Morriss-Olson, M. (2017) Why is it so difficult to nurture innovation and academic entrepreneurship at a college or university? Academic Impressions, March 9
Barriers to innovation and change
In the context of my series on innovation and change in post-secondary education/higher education, I found Morriss-Olson’s article interesting. It lists the following barriers to change:
- Risk avoidance
- Zero-sum thinking
- Accreditation
- Tradition and culture
- Leadership
- Internal systems
- Recruitment processes
- Faculty (self-)governance
- Organizational silos
- Success (thus preserving the status quo).
This is a pretty formidable list and may well leave you wondering whether our post-secondary institutions have the capacity to change.
Removing the barriers
Above all, I think the many barriers Morriss-Olson lists are well understood. What is lacking is agreement on what needs to be done to remove these barriers.
Morriss-Olson makes the interesting point that ‘institutional resiliency may depend more on mindset than skill set.’ I agree that mindset is important to bring about innovation and change, but I think a lot more is needed, such as:
- an understanding of how the post-secondary education market/demographics will change over the coming years (e.g. more lifelong learning)
- a clear vision for teaching and learning in the future (including online/blended learning and a focused approach to ’21st century’ skills development),
- new financial strategies (e.g. new business models), and, unfortunately,
- a fear of real threat to the existence of an institution if it doesn’t change.
I suspect if institutions can confront the four issues above, the 10 barriers listed by Morriss-Olson will be weakened or undermined, making change not only possible but inevitable.
In other words, build a compelling vision for what is needed in the future, then deal with the barriers, otherwise any attempt to change will go nowhere. For an example, see my blog post: https://www.tonybates.ca/2019/07/28/some-thoughts-on-the-future-of-public-higher-education/
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
