But we've always done it like this...

One of the most frustrating things I hear when discussing change is the response "but we've always done it like this..."

Ways of doing things are a product of environmental and resource factors as well as competition (what others are doing) and those convinced that change is needed - for efficiency, effectiveness, cost, responsiveness or other reasons.  But what if the change required is to something as fundamental as the culture of an organisation or sector such as a University or Higher Education?

Cultural change starts with the individual, it cannot be imposed from above without considerable disruption and fall-out.  The following diagram helps to illustrate the steps needed to begin the shift to a change in culture that impacts strategic as well as individual decision making.

But what do we need to do to win the hearts and minds of HE staff to encourage them to learn new skills, to change their approaches to teaching, to effect changes in institutional priorities in investment - systems can be IT based, classroom based, curriculum based etc.in order, over time, to create cultural change?

The economist in me shouts - "incentivisation!"  How can we encourage the brilliant minds that inhabit our Universities to use more of their capacity for cerebral activity to consider innovative teaching methods, new ways of learning that reflect changed student abilities and expectations and to begin to effect real change in the experience of tomorrow's students?