It’s been obnoxiously windy in North Texas these past few days. I’m talking hair destroying, car veering, door slamming windy. My husband and I actually talked about how frustrating the wind was – pushing us in directions we didn’t want to go, picking up dust and detritus and moving it where it doesn’t belong, and causing general discontent.
The Original Plan
My original Innovation Project plan was very thorough. You can read more about it here, but I’ll give you the gist. I planned to focus on training administrative assistants. I saw them as an area of nonconsumption. My plan was detailed and forthright. Dr. H’s response to my plan wasn’t as congratulatory as I had hoped, so I scheduled a meeting with him to talk about where my plan could use a little bit of tweaking.
Caught in a Whirlwind
When I met with Dr. H, I was excited to hear his thoughts. I waited to get “feedback” on how I could pinch here and tuck there. But pinch and tuck he did not. Dr. H came to the meeting like the gust of cool air rushing Texas from Canada, creating the high winds we are experiencing. He asked me questions I didn’t know the answer to. He pushed me to think “Bigger Picture.” He called me out as someone who is, “Idealistic and wants to change the world.” I felt seen, but also confused. My plan with administrative assistants is okay, but not big enough picture. What is the purpose? What is my long-term goal? I know I didn’t answer these questions well because frankly, I wasn’t sure.
🤷♀️
Dr. H suggested I would e•mail him this weekend with a better idea – one that had a large enough scope.
Looking to the Horizon
I spent a lot of time this weekend worrying: Worrying about my plan, waiting for an idea to just “pop” into my brain like Dr. Harapnuik suggested it might.
I spent the bulk of my Friday afternoon reading the Horizon Report and taking copious notes. First, I read about how the Horizon Report is fallible to the point that it is kind of dismissed. Then, I learned about the implications of current technology use in higher education. Finally, the sections I enjoyed the most presented “fuzzy” futuristic possibilities about the direction of higher ed: One toward Growth, one toward Constraint, one toward Collapse, and one toward Transformation. In these current trends and futuristic potential outcomes, I saw some big picture opportunities:
- Personalized degree paths
- Learner agency
- An aging population with low fertility
- A much more diverse group of learners
- Climate change
- Assistive technology
- Security
This list seems endless. Better yet, it gave me a much better idea of what Dr. H is looking for in my innovation proposal.
When I set goals, I think of a general idea I’m working toward. For example, my husband and I just purchased a small chunk of land in Missouri. We plan to spend the next 3 years building a second home. When we retire, we’ll move there full time. We will take everything we put into our paid-off home and move to Missouri. My Master’s Degree is a part of that plan as well. I could be a remote professor, a consultant, or work for a tech company like Canvas or Google remotely. Obviously, my general idea is to work remotely once I’m retired from education. When I look ahead to a general plan, the choices I make right now all point in that direction.
The same holds for my innovation proposal.
A Change in Focus
The windy weather died down Sunday. I didn’t feel so irritated, inhibited, and rushed. I felt calm, and I could tell that I trusted myself a lot more than I did earlier in the weekend.
Like my plan for my future, my plan for my innovation proposal needs a long-term, big-picture focus to drive it. I’m backing up a little, and have toyed with either the “Paper-light District,” or “Security,” as my plan. And I did in fact e•mail Dr. H, much to my surprise! While the deadline is coming quickly, I also try to remember that this is our first draft. We will change the details many times before our Master’s Program is over. At the same time, there will be other opportunities in which I feel uncomfortably stretched to understand a future that even the experts can’t easily predict.
But for now, I’m going to enjoy the cool fall breeze.
Brown, M., McCormack, M., Reeves, J., Brooks, D. C., & Grajek, S. (2020). Teaching and Learning Edition. 2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report. https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2020/3/2020_horizon_report_pdf.pdf?la=en&hash=08A92C17998E8113BCB15DCA7BA1F467F303BA80
Harapnuik, D. (n.d.). Change in Focus. It’s About Learning, CSLE. Retrieved 10 31, 2021, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7495