I want to be a “dancing guy.”  He embodies ideas that come from instinct and experience.

 He is a true student of life!  He sees and listens to the world around him with the eyes and ears of a child:  There are no reservations or conflicts or distractions in his listening and dancing to the music. His response to the world is seemingly pure.

As the narrator of this video explains, he is not a follower but a facilitator. He is not a dictator pressuring everyone else to follow him; he leads by example. He is an innovator because he behaves uniquely from the others in the crowd. As the early adopter begins to dance with the dancing guy, he sees the benefit of the innovative dance. Most assuredly the early adopter has been on the lookout for a new experience to try.  This dance stood the trial of innovative success: it had a relative advantage to standing and doing nothing in the crowd, it was compatible with existing values and practices in the audience, it was simple and easy to do, it was possible to try for a short time, and it had observable results:  the enjoyment of the music and the comraderie of the resulting throng of dancers joining them. (Robinson, Lee. http://www.enablingchange.com.au/htctw.html)

We start with giving ourselves to think independently. We learn from others who have taken an idea for the greater good of a person or group and developed ways to contribute with this idea. The dancing guy contributed great joy and engagement to the crowd of concertgoers. He first gave himself permission to think and act independently.

The process does not stop at the beginning.  As Robinson wisely shares, an innovative idea or practice must be compatible with existing values and practices.  It also must have an advantage over the status quo.  The concertgoers obviously believed it was advantageous to join the dancing throng instead of staying in their previous places.  It was an advantage to change positions.

Innovations don’t always work for the greater good of all. Supersonic airplanes and paperless offices have not been widely accepted and used. Genetically modifed food and artificial intelligience have shown such negative and substantial risks that they are criticized widely and banned.

Do you have an innovative idea you would like to try to develop?  Please try!! It was Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Nikola Tesla who changed our lives for the better.

Robinson emphasizes the importance of peer-peer conversations and peer networks.  That is exactly what a blog can provide.  The adoption and development of new ideas requires” the management of risk and uncertainty.” (Robinson, 2013)

I have an idea.  I would like to expand the WIOA mandate of community colleges being a part of one-stop centers for workplace skill development to include translated documents for the services provided, and a website for ELA teachers to access simple tips on how to help their students linguistically and culturally, based upon their first languages.  I believe all students who are registered in public schools should have dictionaries in their home language as well as in English.  I believe all public schools should offer instruction in many second languages to prepare our youth and next generations to live globally.    I believe in dual language schools.  There are very few in Illinois!!  I support this effort.

 

Now what do I do? 

I seek information on the relative advantages of dual language schools.

I determine if there is compatibility with existing values and practices.

I determine the trialability of the idea of dual language schools where they don’t exist now.

I must determine a form of assessment in my inquiry that is observable and quantifiable.

I must seek potential persons who agree with my philosophy. (early adopters)

I must communicate with my peers and network with professionals.

I must understand the needs of all the potential families involved.

I must search for the percentage of those who have already tried dual language schools and learn from their experiences.

The future is bright with opportunity……