Half-sheet printable compasses—thanks to Susanna Noon for this idea. High-quality PDF here.
Half-sheet printable compasses—thanks to Susanna Noon for this idea. High-quality PDF here.
Thanks to Kim Zajac for this idea!
Thanks to Kim Zajac for this idea!
Thanks to Kim Zajac for this idea!
Half-page cue cards: 1 overview card plus the three main sets of tips we use with Innovators’ Compass. They can be cut apart or folded as table tents.
Thanks to Audrey O’Clair and Kim Zajac on facilitation and feelings!
Pocket Compass Cards and Stickers
In this section are graphics to make compass cards and stickers. I can also point you to the folks I order from, or if your need is small (<1000), send them to you at cost since I get bulk pricing.
Thanks to Kara Harrington for this idea (and these beautiful graphics!).
Thanks to Valeria Rodriguez for this idea!
Thanks to Tim Sauder for this idea!
Spanish (sketchnote)
Spanish Sketchnoted Compass created by Valeria Rodriguez. Note: translated before Compass language for Ideas and Experiments was finalized.
Chinese
Chinese Compass created by Huijin Yu, Lili Xu Brandt and Darren He for Otto Scharmer’s IDEAS program.
French
Innovators’ Compass in French translated by Mariem & Hajar Laji for CorpsAfrica.
Arabic
Innovators’ Compass in Arabic translated by Mohamed Mhmmoudi for CorpsAfrica.
Burmese
Innovators’ Compass in Burmese, courtesy of Garrett Mason.
Chichewa
Innovators’ Compass translated to Chichewa by Dingase Mkandawire for CorpsAfrica.
Amharic
Innovators' Compass translated to Amharic by Abraham Berhane for CorpsAfrica.
Kinyarwanda
Innovators' Compass translated to Kinyarwanda by Ildephonse Bikino for CorpsAfrica.
Ukranian
Innovators' Compass translated to Ukranian by Mariia Kuts, courtesy of Garrett Mason.
A short intro to the compass, one deep example and activity, many quick examples and activities, and reflACTION using the compass.
2-Minute Intro & Stories
SHORT INNOVATORS’ COMPASS INTRO & STORIES
5 questions for breakthroughs in our everyday challenges, big or small—plus stories of home, school, company, and community "unstucks".
Longer Innovators' Compass Intro & Worked Examples
LONGER INNOVATORS’ COMPASS INTRO & WORKED EXAMPLES
This 5-1/2 minute video includes details from examples in work-life balance, conferences, and parenting, as well as resources.
A 2-minute Tour of Tips
TOUR & TIPS: GETTING UNSTUCK USING EACH SPACE
Quick tour and tips: how we find breakthroughs in our challenges through each Innovators’ Compass question. This will answer your questions about the Compass' design, too!
3-Video Series: Coaching a Personal Challenge
COACHING A PROFESSIONAL IN AN INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE
Ela Ben-Ur coaches an entrepreneur/leadership development professional in seeing his landscape of challenges (4 min), building the Innovators' Compass from his own experiences (9 min), and using it on a personal challenge (22 min). Thanks to filmaker Gregory Mang for donating his time!
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING WORKSHOP
See and practice using the Innovators' Compass for students in individual, interpersonal, or school-wide challenges, and for grownups too. About 30 minutes with pauses for activities.
Originally created for the Teacher Success Summit.
COLLABORATING WITH INNOVATORS’ COMPASS
Break through barriers to tackling challenges with groups of people, using the 5 Questions of Innovators Compass, just 1 instruction, and lots of facilitation ideas. About 30 minutes with pauses for activities.
Originally created for the Teacher Success Summit.
THE POWER OF ONE
Ela Ben-Ur introduces Innovators’ Compass—and the power of one observation, idea, etc. to unleash the power in one student, teacher, parent, team, leader, community, and district, as well as in rural communities and major companies. Preceded an in-person workshop by Holly Doe at the 2022 CoSN National EdTech Conference.
Designing with all voices—esp. those underheard now (SXSW EDU Workshop)
SXSW EDU 2020 WORKSHOP: DESIGNING WITH ALL VOICES
In this workshop you’ll identify a voice that isn’t, but should be, a part of designing what happens in your school, class, organization, or community, understanding why that might be, and considering how to raise that voice. You’ll leave with productive questions and new perspective. By Manjula Karamcheti, David Coffey, and Ela Ben-Ur.
