Innovating for Skills-Skills for Innovation Examining the learning environment and why certain skills and resilient leadership matter to innovation and prosperity for New Zealand.

1. innovating for skills……skills for
innovation
a New Zealand Paradox?
Ron Clink

2. Resilience
sheds light on capacity to indentify new solutions in every
challenge, but also on the ability to live in situations of rapid
or constant change
the human capacity to take a fresh start, no matter the
conditions, seems to be at the heart of the notion of
resilience
In my work, I used to call it “fail forward”

3. “success is the ability to go from one failure
to another with no loss of enthusiasm”
Sir Winston Churchill
Let’s consider this in context of Skills and Innovation

4. the two consistently significant contributors to
economic growth and living standards in OECD
countries during the whole period 1870-2006
Jakob B Madsen 2010
Australia/OECD
educational attainment (...human capital)
&
innovation intensity
And because we’re NZ….we must do it in scale and with scalability…….to the world

5. Ron‟s story (including a now typical encounter)
new person: (after I’ve spoken) are you Canadian?
me: um, close, I’m from Seattle originally
new person: oh, you’re…. American then?
me: yup, but I live in Wellington now
Canada is up here

6. A quick visit back to Seattle: 1984 – 1988 (I am a teacher)

7. Quincy Jones represents one of America’s greatest
innovations
JAZZ MUSIC
originating in black communities in Southern United
States, jazz keeps drawing on different musical cultures
from around the world, adapts and brings joy to lots of
people like me who really dig it!
“Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put, and it never
will.” J.J. Johnson, trombonist

8. Then in 1989…down came The Wall.
All these things sort of rocked my world
….but like many, I went exploring
1989 – I chanced into becoming executive director of an economic education centre
in Seattle working with schools and universities throughout USA
1990 – armed with many questions about what next after „no more Cold War‟, I had
an idea for a curriculum concept where all students would organise and
operate their own civil and economic society in school.
3 Seattle area schools said yes to my idea—imagine that!
1993 – quit my job and started my own educational consulting company, called
SchoolWorks, and kept working with these very innovative schools
1994 – Clear Creek School was Most Innovative School in Washington state,
and we hosted visitors from Russia, Scotland, Canada, Alaska,
New Zealand, from states across the US, and soon other schools joined

9. Seattle Students……..1994……

10. 1996 – For that work, I received a 1996 USA national entrepreneurship educator
of the year award and one day later moved my family to Wellington, NZ.
Here on a two year contract, I shared the model with 35 NZ eschools and
rebranded the model as the Primary Enterprise Programme (PrEP)
1998 – recruited to be professor at the University of Cincinnati where I directed the
education activities of its economics center (rated #1 out of 250 affiliated
university centers in USA)
good times really did seem to be rolling for
me, my family, and my associates…..

11. 1997 2000 2004
glandular fever?
open heart surgery
sweats, dizziness, exhaustion worsened
diagnosed w/ bacterial pneumonia
treated cloud lifted memory deficit
was working with others needing much greater resiliency than I did

15. During those same years, I wondered about leadership
and its impact on those around me (I deemed myself to
be a mediocre leader at the time). So I set out to learn
more…..
From Kouzes and Posner‟s Leadership Challenge:
1. Model the Way
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
3.
4.
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
24/7
pentathalon
5. Encourage the Heart
In the absence of these leadership practices, how much need
for resiliency do we grow in others?

16. NZ Government commissioned: Independent Maori Economic Development Panel
Ngāhiwi Tomoana, Chair Greg Whittred, Deputy Chair
HE KAI KEI AKU RINGA
Literally, to provide the food you
need with your own hands – or in
today’s world, to be responsible
for the resources and capability
you need to grow and develop.
The BGA: Building Innovation
This requires a high performing and responsive
system – from the science base, to human capital,
to the business environment.

17. From the OECD…..the Oslo Manual defines
innovation as:
“the implementation of a new or significantly
improved product (good or service), or
process, or a new marketing method, or a
new organisational method in business
practices, workplace organisation or external
relations”

18. Also from the OECD (Innovation Strategy for Education and Training, April 2012)
The critical skills for the most innovative jobs (any type of
innovation) are:
- come up with new ideas and solutions
- willingness to question ideas
- present ideas in audience
- alertness to opportunities
- coordinate activities

19. from three innovative Kiwis (KEA World Class New Zealanders)
Ideas for innovation come from diversity and differences; customer
interests drive innovation; we’re (NZ) good at product and process, but
not so focused on quality of people and how to grow through diversity
Bridget Liddell
General Partner, Fahrenheit Wellness Fund
New York
Capabilities Kiwis needed for success in “doing business” in China, in
India, or in other key emerging markets are: opportunity recognition,
dynamism to change and adapt, and resiliency
Dr The Hon. Peter Watson
President & CEO, Dwight Group
Washington D.C.
“Bugger the boxing…….pour the concrete anyway!!”
Ian Taylor, founding owner
Animation Research Limited

20. What Do ‘High Value’ NZ Firms Say?
•Source: Business Operations Survey 2008: Business Strategy and Skills Module
Skills existing staff most need to improve in High Value firms
%
Customer service/sales 27
Team working 22
Oral communication 21
Management/supervisory 19
Trade related 18
Written communication 16
Computer 16
Professional/technical 12
Numeracy 12
Marketing 11

21. learning that we may not be utilising such skills effectively for innovation, but
we also may not be developing them in enough people
Q: What Role Business? What Role Education?
or HOW and WHERE should we develop such skills – noting it is valuable for
those who hold such skills and also for those who employ them
educational attainment actors
&
innovation intensity actors
eidnuncoavtaitoinonactors

22. Fixable? Absolutely!
Easy? Maybe not.
I see many great examples of programmes and initiatives here in NZ,
focusing on these issues, and where Education and
Business/Community Innovators are joining hands, singing from the
same song sheet, and building unique engagements where learning and
life opportunities meet productively
Perhaps we just need to share well and do some more
Thank you

23. How is NZ doing in the innovation sphere?
- business investment in R&D (a key component of innovation) is very low
- businesses innovate for domestic market at greater rate than many in OECD, but
well below for international markets (16% compared to 24% in UK, 31% Canada,
33% Denmark, 41% Finland)
- No. of high-growth firms, as a % of all firms, is at bottom end of OECD
- 10th of 16 countries in management capability and even lower on people
management—below Portugal, Poland, Ireland, Greece
- real GDP per capita is 21st of 33 OECD countries
Top factors hampering innovation to a high degree in NZ:
(Statistics NZ 2011)
- Cost to develop or introduce
- Lack of management resources
- Lack of appropriate personnel
- Government regulation
- Lack of marketing expertise
- Lack of information
- Lack of cooperation with other businesses