The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity Kindle Edition

Stories are all around us. They have the power to inspire us, move us and make us feel alive. Stories are a way to reach out to people and make an emotional connection. George Couros is a master storyteller. He is able to engage people in powerful ways through the stories he shares during his presentations and his blog. This book is an perfect example of how George has carefully selected stories to make meaningful connections and to make the content more memorable. The book is perfect for educators who desire to move away from a culture of compliance to a culture of learning and creativity. Thinking will be pushed by the "What if..." questions that George asks about learning. Readers will reflect on the relationships they build in their schools and their own mindset. As an principal who uses book studies for professional learning, this will be a book I use with my team. There are questions for discussion at the end of each chapter that will move our teams to take action. People forget facts, but they never forget a great story. Go buy this book today, read the stories in it, and do something amazing!

Every once and a while you come across a book that actually shapes your perspective from that moment forward. The Innovator's Mindset has had that effect on me. I've written books, and blogged about innovation in education, but George Couros' book made me think differently and challenged my assumptions on who can be a leader, and how you can lead through innovation.

Read this book if you a) Like stories b) want to laugh c) are ready to cry and d) are interested in leading through the power of innovative networks. This book is about people, and how each of us have so much to bring to the table in any organization. It's a good one folks!

This is a fantastic book. Writing with fluidity and eloquence, but in a readable and relatable style, Mr. Couros guides us through the process of enhancing our innovation. "It's not skillset," he writes, "it's mindset." If you are an educator, considering becoming an educator, or seeking (or engaged in) leadership, this is the book for you. Mr. Couros deftly weaves together the ways and means to, not only bring out the innovator in the reader, but bring out the innovator in those with whom the reader interacts and serves. This is a highly engaging and sophisticated book that reads like a novel. Everyone can benefit from these words!!!

The Innovator's Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity
The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros is a must read for anyone looking to shift their mindset within the education setting. From teachers to principals to district administration, George will challenge you to think and grow in your leadership role. There are so many relevant take-a-ways from this book. I know I will read and reflect through it again. The beauty of The Innovator's Mindset is that it is not a one and done book. You can read it over and over again and it will always be applicable. It is written so that it is easy to read, understand and discuss. This would be an excellent book study at the school or district level.

Having formed a sizable committee from all walks of our educational community to craft a plan to become a “District of Innovation,” district leaders and I decided to launch our series of “colloquies” with a book study. Considering the title, The Innovator's Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity, and the fact the author, George Couros, was scheduled to be the keynote speaker for our summer technology and curriculum conference, Lone Star TIA ([...]), it made perfect sense. Although I’d already ordered a digital copy upon its release, I had yet read the text knowing I was saving it for my upcoming, month-long medical leave of absence. After hearing Couros speak at the Texas Computer Education Association ([...]) conference in Austin a few years ago, I’ve been a huge fan. With a combo of insight and humor, his engaging style of presenting hooked me; and I attended all of the sessions he offered as well as a few other events in which he spoke. Hearing him talk of his experiences as principal and as a district leader, I hold his leadership style in the highest regard. To know I could gain insight into his thinking in far greater depth, I couldn’t wait to dive into the pages. And he didn’t disappoint.

After reading What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation (http://www.amazon.com/What-Matters-Now-Competition-Unstoppable/dp/1118120825) by author and London Business School professor Gary Hamel a few years ago, so much of what Couros writes is of the same ilk, only applied specifically to education rather than to business. Hamel pens, “To be an innovator you have to challenge the beliefs that everyone else takes for granted—the long-held assumptions that blind industry incumbents to new ways of doing business.” Couros captures this thinking throughout. “Without innovation, organizations—including educational facilities—cease to exist.” His words reflect a note highlighted in my copy of What Matters Now, “Truth is, every organization is successful until it’s not. There’s a simple, but oft-neglected lesson here: to sustain success, you have to be willing to abandon things that are no longer successful.” The parallels to the two texts are astounding with each author emphasizing the role of innovation to the continued relevance in business (in the case of Hamel) and education (from the lens of Couros).

“Change is an opportunity to do something amazing,” writes Couros who also quotes author John Maxwell, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” Throughout, his tales of his own experiences and those of others, Couros provides insight and guidance on fostering a “growth mindset” towards innovation, which he defines as “a way of thinking that creates something new and better,” all while debunking the idea “innovation is synonymous with technology.” Melding the two concepts of innovation and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, he describes the “innovator’s mindset” as the “belief that abilities, intelligence, and talents are developed so that they can lead to the creation of new and better ideas.”

Of the numerous lines I’ve highlighted, one stood out above the rest. “Innovate inside the box.” While acknowledging “schools are not overloaded with funding,” he writes, “Innovating in our schools requires a different type of thinking, one that doesn’t focus on ideas that are “outside the box,” but those that allow us to be innovative despite budgetary constraints. In other words, we need to learn to innovate ‘inside the box.’” Whoa! Stop. Reread. #profound So often, educators give up or give in to what is in our “circle of concern” rather than build upon what is in our “circle of influence” ([...]) as noted by author Stephen Covey in his bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Couros does not allow readers off the hook to surrender to this age-old excuse despite its glaring reality.

When reaching out to committee members in my initial contact, I wrote, “I’ve no idea where the ‘District of Innovation’ process will take us, but one of the highlights I’ve underscored in the Couros book reads, “Innovation starts not by providing answers, but by asking questions. #InnovatorsMindset” Because there truly is no predetermined course of action, this quote solidly reflects my view going into the process.

From his “critical questions for the innovative educator” to the “eight characteristics of the innovator’s mindset” to the “characteristics of the innovative leader” to the “eight things to look for in today’s classroom” to “eight things to look for in today’s professional learning” (I’m sensing a pattern here.), Couros scaffolds a system of support for educators willing to embrace change and innovation.
From his stories about Carly Rae Jepsen ([...]) and analogies citing Blazing Saddles and Talladega Nights, this page turner kept me going; and I finished it over the three-day Memorial Day weekend. (Now what am I going to do with the next 27 days?)

In his book, Hamel writes, “Within any organization, it’s usually the malcontents and rebels who are the first to sense the impending demise of a long-cherished business model, and the first to see the value in wacky, new ideas. The best leaders are the ones who get the most options on the table before making a decision.” With The Innovator's Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity, Couros does just that; and for this fact, I am beyond grateful to have read this book.

And finally, although I am certain my heritage is German and not Greek and the fact he is Canadian and I American, I’m more than convinced we are “brothers from another mother.” From the same stylized spiked haircut to the similarities in presentation styles to our insistence to remain connected to the classroom (as I continue to teach students across our district (as in the 50+ sessions on the “growth mindset” with kindergartners to ninth graders this school year) to his ridiculously simple idea of talking his laptop to classrooms for hours at a time doing administrative work there rather than the office, I think it’s true.