NAVIGATING A MESS OF UNENDING CHALLENGES
A 50-minute webinar focused on COVID stories and a short Compass experience.
COMPASSING IN COUNSELING, CONFLICTS, CLASSROOMS, AND CRITIQUES!
Manjula Karamcheti and Ela Ben-Ur share case studies of Innovators’ Compass in classroom, counseling, staffroom, and community settings. After this video, participants used icompass.me together on advancing equitable education using technology (and otherwise)
Teaching STEM in COVID times
SHARE OBSERVATIONS AND IDEAS ABOUT TEACHING STEM IN COVID TIMES
A short intro with Valeria Rodriguez's stories using the Compass from STEM to SEL to staff meetings. Then participants around the world created a shared icompass.me about teaching STEM in COVID times. For the National Science Teachers Association 2020 Forum.
Two Innovators' Compass Workshops
TWO INNOVATORS’ COMPASS WORKSHOPS
David Coffey, director of the Design Thinking Academy at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, invited me to lead three workshops for their faculty, staff, and students: Design Thinking and You, Design Thinking in Life and School, and Design Thinking in Education and Healthcare. The first two were professionally recorded.
FINDING OUR WAY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
This interactive webinar is is led by David Coffey, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and director of the Design Thinking Academy at GVSU. He introduced participants to Innovators' Compass with an interesting driving metaphor. Participants identified a personal or professional challenge they want to address in 2021 and used the Compass to find innovative ways to move forward.
UNSTICKER SISTERS STORY READALOUD
Two sisters' little bricks become a big problem. Join us for a true story of getting unstuck (7 minutes)—then unleash your own UNSTICKER superpowers! Check out matching printables on the kids page!
“ALL ABOUT” STYLE READ-ALOUD
8:47-minute video with introduction, school-based story, Do-it-Yourself, diagram and glossary. Check out matching printables on the kids page!
Work-Life Balance
UNSTICKING LIFE (WORK-LIFE BALANCE)
Highlights from the full video as entrepreneur and leadership professional Caustan De Riggs uses Innovators' Compass to explore ways to support his creative work along with his sleep and wellness.
Designing COVID-19 Downtime with Kids (While teaching Design Thinking Too!)
DESIGNING DOWNTIME WITH KIDS (COVID-19)
Ela using the Compass with her girls to design COVID-19 downtime together.
Students and Staff Unstuck
STUDENTS AND STAFF UNSTUCK
A powerful overview of students’ project-based learning and navigating personal, team, classroom, and community challenges, and staff designing experiences, at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, MA by Taryn Grigas, Melissa Foley-Procko and Mary Marotta.
Student Independent Projects, Parent-Teacher Communication
SCIENCE PROJECT & PARENT-TEACHER COMPASSES
Miami teacher Valeria Rodriguez shows two Innovators' Compass templates she created: a Google Slides one for students' science projects, and a hand-drawn one for collaborative conversations with parents at conference time.
Processing Current Events (Hurricane Irma)
PROCESSING CURRENT EVENTS (HURRICANE IRMA)
Science teacher Valeria Rodriguez invited students to share Hurricane Irma experiences and design actions with Innovators' Compass.
Classroom Culture Without a Permanent Classroom
CO-CREATING CLASSROOM CULTURE
Erin Quinn is a middle school educator in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, whose class was "homeless" for half a year until their new school was built. She shows and tells how she used Innovators' Compass with her class, in conjunction with other Design Thinking tools, to enable them to design their own class "space" and culture despite this.
Kids Resolving Conflicts
KIDS RESOLVING CONFLICTS
Principal Dawn McWilliams invited students to resolve a playground challenge with their Innovators' Compass
TRAINING AGILE TEACHERS WITH THE COMPASS
The Woodrow Graduate School of Teaching and Learning connected to MIT has chosen to use design, practiced using Innovators' Compass, as a central competency. See Dan Coleman, formerly Chief Learning Officer, and their cohort of teaching students in action!
STUDENT-CENTERED TEACHING AND MENTORING
Xheni Mucelli, a Teaching Candidate at the Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Teaching and Learning at MIT, shares images of using Innovators' Compass to review her teaching with peers, design her classroom, and mentor students.
