Liz Lerman

College Catalyst

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

My relationship with Principled Innovation (PI) began before it had become formalized. I was engaged in a series of explorations with the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation. Steven Tepper, the Dean of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA) at that time, introduced me to Carole Basile and Cristy Guleserian, which led to deep conversations. Eventually, I facilitated workshops demonstrating how creative tools can support the values of humane education. I was grateful to have a home for my lifelong investigation of embodied practices that support community building as well as individual leadership skills.

As the structure of PI emerged, I happily agreed to partner with Marcos Voss as the catalyst team for HIDA and have subsequently enjoyed our interactions with other schools on campus. Principled Innovation turns out to be a remarkable philosophical bridge to the higher aspirations we all hold. Through our monthly meetings, we are able to inquire deeply into what can actually work in higher education while helping each other face obstacles that live within any institution.

I’ve been glad to bring the Critical Response Process® (CRP), a system I invented in the 1990s as a way to give and receive meaningful feedback. CRP also provides a way of using PI principles in the action of daily encounters. CRP is part of The Atlas of Creative Tools®, my evolving platform for hosting methods that can be central to problem-solving, creative endeavors, and planning for change.

Part of PI at HIDA is discovering all the work that’s already going on by our faculty, staff, and students that represents PI at a practical level. Additionally, more and more of the HIDA community are asking for how they can participate. As part of the HIDA team, I’m looking forward to seeing the evolution of our school’s embrace of the more challenging features of PI that would demand us to change our pedagogical and institutional practices.