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By Jeff McLellan
Executive Director, CASDA
September 2007, Vol 49, No. 1
“Apple Computer’s iPod is
often cited as an example of the kind of innovation most
people are talking about when they say we need to be
innovative. Providing easy, legal access to lots of songs (iTunes.com)
was something no one had yet managed. It was not simply
making a slick piece of hardware; it was the design of a
whole system that made Apple the leader of this economy.”
John M. Eger, Chair of Communication and Public Policy,
San Diego State University
While the creative industries are usually
defined as “arts-related,” creativity and innovation are
vital to the success of all businesses. As we talk about the
foreshadowing of a whole economy based upon creativity and
innovation, the dawn of the “Creative Age,” we are more
acutely aware of the importance of reinventing our business
strategies, our corporations, our communities, and our
schools.
Perhaps we can start by redesigning our
elementary, secondary and college curricula to focus on
preparing students for this new competitive, and creative,
world.
Business schools across America are already
rethinking their curricula. The Master of Fine Arts is as
valued to business today as the revered M.B.A. In 2004, the
Harvard Business Review listed the M.F.A. as one of the top
10 hot new ideas of the year.
Most economists now seem to agree that the
emerging “creative and innovative” economy represents
America’s salvation. “The game is changing;” as Business
Week argued last year, “It isn’t just about math and science
anymore,” though those are surely important disciplines and
greatly aided by an infusion of the arts. The article said,
“It’s about creativity, imagination, and, above all,
innovation.”
Daniel Pink, in his book, A Whole New Mind,
says that in the 70’s, if you were good in science and math,
you became a doctor; in English and history, a lawyer. If
blood grossed you out and your verbal skills needed work you
should consider accounting. As computers appeared, and you
were really good at math and science, you chose high tech,
and everyone else flocked to a business school in search of
the MBA.
Dan Pink explains the essence of our national
issues in three points: Abundance, Asia and Automation.
Abundance is Staples selling 7,500 different
school and office supplies. Each Petsmart store sells, on
average, $15,000 worth of merchandise for non-humans daily.
BestBuy sells HD and flat panel TVs in 26, 32, 47, 50, 54,
56, and 65-inch versions. They also sell 39 different
varieties of cordless phones. That’s Abundance.
As a CEO, would you spend $70,000 a year for
a computer programmer in the U.S. or $14,000 a year in
India, Philippines or China? Asian engineers are the folks
programming your North American bank accounts today. Hewlett
Packard employs several thousand software engineers--in
India. Wipro, an IT firm in India, employs 17,000 engineers
who do work for Home Depot, Nokia and Sony.
Automation is another factor. One hundred
million people worldwide now go online for health and
medical information at over 23,000 medical websites on a
regular basis. Completecase.com promotes itself as the
premier, uncontested divorce service center, all for only
$249. Lawvantage.com offers legal forms for $14.95. New
computer software is now being written by computer software.
Our economy through its history has depended
upon left brained folks (L-directed). Our schools have been
programmed to produce students with skills to fulfill this
need.
Enter the age of the right-brain thinker. The
R-directed, conceptual thinker is the success in this new
age. A few years ago, Robert Lutz of General Motors was
asked what he planned to do “new” in the auto business. “I
see us being in the art business…art, entertainment and
mobile sculpture, which coincidentally, also happens to
provide transportation.”
Masters of Fine Arts programs are now more
difficult to get in to than an MBA program. Harvard accepts
10% of applicants for their MBA while UCLA accepts only 3%
of the applicants for an MFA program.
The London Business School has established an
artist-in-residence program. Unilever UK, makers of Slim
Fast and many other products, employs painters, poets and
comic book creators to inspire the rest of its staff.
The age of creativity is here. Take the Dodge
Neon chassis, hire artists, historians and great graphics
folks to envision a new body, and call it a P.T. Cruiser.
Add a little mystique... P.T.—What does that stand for?
Creativity means that the one-millionth Cruiser rolled off
the line on March 8, 2006--in Mexico.
The message is abundantly clear. Our school
systems need to modify drastically their thinking on
instruction, focusing not only on the core curricula but
also on the creative age that is upon us with curriculum
embedding arts in education and offering performing arts
programs, K-12.
Take some time to read A Whole New Mind
and reconsider your ideas on the essential elements of
education needed in the US and how you can encourage your
own children regarding their future education and
competition in the global workplace.
2007 Capital Area School
Development Association, Albany, NY
September 2007, Vol. 49, No. 1 Page 3
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