Radical INNOVATION

NARETHA PRETORIUS, THINKING FACILITATOR AND CAMPUS HEAD AT THE IIE VEGA SCHOOL, CONSIDERS OUR EDUCATION, OUR WORLD AND MAKING BOLD DECISIONS

Not long ago I published an article asking whether our educational institutions are relevant and “good enough”. Just a few weeks later we are facing a completely different reality. This pandemic – of global scale and with significant impact, and possibly of unfathomable proportions – has challenged what we understand to be our norm. The words of rock band R.E.M. now strike a significant cord: It’s the end of the world as we know it.

Even with this seismic shift of our reality, my opinion then, still stands now. Educational institutions need to be clear on their purpose. Education, as much as brands and humanity, needs to be more obsessed with what really matters. Educational institutions need to worry less about what they do and focus more on “the why” and then “the how”. What we do does matter to an extent, but why we do it matters the most; it defines our purpose. How we do it, impacts the student experience. But why we do it, builds something much deeper. When a crisis of this scale hits, we are faced with making tough “out of the norm” decisions. We are pushed to re-evaluate or re-affirm our values.

Higher education institutions should produce work-ready individuals, but should we not rather focus on worldready individuals? Our world needs confident, resilient and courageous decision makers. Individuals ready to take on the Fourth Industrial Revolution with enthusiasm, and we now must face a new and even more uncertain reality. This pandemic suddenly propelled us into the need for radical innovation.

By facing a global crisis, we are forced to make fundamental changes – policies, the economy, existing frameworks, our education system, and our ways of thinking and doing are being challenged. We now need to apply the much-needed “future” skills: creativity, innovation, critical thinking and complex problem solving. We need forward-thinking humans with the ability to tackle unprecedented complex problems, with courage and empathy, and to make bold and brave decisions, and to do so fast. Educational institutions across the country and the world are facing this pandemic and the challenges it presents. Which brings me back to the question: what really matters? The world as we knew it, has changed forever, and we need to change with it.

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