How might we change our robust Jewish communal landscape by changing our innovation culture as well?

Living and working in Silicon Valley, I hear the word innovation on a daily basis at the grocery store, at the gym, even at Friday night services. Companies are hiring Chief Innovation Officers and foundations are creating new grants specifically for innovation. The word is used so much, but Im not sure we all define it in the same way. Is it innovative because its new? Not necessarily. Is it innovative because it utilizes technology? Im not so sure. The overuse of the word, perhaps, is a product of the misuse of the word. As all educators know, its not about the destination; its about the journey. And, in this case, its not about innovation a product or outcome; its about innovating a process of building, measuring, and learning.

The Jewish community has been a-buzz in recent years about its Innovation Ecosystem, a term coined by Shawn Landres and Joshua Avedon in their report published in 2008. The report revealed that a substantial number of new Jewish organizations, which think and behave differently from existing, often flailing, Jewish institutions, are cropping up at a rapid pace. These organizations are radically changing the landscape of the Jewish community, meeting its most pressing needs, and providing creative, relevant, and substantive Jewish programming to Jews not participating in pre-existing structures.

My question is: Why arent more of our creative social entrepreneurs dedicating their energies to re-envisioning, re-imagining, and re-shaping those institutions that, arguably, have the potential to make the biggest impact on the Jewish community our schools?