However, while the word “innovation” formed easily on everyone’s lips, different interpretations of what it means to be innovative—and how innovation can improve students’ chances of success and the nation’s standing in the new global economy—allowed for different points of view and offered attendees an interesting mélange of school-reform ideas to savor.

“Let this be an introduction to a talk, not the definitive solution,” said speaker Daniel Pink, who is the former chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore and the author of A Whole New Mind—a guide to surviving, thriving, and finding meaning in an outsourced, automated, upside-down world.

Pink’s argument is that, as the economy changes to support novelty, nuance, and customization, the old-school methods of routines, right answers, and standardization are not aligning with the country’s best interest.

“I’m not saying that a school’s job is to produce employees for employers, but this is a misalignment of interests that needs to change,” he said in a Feb. 15 keynote to school administrators.

Pink relates the economy to the human brain: He believes the old days of the left side of the brain—linear, logical, reason-based ways of thinking—are gone, and have been replaced with a need for right-brain approaches: synthesizing, creative, context-based ways of thinking.

“I’m not saying that the left isn’t important—of course it is—but three forces have influenced the economy to become right-brain,” he said.

These three forces are an abundance of material prosperity in the middle class, off-shoring of labor to Asia, and automation.