1. Innovation networks EMB, Hong Kong, 14 September 2005 Professor David Hargreaves

2. Dynamic governments remain porous. Renewal rarely comes from within. One of the optical illusions of government is that those inside of it think of themselves as the drivers of change… Yet most far-reaching ideas and changes come from outside… Governments are more often vehicles than initiators. They play a role in embedding these changes but typically they get involved only at a late stage… The smarter governments around the world realise that they need to build innovation into their everyday working: through experimental zones and pilots, competitive funds and rewards for promising ideas. And new ideas need time to evolve - preferably away from the spotlight… Most radical change has to start outside government, usually from the bottom rather than the top. Geoff Mulgan, May 2005 The challenge and the opportunity

3. The three tasks of innovation networks 1. Knowledge creation 2. Knowledge capture 3. Knowledge transfer

4. The future is already here: it is just not distributed very well. William Gibson …but it’s a half truth …so the need for innovation

5. What is innovation? Doing things differently in order to do them better And what is the most effective way of engaging in innovation? Here are five ways

6. Teacher’s energy input low high low high Impact on students 1. Invest in high leverage for teachers!

7. Productivity Innovation Controlled focus 1000 flowers Disciplined innovation for enhanced performance

8. Activity 1 Are your current teaching practices designed for high leverage? Do you think it desirable to create more high leverage practices? If so, how should this be done?

9. 2. Clarify your types of innovation! front-line or transferred i ncremental or radical

10. Incremental versus radical Close to existing practice Far from existing practice Minor change Major change Incremental change Radical change

11. Radical Incremental Front-lineTransferred

12. Innovation from scratch - blue skies Innovation from known weakness - problem solving Innovation from good practice - leading edge Drivers of innovation …what’s driving you?

13. Activity 2 What types of innovation do we most need, and why? What are the drivers of innovation in our situation?

14. 3. Create an innovation network! A network… is a group of organisations working together to solve problems or issues that are too large for any one organisation to handle on its own. (Priscilla Wohlstetter, 2003)

15. What do networks do for you? Collaborate Share ideas, knowledge, experience Raise standards Innovate for the common good What conditions are needed?

16. Five critical conditions 1. New and appealing core practices 2. Entrepreneurial mediating innovators 3. Network infrastructure 5. A supportive, enabling environment 4. Networking culture

17. Network structures - nodes, links, hubs Centralised Decentralised Distributed

18. So networks take many forms centralised etc hard - soft tight - loose strong - weak open - closed near - far

19. The trajectory of network development Clarity of outcome Clarity of process Low High

20.  What is the added value for teachers?  What is the added value for students?  What are the transaction costs?  What are the opportunity costs?  Is there a danger of network overload? Benefits and costs of networks

21. Activity 3 What kinds of network do we have now? Can they be developed into effective innovation networks? Are you confident that the benefits will be greater than the costs?

22. The go-it alone approach 4. Distribute the innovation sequenced (X1  X2  X3…) The modular approach spliced (minor transfers only) segmented (X divided into X1+X2+X3…) synergistic (X,Y,Z modify to create N)

23. Activity 4 Which kinds of distributed innovation are: most appropriate in our situation? most likely to be effective?

24. Sharing good practice versus knowledge transfer I inform you about it versus You can do what I can do 5. Transfer the knowledge so…

25. N Industrial and Business Innovation Knowledge transfer Families Kinship Friends Culture transmission It’s all about social learning

26. channel/mode Knowledge transfer a basic model PUSH PULL Recipient Donor StickinessAbsorptive capacity

27. When is transfer most difficult? Non -sticky High absorptive capacity Sticky Low absorptive capacity Incremental Radical Difficulty of transfer

28. RECIPROCITY mutual growth for mutual benefits = ‘joint practice development’ involves distributed innovation arises in strategic alliances becomes an example of Riccardo’s law of comparative advantage demands distributed leadership

29. Source Recipient wants to share the knowledge communicates well through right modes is motivated to adopt and adapt the knowledge sees the source as credible and trustworthy understands the demands of radical innovation for the time and energy demands on both sides respects the recipient is committed to reciprocation sees the transfer as professional learning offers lessons learned

30. Which do you learn more from? a clear description of a successful innovation an account of the innovator’s ‘lessons learned’ From the point of the innovator, which is easier and more attractive to write? So why are lessons learned so vital to knowledge transfer?

31. Activity 5 What do we need to do to improve the quality and speed of knowledge transfer in our school system?

32. D&R networks adopt an open source philosophy to create a peer-to-peer system of innovation and knowledge transfer that is decentralised, distributed and disciplined and this feeds into iNet and learns from it

33. IBM is gambling that it can win by giving away crown jewels - precious intellectual property in the form of software, parents and ideas. Spread enough of those riches around, the theory goes, and the entire industry will grow, opening up new frontiers…By sharing its discoveries wisely, [CEO Sam] Palmisano says, IBM will ‘make the pie bigger’ and the entire industry will grow faster… Collaborating with customers and even rivals to invent new technologies is a big part of this sharing plan, whose first fruits are already apparent. Fortune, September 2005

34. Activity 6 Is it possible for us to adopt an ‘open source’ philosophy to drive innovation in our system? If so, what do we need to do next? If not, how should we drive innovation?

35. Free reading in open source style Education Epidemic, Demos, 2003 www.demos.co.uk/educationepidemic Working laterally, DfES/Demos, 2003 www.demos.co.uk/workinglaterally