information comes from predictable sources; contradictory data are weeded out and ignored. Out in the world, it’s more chaotic. You have to deal with unexpected findings, with uncertainty, and with irrational people who say things you don’t want to hear. But that is where you find insights—and creative breakthroughs. Venturing forth in pursuit of learning, even without a hypothesis, can open you up to new information and help you discover nonobvious needs. Otherwise, you risk simply reconfirming ideas you’ve already had or waiting for others—your customers, your boss, or even your competitors—to tell you what to do. Tom and David Kelley "Reclaim Your Creative Confidence" Harvard Business Review, December 2012
OK, fellow tech directors, how often do you get our from behind your computer screens and purposely engage with teachers, principals, and students in their native habitat - the school itself? My goal is to visit each of our 16 sites at least once a month - more whenever possible*. I travel with clipboard in hand and ask any staff member who is not engaged with students "How's your technology working for you?" And I listen, I record, and I solve quite a few problems.
Mr. Kelley's quote resonated with me when he says that by going out and talking to the people we serve we hear things we may not want to hear. (Oh, the wireless network is not quite as robust as we thought?) But I would also add that sometimes things aren't as bad as we think they are. (Oh, you didn't actually have any problems after the system update ? I thought everybody crashed and burned.) But you don't know unless you go. Surveys, e-mails, and formal meetings just cannot take the place of short conversations in hallways, teacher lounges, the librarian's office, or bus pick up areas.
I would also agree that creative solutions to problems come from listening and emphasizing.
You'll find more answers in your school hallways than on Twitter.
* This winter in Minnesota was not very conducive to school visits. I may have slipped a little.
Reader Comments (2)
I am quite lucky to have the best IT Department around. Keith Fulmer (@kfulmer) is like a superhero always there just in the nick of time. I never worry about if something will work right of be set up for me or a guest.
Bryan Phillips, our District IT Director, helps to propel our school district forward. I am grateful for his leadership and vision.
Hi Nikki,
It's a beautiful thing when the tech and library personnel work well together. Kids and teacher are the real winners.
Doug