The Necessity of Character: Moral Formation and Leadership in Our Time, a new volume bringing together leading thinkers on moral formation, leadership and virtue in contemporary society, has been published this year. The book explores how character shapes individual lives, institutions and civic life in an era of rapid change and uncertainty. It is edited by James Mumford and Ryan S. Olson, and features essays from scholars and practitioners across disciplines and professional life.
Among the contributors are Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow and Ted M. Cross, assistant vice president of university affairs at ASU, whose co-authored chapter reflects on Principled Innovation® (PI). Both Crow and Cross situate character not as an abstract ideal but as a practical orientation that can guide how individuals and organizations innovate responsibly and equitably.
“It’s not enough to be innovative if you don’t innovate with purpose and principle,” Cross and Crow write, emphasizing the book’s theme that character matters in decision-making at all scales.
In their chapter, Crow and Cross contend that universities are not merely job-training centers but “crucibles of character,” where students are formed at a pivotal moment in life. They describe how higher education must hold together three interdependent aims: advancing knowledge, preparing professionals and cultivating character. The chapter outlines three assumptions behind ASU’s approach to PI — that universities inevitably shape character, that recent public failures of innovation reveal what happens when character is absent, and that public institutions must advance character education in ways flexible enough to serve a pluralistic society. To read the chapter, including examples of immersive learning in Dreamscape Learn and the Principled Innovation Academy, click here.
ASU’s Principled Innovation framework, which was formalized as the university’s ninth design aspiration Practice Principled Innovation, places character and values at the center of decisions and actions across the university and beyond. The Necessity of Character is an important and timely read in the growing national conversation about the role of ethical formation in higher education, leadership and innovation.
The Necessity of Character: Moral Formation and Leadership in Our Time is available in paperback, hardcover and e-book formats. Click here to order a copy.
