This episode explores one of the most urgent dilemmas facing leaders in higher education technology today: how to balance the push for innovation with the need to ensure operational resilience. It examines why colleges and universities often default to caution, choosing to protect legacy systems, established processes, and risk-averse cultures. The episode unpacks the consequences of this mindset, including rising tuition, administrative bloat, and a growing erosion of public trust. Using the frameworks of the Gartner Hype Cycle and Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma, it considers why timing is critical, why higher education cannot adopt a venture capital approach to investment, and what is lost when innovation is limited to small-scale pilots. Listeners will gain deeper insight into the cultural and strategic forces shaping these tensions, along with practical guidance for leading through them instead of retreating from the challenge.
Based on Substack article:
https://dispatchesinternetpioneer.substack.com/p/the-innovation-vs-resilience-dilemma
Energetic Business Background Music by LolaMoore -- https://freesound.org/s/754966/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
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