Cool title, what does it mean?

I have been at my job for a few months now and clearly articulating what I do continues to be a moving target. Some days I am at my desk almost all day, watching webinars, responding to emails or holding brainstorming sessions with peers. Other days I am moving from room to room, working with teachers, teaching classes, attending meetings and observing classrooms in action. No two days are ever the same and I doubt my job description will ever be written in permanent marker. The job description might be best summer up as a series of iterative drafts, words written and crossed out, with notes in the margin. Innovation means change, and so must the job.

That said, I wrote an introduction for the community that I read aloud in a theater on the first professional day this fall. It sums up my working definition so far, with am emphasis on "working." 

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“I am so thrilled to be joining the Viewpoint team. I met many of you through the interview process and even more in the five weeks I’ve been on the job. I look forward to meeting many more of you this week. I am continually struck by sense of community and purpose here at Viewpoint.

I am honored to be the first Chief Innovation Officer at the school. This is such an exciting opportunity. But I don’t want my title to get in the way of my work with the community. The word innovation means different things to different people. Some people light up at the word. Others roll their eyes. Many give a puzzled stare. So, because of the loaded nature of that word, I will take a page out of Simon Sinek’s book and 'Start with Why.'

Why Chief Innovation Officer? The CIO position exists to connect, support, enhance or accelerate existing innovative and technological initiatives at the school AND to imagine, design and run new ones, especially in the areas of the strategic plan: people, program, community, sustainability and campus.

OK, so what does that look like? Mark gave me the shorthand of 'Technology...and' when describing what I do. Often, I will be working very closely with the IT team, getting the school the tech tools and systems that provide the most value to the program and the people at Viewpoint. But at many other times I will be working with all of you to design or support innovative and inspired learning throughout the school. That means ed tech, maker, personalized learning, STEM, passion projects and PBL. That means program, pedagogy, professional development and assessment. It means almost everything, because innovative teaching is just good teaching. As researcher and educator Michael Fullen puts it 'Learning (or pedagogy) is the driver, technology is the accelerator.'

But whatever I may be doing on a given day, 'Chief Innovation Officer' always means being open to change that adds value to the student experience at Viewpoint. Innovation is about a willingness to adapt and change. When you are learning, you are changing. And in that effort, I see the Chief Innovation Officer position as a 'lead learner' position. I want to model on-going learning, including risk taking and making mistakes. Innovation is a process, not a product. And as much as I’d like it to be a linear process, it rarely is!

Of course, a title does not produce results. Innovation is not a command, it is something you do with a team -- building upon the strengths of your team members.  I look forward to connecting with all of you, both online and off, to building relationships and continue on this journey of innovation together."