As part of the course Leading Innovative Schools, we were asked to practice human-centered design by completing a #YouMatter project, digging deeper into ourselves as school leaders. I began by mining my past and my path a bit, then logged my core principles, moved on to dream ideas, and then thought through some experiments I’d like to try.
I’m most interested in the mindset that this framework sets out. In looking at problems in a fast-paced world, I would often jump to solutions and dive right in. That may have served me in the short run, but I wonder now what impact that solutionitis played on my long-term goals. Stepping back into my school in an official leadership role, I am aware of some of the problems, but really from a narrow scope. I hope to use tools such at the Innovator’s Compass (innovatorscompass.org) to gain empathy and a wider view of the problem before we begin to brainstorm a wide variety of solutions and experiments.