Am I Innovative?

I am an indecisive person. I think people have called it thoughtful before, when what they really wanted me to do was take action. So I wouldn’t necessarily think of myself as an innovator. I think I might lack some confidence in my own opinion, which leads me to waffle and ask other people what to do. And in some cases, it’s hard for me to see how things could be improved upon. Other times, I have the ideas, but not the power.

If I had to classify myself as any of the learning personas, I see myself mostly as an anthropologist and caregiver. I am very curious about other people: what they do, how they feel, what fuels their decisions and actions. I really do just like to sit around and watch people around me and try to figure them out. My interest in other people also means that I’m motivated by what I can do for others. And that I was most interested in innovations from the Fast Company article that dealt with providing a better service to customers, or creating more sustainable business practices.

But even in my own role to provide for my “customers,” I can’t say that I always succeed. Just today my coworker and I were discussing a family literacy grant for ELLs we participate in with a local school and adult education organization. The program starts out with high attendance from families excited by the idea of learning more English and helping their children do well in school. But the time commitment becomes burdensome and when winter hits (especially a winter like this one), leaving the house again after getting home from work seems like too much work. I think the program would be much more successful if it was shorter and met less often. Individuals would learn less English, and less about literacy and the library, but more people would gain those skills, and probably more of those families would be interested in participating for a second year. But then, it isn’t really my decision to make. We are all governed by the statutes of the grant that we receive.

I bring up this story because I do think that I could be innovative at work, and perhaps there are other examples that I’m just not thinking of right now. I agree with the idea from “A Culture of Learning” that there are some boundaries that help us to know just how to be creative and innovate. But I think “The Ten Faces of Innovation” also showed us that sometimes, you achieve more when you stick to your convictions, even if no one else believes in your idea. As I think more about my grant, I wonder, could we find ways to involve even more community building in the grant? Perhaps if we are bound by meeting 2 days a week, for 2 ½ hours a day, we can consider what people need, like a potluck dinner during the program and more individualized help with homework for the children and for the parents struggling to communicate in their community. This isn’t an example of a situation I’ve innovated quite yet. But I am encouraged by the success stories we read this week. And hopefully that will provide enough inspiration to make my service to the community better.