Worth a Listen, Look or Read #5 — Constraints Are the Innovators Best Friend

Growing new teachers, creating new learning stations, and understanding how a small piece of wood helped win World War II

Jeff Ikler here for Kirsten Richert with our weekly “Getting Unstuck” mini feature: “Worth a Listen, Look or Read.” Here in about five minutes, we extend the main idea of the week through a new way of thinking, unique content, or critical skills to help leaders at any level get unstuck.

The idea

This week we spoke with George Couros, an educator, podcaster, consultant and author who is known for his focus on purposeful innovation: innovation that doesn’t just change something, but makes it better; innovation that can measurably improve teaching and learning. https://bit.ly/3xzNKKE

But innovating in education can be challenging. As George writes in his book, Innovate Inside the Box,

“One of the top concerns I hear from educators around the globe about actually implementing their innovative ideas concerns “the system” within which they work. Red tape, limitations, a constant lack of funds, and frustrating lack of support for all students are commonalities felt by educators the world over. But the system, with its rules and limitations, is never a reason not to innovate.”

One of the principles of innovation science is that the solution is contained in the problem. That idea is part of the “closed world” concept of innovation. We can choose to look at a problem and all the constraints that surround it, and be frustrated and paralyzed, or we can work with what we have in front of us to find a solution. Let’s look at a couple of educators who did just that.

Extending the idea

Assistant Principal Jamahl Hines, who we profiled a few weeks ago, demonstrated the idea of innovating within constraints when he started Future Educators of Diversity (FEOD). Instead of bemoaning the fact that there is a dearth of qualified teachers of color, Jamahl partnered with area colleges and universities to start a program in his high school that would “grow their own” future teachers. FEOD exposes high school students to the teaching profession before they go to college and paves the way for them to get into a local college or university. if they graduate with a teaching degree, they are guaranteed an interview in their home district. The program is now going national.

A second example comes from middle school principal Evan Robb who tells the following story of innovative thinking on the part of his media specialist:

“My school media specialist has worked for several years to innovate our once traditional library into a space that represents the innovation our school is trying to achieve. Money is always tight, so we began a journey of seeking companies and parents who wanted to be a part of our new space and were willing to donate money or items. A fun example is our booths. Traditional library furniture can be expensive so my media specialist found a company that makes retro diner furniture. The kids love it! Also, we wanted to bring exercise bikes into our media center to allow students to read and ride!. We reached out to parents to get donations and the area was born!”

Why are constraints helpful? As the authors of a November 2019 Harvard Business Review article wrote:

“Constraints . . . provide focus and a creative challenge that motivates people to search for and connect information from different sources to generate novel ideas for new products, services, or business processes.”

And finally, I recently came across a beautiful historical example of the power of “innovating inside the box.” During World War II, the U.S. Navy ran into a serious problem with the Corsair, a single engine fighter plane. Specifications called for the Corsair to have enormous range, be able to reach high altitudes, fly faster than any fighter plane of the day, and fly slow enough to land on aircraft carriers. The specs translated into a plane with an enormous engine driven by what was then the largest propeller for any fighter.

Uh-oh….This flipping happened so often that the plane was nicknamed the “Ensign Eliminator.”

A deadly problem showed up when the plane was attempting to land at very slow speeds. All propellers push air over the wings. It’s what powers lift and keeps the plane in the air. But the Corsair’s massive propeller caused an uneven flow of air over the wings. When the plane slowed, the left wing began to lose lift, and caused the plane to stall and bank to the left. If pilots tried to counteract the loss of lift by increasing power, the plane started to flip on its back with deadly consequences as you see in the image at the right.

So, how did engineers seek to solve the problem? Redesigning the plane was out of the question. The engine, wings, and propeller had all been carefully designed to meet the Navy’s strict requirements for the plane’s range, altitude and speed. And there was no time or budget for a major redesign. The Navy needed a workable solution now because the country was at war now.

The solution the engineers came up with worked within those constraints and is a great example of innovating within the “closed world.” If the problem was loss of lift on the left wing, engineers figured they could correct the problem by causing a simultaneous loss of lift on the right wing. So, they installed a 3” high by 6” wide triangular-shaped strip of wood on the right wing which reduced the wing’s lift capabilities just enough to keep the plane level for landing. The engineers had used part of the problem – loss of life on one wing – to became part of the solution. The plane went on to become one of the best naval fighters of World War II.

As the authors of the HBR article concluded:

“The next time you struggle with innovation, take a look at your constraints structure. Instead of blaming them, frame them as creative challenges. Rather than providing ample resources and freedom to your innovation teams, try doing the opposite: cutting your budget, imposing a tighter deadline, or setting more challenging performance criteria.”

Putting the idea to work

• Where are you struggling with a problem that cries out for an innovative solution?

• What are the constraints associated with the problem?

• How might you work within the world of the problem to create an improved situation?