Student Classwork and Social-Emotional Learning, Educators Problem-Solving Together
STUDENT PROJECTS AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING + PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Catherine Stines and colleagues at the Darrow School use Innovators' Compass—5 questions that unstick us—for student projects and social-emotional learning; staff collaboration; and in professional development conferences.
Educators Collaborating on Vision and Challenges
COLLABORATING ON VISION & CHALLENGES
Dawn McWilliams and Mitch Davison, Principal and Assistant Principal of an Elementary charter school in Aurora, CO, walk through Compasses made by their teachers to collaborate on school culture topics.
Collaborating Online
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND WORKSHOPS
Audrey O'Clair shares her use of the Innovators' Compass online app, icompass.me, for teachers to collaborate and apply their learning during professional development.
Teams Collaboration & Creativity
PRODUCT DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
At a cafe in Boston’s Innovation District, Kyle Savage talks about using Innovators' Compass in a digital product development firm—to offer a usable approach to design for the team, scaffold client meetings and engagement, and support creativity.
Convening/Conferences Around Challenges
CONVENING/CONFERENCES AROUND CHALLENGES
People using Innovators' Compass—5 questions that unstick us—at the US and California Conferences on AIDS, and the Front End of Innovation Conference.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING
Garrett Mason beautifully shows how he and others in the international development organizations CorpsAfrica and PACT are putting Innovators' Compass in the hands of communities navigating their own challenges—as an independent tool as well as a framework to bring together methods and mindsets of human-centered design and participatory design. This is an excerpt from the Field Guide pictured here.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Alumnae of the YES Program share using #InnovatorsCompass to enable online learning during COVID; raise awareness of mental health issues; and engage youth in their community.
Building on Community Mapping
BUILDING ON COMMUNITY MAPPING
Mouhiddine Hamma, an ongoing volunteer with CorpsAfrica in Rwanda, shares his experiences using Innovators' Compass to build on Community Mapping (a central practice of community development work).
CORPSAFRICA HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN
Two more beautiful videos about Garrett Mason's incredible human-centered-design work with CorpsAfrica in Malawi. Each gives a lovely little shout-out to the Compass, which Garrett used as an over-arching tool, complemented by other human-centered and participatory design tools.
ICOMPASS.ME
FREE ONLINE APP
A free digital compass to doodle in—on your own, or with others! Give it a try and let me and its creator, Hieu Nguyen, know how it works for you!
Jumpstart more free digital unsticking with Compass Layouts built into Google Slides!
Figma Figjam
Misty Kluesner, a Creator for Figma, which is free for educators, developed a fantastic Figjam template!
GOOGLE FORMS
Google forms are great to gather and organize lots of input. With bright graphics, even a survey can be fun!
GOOGLE DOC AND EMAIL STARTERS
Just click to start a simple Google Doc or email with these Compass questions!
MURAL
The incredible online collaboration workspace MURAL has offered Innovators' Compass as a framework option since 2016, and now as a complete template.
MIRO
If Miro is your online visual collaboration tool, here’s a Compass in Miro, ready to copy and start adding your stickies!
Dagbani
Innovators’ Compass in Dagbani, translated by Alhassan Dahamani liεbigi li for CorpsAfrica.
Ewe
Innovators' Compass in Ewe, translated by Joseph Kofi Avunyra for CorpsAfrica.
Fulani
Innovators' Compass in Fulani, translated by Ousmane Ba for CorpsAfrica.
Ga
Innovators’ Compass in Ga translated by Moses J Appleh for CorpsAfrica.
Luganda
Innovators’ Compass in Luganda translated by Michael Mwebaza for CorpsAfrica.
Mfantse
Innovators’ Compass in Mfantse translated by Catherine Ekua Mensah for CorpsAfrica.
Sena
Innovators’ Compass in Sena translated by Austin Kamanula for CorpsAfrica.
Swahili
Innovators’ Compass in Swahili translated by Wanyama Ogutu for CorpsAfrica.
Tonga
Innovators’ Compass in Tonga translated by Limbani Kamanga for CorpsAfrica.
Tumbuka
Innovators’ Compass in Tumbuka translated by Tamanyawaka Nyirenda for CorpsAfrica.
Yao
Innovators’ Compass in Yao translated by Mathews Chanza for CorpsAfrica.