I just finished listening to the audiobook Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland. The book features many examples of businesses that made illogical choices that turned out to be successful anyway because of the way that leadership thought differently than others normally would have. The Alchemists, according to Sutherland, are willing to ask questions that others are not asking.
One of my key takeaways from the book was the premise that the opposite of a good idea isn’t necessarily a bad idea. The opposite of a good idea can be another good idea. An example from the book is drink companies who thought about making drinks bigger for customers to provide more value. The opposite of that good idea would be making the drinks smaller. While that might seem like a bad idea, in many cases, smaller equals better. Think of all of the soda companies now producing 7.5 ounce cans, and how popular they are with consumers.
What if we take this premise and apply it to our schools? Can the opposite of a good idea be another good idea, or even a better idea?
If quiet is good, then loud noise is bad. Let’s make our schools as loud and social and noisy as possible. How about if we get kids talking?
If technology is good, then no tech is bad. Let’s see what happens when we take tech away. How will kids explore and what will they create without devices?
If structure is good, then chaos is bad. What happens if we can the 40 minute blocks of structured learning, and instead give students hours of unstructured learning time? What would they learn? What would they produce?
The opposite of a good idea doesn’t have to be a bad idea. If we start thinking differently about our traditional good ideas, we may be able to discover a better idea.
Rich
