Innovation Saves

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"It won't happen to us."

"We do what we do well; we're fine."

"Yeah, we looked into that and it was going to take a lot of time and difficulty."

"We are the best. We have been doing what we do for a long time. We're top of the heap."

Kodak thought all of these things too. Now, they have squandered all of their innovative opportunities of the last 10 or so years and they've filed for bankruptcy.  They noticed all the disruptors all around them, and they kept on keeping on.

"But, we are a school. We're not like Kodak!" I know it makes you feel better to think that but schools are not immune.  Churches are not immune. Hospitals are not immune. Not-for-profits are not immune.  Just because your organization serves a noble purpose, a mission, does not mean that sustainability and relevance are not essential. They are essential because your customer has a choice.

Innovation is what would have saved Kodak. A disciplined, bold approach. Kodak needed to ask new question and reach beyond its current competence and comfort zone.

Are you asking new questions? Are you stretching beyond what is what you always do?  Is your division? Is your whole school?

Danger is everywhere. It's called disruption and if you don't get ahead of it, it will get the better of you and you will become a relic of the past, comfortable and ancillary, like Kodak.