Innovation Isn't New

A number of months ago I was listening to a Grantland (Z'L) Podcast where they were discussing the different way that teenagers today watch television.  Instead of watching in on the television, they watch it on their computers and tablets and swallow it up in binge watches.  One of the podcast discussants, Andy Greenwald,  mentioned that he was at a high school and asked them what shows they were into these days. Was it The Walking Dead or 2 Broke Girls?  They told him no and asked him instead if he had heard of this other great show they had all watched the previous weekend.  "Andy, have you ever seen Friends?"

Over the course of the previous several weeks, this whole friend group had watched just about all 236 episodes of Friends.  It wasn't the latest, most hyped television program around, it was simply one of the shows they came across on Netflix.  While advertisers and networks struggle to create programs specifically designed for this new generation, they are finding fulfillment watching a show from the 90s. 

The easy Jewish takeaway from this lesson is that older traditions can still have value and that newer isn't always better and that is certainly true.  I would prefer, however, to look at this issue through a different lens.

I would like to argue that innovation isn't about finding or creating the new great thing, it is about accepting and understanding the world in which we live.  More often than not innovative ideas are not actually new, they are instead a prompt responses to new trends and new needs.  Too often, we allow nostalgia or turf wars to stand in the way of making changes that are to our own benefit.  We want to think that what we have always done will continue to work, even in the face of a changing world.

Creating a more concierge program for teens is a wonderful idea due to the tremendous amount of commitments that teenagers have today.  While it would be called an innovation to present a more personalized program for teens or even for younger students, it is in fact simply a recognition that children and family needs have changed and we need to accomodate them.

Providing podcasts or greater opportunities for virtual learning is innovative, but only because the creators of those programs are recognizing the new ways that people consume information.

From the important works Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam and The Jewish Within from Steven Cohen and Arnold Eisen and others, we know that people are looking for personal fulfillment and are not simply going to belong/support without good cause.  The era of doing things because it has always been done has passed.  People want to support a few areas that are meaningful to them.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon Jewish institutions to not view the need for personal meaning and relevance as selfishness but as a modern truism.    While we could bemoan the change forever, I'd rather we spend time acknowledging where we are at and doing all that we can to face that reality with honesty and integrity. 

Innovation isn't new.  It can be the same response that was issued by Mordecai Kaplan 50 years ago, Maimonides 1000 years ago or the Rabbis of Yavne 2000 years ago.  It is at its core simply recognizing the world in which we live and embracing it rather than rejecting it.  Then we will be able to be innovative not because we know something that everyone else doesn't but because we know exactly what everyone else does.