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Changing the Way We Think
About Public Sector Innovation
Is innovation important for the public sector? From experience, the answer is Yes.
Public-sector decision makers are not only interested in innovation, many lead the way.
All organizations can be innovative if they choose to be. It starts with people who decide to go beyond finding minimally acceptable solutions to the challenges they face. And the need has never been greater.
Success for all organizations will be judged on their ability to find innovative solutions for the tough challenges they face. The real concern is, does it create value for those it serves?
But there is a paradox. Much of today's management attention is focused on vision, teamwork and leadership. What about the skills of an individual to innovate?
Creativity and innovation are primarily individual pursuits. They can be enhanced with teamwork and leadership, but at the very heart of innovation is someone applying themselves to find stronger, more effective or more original ideas.
Innovative thinking is driven by our ability to manage ideas. An organization's ability to manage ideas creates its capacity to innovate. This can be enhanced by developing skills in five areas:
- Generating ideas - Skills to brainstorm, to create new and original ideas rather than copying ideas.
- Developing your ideas - Skills to nurture and grow your ideas before they are judged.
- Judging your ideas - Skills to judge a good idea from a great idea.
- Promoting your ideas - Skills to get others interested in great ideas.
- Translating your ideas into actions - Skills to develop strategies and tactics to get results.
To provide a context, innovation is much like physical fitness. It takes action to get fit. It takes action to create innovative solutions to the challenges we face. Talking about fitness does not make you fit. Talking about innovation does not make you innovative.
Test whether skills are lacking in your organization
What skills are needed to innovate?
Public Sector Case Studies: Building a Capacity to Innovate
Innovation Myths, Truisms and Facts
Background References for Workshop Participants
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innovation