Interesting Reads This Week

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Well, here we are, it’s the sixth day of 2024 and my New Years resolution to be more cheerful are already long abandoned. Perhaps I need to read Atomic Habits for Analysts or SupperBetter for Independent EdTech Consultants (apologies to James Clear and Jane McGonigal). It’s not my fault, everyone seems determined to do vexing things. But what did I read (not enough cheerful things, obviously).

I’d go the whole wide world

I am a big fan of the folks at Strategyzer (the folks who brought us the Business Model Canvas). So, when they recommended the book The Wide Lens by Ron Adner, I was all over it. It is not a new book, and I have just started reading it, but thus far it does not disappoint. The premise is that for innovation to succeed you need to take a much wider view than just what is happening in your own organization. Instead, you need to look at the broader ecosystems of which you are a part, especially the business and regulatory ecosystems and at your partnerships. These all must have some degree of alignment you’re your innovation to work. Innovations tend not to work in isolation.

This resonates so much with me, because it corresponds with how we look at things here at Phil Hill & Associates. We try to look at the broader context in which changes happen and make sense of those interconnections.

Money’s too tight to mention

Late last year all manner of bad economic news for higher education kept popping up in my newsfeed. CUNY will be cutting tens of millions from the budgets of its 25 member campuses. This comes on the tail of steep cuts already made over the past couple of years. In California they are anticipating General Fund deficits in the coming years. Leaders are being directed to significantly cut back on spending, including in IT. Phil pointed to the parts of the directive that are likely to have an impact on EdTech in higher ed.

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