Brent Colescott

Leading Innovation in Learning

Education in Business, K-12 and College

Education in Business, K-12 and College

RePost – Originally written and posted May 13, 2016. Looks like I was pretty close to correctly predicting a few things in the last paragraph.

What a week!  I was lucky to spend the bulk of this week attending the 2016 SkillSoft Perspectives Client Conference in Las Vegas.  I finished out the week with my other passion in life, supporting a non-profit Education Foundation in disseminating close to $300,000 to teachers in my home school district.  Both events have given me great hope for the future of education in America, however there is one area of which I have concern, the College System.

One of the most amazing keynotes I have attended was from Dr. Peter H. Diamandis this week at Perspectives.  If you don’t know who he is you should.  In 2014 he was named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” – by Fortune Magazine. In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight.  Just listening to the accomplishments of this amazing individual made me feel like a bit of a slacker. 

His keynote discussed how to incentivize innovative thinking and breakthroughs.  In a time where disruptive innovation thwarts us, organizations must swiftly respond, reassess and rise to the challenges placed in front of them – one that starts with creating a culture of inclusive thinking to achieve clear objectives.

Early this morning I loaded up on a school bus with community leaders to distribute nearly $300,000 to teachers and administrators in my school district who had submitted innovative education grants.  The grants were awarded on the merits of innovative ideas being brought into the classroom for the students in the district.  It’s this “thinking outside of the box” that truly makes me proud to be a part of a school district that was recognized as the “Best in the State of Texas.”  Our teachers truly are absolutely AMAZING! 

Both events shared the commonality of incentivizing innovative thinking in development and education.

Which brings me to the last point, College.  I can’t help but see a gap between the work being done in K-12 & Business, while the “Brick and Mortar” schools, in my opinion, are stagnant.  With student debt reaching new heights, “safe zones” so feelings aren’t hurt, and high unemployment for graduates; I don’t see the “innovation” in education happening on college campuses.  It brings to mind a quote, “If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less” General Eric Shinseki, US Army General – Retired.

I can’t tell you how often I have had conversations of late discussing what the “College Experience” will be like for my youngest when she graduates in 2028.  In this day and age where Moore’s Law states computing capacity doubles every 2 years, what are we thinking with a college degree taking 4 years!?!  Whether it’s the current state of advising, teachers who are out of touch, programs that have failed to adjust; I just can’t see a bright future for the 4 yr Brick and Mortar College if they don’t make drastic changes and soon. 

One other point I’ve often discussed in this vein is “should everyone attend college?”  No.  I have known many talented and successful individuals who did not need a college degree to be successful.  Our Trades are suffering with dwindling numbers of plumbers, carpenters, electricians, welders and more.  For those who have a talent in these areas, they can actually do very well without a college degree and the burden of six figure debt accumulated.

Much like Uber, Netflix and other disruptors in the market, the 4 year college model must change or else face irrelevance.  Could it be that businesses start turning to recruiting top academic students much like athletes to ensure they get the best and the brightest?  Or do businesses begin to take over colleges to ensure they have a steady supply of talent developed to meet their business needs?  Who knows?  One thing I can assure you, the college experience many of us lived through is, or will be soon, no longer capable of keeping up with the world’s needs if the trajectory stays the same.