Can educational institutions nurture innovative cultures?

I am lucky enough to experience both worlds, working in state educational institutions and the less formal, more explicitly creative tech cultures based around silicon roundabout.

Needless to say they are worlds apart. School management models the very traditional work environment and the offices of Moshi Monsters model a magical playground.

Clearly there are innovators in both cultures, but are they nurtured in both? I have worked with stunning leaders who motivate, inspire, encourage and are open to innovation in education. However even the most exceptional leaders in education lead immense hierarchical institutions. It might be my social psychology take, but one can see the faculty arena as various pressure groups advocating for their team and subjects. Add significant pressure to this mix e.g. funding cuts, performance related pay mixed with the infighting not uncommon in the profession, and this arena can quickly turn into an unproductive battle ground. The strict hierarchical nature of these systems mean that one persons initiative can be seen as threatening to others, non conformity can come at a high price. 

Our future managers in teaching will be those who have been resilient in these environments and most likely have a very different skill set to the creatives around the google campus, (who by this point would most likely have innovated off to somewhere less stressful). Flipped classrooms, MOOCs and bespoke learning environments are just the beginning of technology driving the future of education. These innovations will need to come from the people who are currently at the chalk face.

I hate to pose a problem without offering some kind of solution, and I think a few colourful bean bags and a slide to class are unlikely to cut it in the staff room, but we need to do something quickly as schools are falling fast behind the pace of change. 

Organisational assessment linked to talent management systems in schools could help identify and protect those who don't have the skills to force their ideas into the limelight. It can also prevent the burnout and excesses I have seen time and time again squander and squash talent until it conforms, explodes or leaves.

Change and innovation is most effective when it comes from within, so we need to enable teachers to lead the charge.

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