Back in the main reception hall, and back to the wifi hole they have in here, which is annoying.  They charge $14 for wifi, and don’t provide it to the largest meeting place here.  Also surprised to see a staff usher here yell, literally yell, at people entering the back doors of the theater.  Really? 

Pat Bassett on stage, and gives a shout-out for globalism, including the Challenge 20-20 initiative which has schools from 50 countries participating.  Myself, hoping to see St. Gregory participate in 20-20, if they are not already. 

PB shares a poem from Taylor Mali, a tribute to teaching.  Nice.  PB invites us to San Francisco next year– Adapt, Survive, Thrive: Unleashing the Super Powers Within.   After the jump: A somewhat disappointing Guy Kawasaki.

Innovation is so important– and has been a topic I have tried to follow closely here on 21k12.  Kawasaki opens with some friendly NAIS school rivalry, Iolani vs. Punahou. How to catalyze innovation and change– what could be more important this this at the moment?  Some advice about speakers– if you suck, don’t go long.  Ok to go short if you suck, and Ok to go long if you are great– but if you suck, don’t go long. 

Top Ten List for Art of Innovation: 

  1. Make Meaning.   Don’t try to make money, try to make meaning.  Change the world, empower people, end bad things, cause good things: people doing these things are the ones who are the greatest innovators.   Nike makes meaning with shoes; imagine what we can do with education. 
  2. Make Mantra.  Most mission statements suck.   Create a mantra, no more than 2 or 3 words.  Wendy’s: Healthy Fast Food.  Nike: Authentic, Athletic Performance.  FedEx: Peace of Mind.  Ebay: Democratize commerce. 
  3. Jump to the Next Curve.  Don’t be satisfied to duke it out on the same curve. 
  4. Roll the DICEE:  Deep, lots of depth, lots of services, lots of bells and whistles;  Intelligent; Elegance– How beautiful is it?; Emotive– Generate strong emotions. 
  5. Don’t Worry, Be Crappy:  When you have some revolutionary idea, if you wait for the perfect world when it is absolutely bug-free, you will never ship.   Be revolutionary, even if it is still a little crappy.  In software, we ship and then we test.  
  6. Polarize People:  Some try to create a perfect product for everyone, but great products don’t.   They try to win some of the people, but not everyone. 
  7. Let 100 Flowers Blossom.   You may think you have figured out your target audience, and how they should use your service or product.   But the market will find other uses, and you have to welcome that. 
  8. Churn Baby Churn
  9. Niche Yourself.    Make your product strong in value and uniqueness.   This is pretty hackneyed stuff, this value and uniqueness discussion, nothing new here. 
  10. Follow Rule:  For all presentations: 10 slides in powerpoint, no more; 20 minutes, 30 point font.   The 10-20-30 Rule.   Good, good advice here, though not new.
  11. Don’t Let the Bozos grind you down.  They will try to tell you it can’t work, or it shouldn’t be done, but don’t let them grind you down. 

OK, I think Kawasaki is really funny, and personable, and energetic, and I really his enjoy his style.  But I am not learning much here– I think the content here is pretty trite, pretty conventional. 

What to teach kids?   Teach them:

  1.  how to figure it out themselves! 
  2. How can you explain anything in 30 seconds. 
  3. How do you do a one page report. 
  4. 10-20-30 rule of powerpoint. 
  5. optimal length of an email: 5 sentences, no attachment. 
  6. How to survive a meeting: get what you want out of a meeting, and then park your brain. 
  7. How to conduct a good meeting.  Start on time, end on time, have as few as possible and as few people as possible. 
  8. How to work as a group. 
  9. How to negotiate win-wins. 
  10. Learning is a life-long process. 

This, very brief, discussion, the list above, is a bit better; I certainly appreciate Kawasaki’s passion and humor, but I leave this session quite underwhelmed.