Why The First Follower Is The Key To Innovation
What a weird dancing guy can teach us about leadership and the three ways that one person saying yes supports innovation.
Change is happening everywhere. Digital concert tickets are delivered to my phone. The cruise control on my mom’s Subaru adjusts to the flow of traffic. The thermostat in my home adjusts to the family’s absence.
Our world is changing at a faster rate than ever before. Ironically, in our rapidly evolving environment, change has become a constant.
What implications does all this innovation have on education? Consider that 65% of students entering grade school today will end up working in jobs that don’t even exist and nearly nine in ten workers anticipate having to develop new skills all throughout their lives to keep up with the changes. We are striving to prepare students for a world that doesn’t exist. By embracing innovation, teachers have an opportunity to shape the future.
Innovation sounds great, but what does it mean and how do I get it in my classroom? My colleague Nick Marty shared the inspiring story of Maggie Clark and the “Real Talk” Podcast and talked about how embracing a “Yes, and” mindset can foster innovation. Mindset is an essential starting point for innovation, but scaling the impact requires followers. If mindset is the spark plug to innovation, then the First Follower is the fuel injector. (I made that up — I’m assuming that is how car engines operate, but I really have little to no functional understanding of how these things work.)
The concept of the First Follower originates from a watch worthy 3-minute TED talk by Derek Sivers. The First Follower, is the first person to take action on another person’s idea. According to Sivers, the courageous actions of the First Follower is what transforms an individual with a unique idea into a leader.
What does it look like to be a First Follower in White Bear Lake Area Schools? One example that happened at Central Middle School, involved Erin Synan, Josh Bilskemper and Frank Axell infusing Maker education into their eighth grade Science classes. Hear more about how mindset and collaboration has impacted student learning in this edition of the Spotlight Series.
At the EdTechTeam Minnesota Summit, Micah Shippee introduced me to the idea of the First Follower during his WanderlustEDU Keynote (Heartfelt shoutout to my spirit animal, Leeroy Jenkins). He showed this clip of Siver’s delivering his How to Start a Movement TED Talk. Full disclosure: this short clip may radically transform your perception of leadership.
The previous clip is from Derek Sivers at TED in 2010. In it he uses some surprising concert footage to explain how a movement really gets started. (Hint: a movement is dependent on someone being the first brave soul to follow.) While you may not be initiating a hillside concert dance party any time soon, there’s a lot of insight we can apply from Derek Siver’s First Follower concept in regards to innovating education. Here are three ways that the First Follower enables innovation.
The First Follower legitimizes the idea
Initially, the dancing man is a train wreck. His go-to moves are a poor man’s mix between Riverdance and the Backpack Kid. The audience cannot avert their eyes from it. He looks foolish, until another courageous concertgoer joins him.
Once the First Follower ad libs his version of stomp the yard, and waves to his buddies to join, we might assume the initiator had become the leader of a movement.
In reality, however, there is no movement without the First Follower. With each additional participant, the notion of dancing in public seems more socially acceptable to anyone watching from their lawn chairs. In the words of Derek Sivers, it was the First Follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.
In education, we have thoughtful practitioners with impactful ideas like Makerspace, Inquiry Learning, and Genius Hour. A First Follower validates the ideas of others.
The First Follower models following for others
What does it mean to be an effective follower? Being a follower hasn’t always been celebrated (Monmouth Men’s Basketball being the exception). Our society seems fixated on leadership, but the most effective way to fuel a movement may be to courageously follow and show others how to follow.
In education, we tend to get caught up in our silos. It’s easier to do tremendous work, independently. A First Follower demonstrates how to follow and invites others to join.
The First Follower makes the movement sustainable
Eventually, as enough people join, it becomes riskier to stay on the sidelines than it is to join in the action. Sivers points out that a tipping point occurred after a few people started dancing and the social dynamics changed from dancing being an anomaly to becoming the norm.
In education, we can get stuck in our ways. A First Follower is an essential first step toward spreading innovation around a broader community of educators.
Our students are growing up in a world defined by change and our educational system is ripe for something new. As educators, we get to be on the front lines, but the opportunity for change is larger than any single classroom. We can do this together, with a “yes, and” mindset and some courageous first followers. Click to tweet how you think the principle of the First Follower could impact education or by using the #innovate624!
