This module outlines the innovation cycle and looks at how to get started on your own innovation challenge. Watch this 16 minute video
What is innovation in a public service environment?
The usual approach to improving public services is to tweak and rework what already exists. Innovation approaches help us to step back and think about what is really needed and use that as our starting point. Great service innovation begins
with the experience of people we hope will use the service. It:
explores their needs and aspirations and how they could be met differently
looks broadly for inspiration for solutions
uses rapid, practical tests, to learn quickly, at low cost and in more detail
involves users and other stakeholders in the process as designers.
Innovation is valuable because it offers us the chance to move from choosing between alternatives, to building completely new ideas. It allows us to be radical, visionary and lead the way forward with innovative ideas and practices. Evidence-based
practice is a good thing, but if we are limited to solutions that already have an evidence base we can never do anything new. Yet we know that we don’t have all the solutions right now, and so the innovation cycle gives us a way of
confidently exploring new possibilities, generating new evidence along the way.
This is the heart of the innovation approach; by working in a systematic way we can create new services that are radically different, whilst having high confidence that they will work.
Most public services now say that they are user-led, but in reality, we know that although this offers great rewards, this approach takes real commitment, know-how and resources. Very few organisations are able to involve their users as
deeply as they would like to.
An innovation cycle provides a safe and structured approach to involving users that goes way beyond superficial consultation. By supporting users to be active partners in an innovation process, we offer them the opportunity to develop
new skills and to share their expertise. In return our services are more much more useful, usable and effective.
Innovation is inherently a collaborative process. Service design teams work best when they include a mixture of perspectives, expertise and levels of seniority. By developing a service design project as a team, hierarchies become flattened,
the best ideas surface and a balance of skills and experience becomes vital. This can have a lasting impact in teams and organisations, even beyond their innovation projects.
Innovation projects are also an excellent way to help staff to grow their professional skills. In many cases more junior members of staff find their leadership potential during service design projects because they have the opportunity
to demonstrate a new range of skills, work with new people and connect creatively with the organisation’s strategy.
Innovate, me?!
It's surprisingly easy to get put off by the term 'innovation' – it's become a bit of a buzz-word in organisations and there are a number of unhelpful myths that have grown up about the people who innovate. Myths that can make us say 'well, that's
not me!'. The good news is that the myths just aren't true! We look at some of the common ones below and bring them into the light of day. As you look at the myths, notice which ones you (and the people around you) hold about innovators…
Myths about innovation - and the reality
Myth
Reality
Takeaway
Innovation depends on big 'Eureka' moments
Many innovations come from the accumulation of small ideas
Small changes can make a big difference
Innovation comes from the 'lone geniuses' working on their own
Most service innovations come from collaboration between people with lived experience and those with specific skills
Sharing perspectives generates new insights
Innovations are 'right first time'
Most innovators assume a 90% failure rate
The best learning often comes from things that 'go wrong'
The way to test a new idea is to implement a fully-formed pilot
It's far more effective to use 'prototypes' for each small change
Try out lots of small things and 'fail fast' to learn
How innovation really works – a systematic cycle
While innovation is a creative process, that doesn't mean it's completely random! Having a shared process for innovation is important in helping us make the most of the opportunities we have and in helping us to avoid common problems that occur when
we are developing new services and ways of working. So what does a clear process give us?
Structure
Having a clear and sharable structure helps us to maintain a sense of direction during a project in which we question some fundamental assumptions. This helps to avoid the common problem of ‘chasing our tails’, which happens when we lack an agreed
and helpful sequence of activities. Without structure, we can find ourselves having to repeat work, or undertaking activities that don’t tell us anything of value.
A way to communicate a process effectively
Even if we don’t know what we are going to create initially, being able to clearly show how we are going to find out gives confidence to our team and our partners. This helps us to enrol others in a programme of work that is different to the usual
way of doing things.
Align different skills and ways of working towards a common goal
The development of every service and organisation needs a huge variety of skills if it is to be successful. A clear innovation process helps us to see how those different skills and perspectives fit together, and how they enrich each other.
Spot the gaps in our capabilities and expose our strengths
A clear process helps us understand the skills we need in a project and also helps us to celebrate some of the qualities in our teams that sometimes get overlooked. This clarity also helps us to identify where we need to supplement our approach, either
through development or outside collaboration, in order to be successful in our development process.
A way of organising knowledge
A shared process helps us to grow our capabilities in innovation collaboratively. By working to the same structure it becomes easy to share insights and ideas around specific topics, as well as to share experience in applying the process.
The Leading for Innovation Cycle
Inquire: We begin by discovering as much as possible about the situation we are working in, the people involved, their views and aspirations.
Reflect: We pause together to gather inspiration and insights, identify needs and create our Breakthrough Question.
Imagine: We use all our collective creativity to imagine new possibilities, make sense of what we have identified and decide what matters most, right now
Experiment: We begin to 'get real' by prototyping, testing and iterating – allowing ourselves to learn by trial and error – including learning from failures and mistakes.
Experience: We pause again to consolidate our learning, decide how to implement the ideas we are taking forward and plan what happens next.
Pause for reflection
Think about the 'innovation myths' that we have outlined in this section.
Which 'myths' did you recognise in your own thinking about innovation? Do you see that aspect differently now?
Do you see yourself as an innovator (or at least as a potential innovator)? If so, what additional skills and knowledge do you want to build as you work through this module? If not, what would most help you get started?
Which phase of the innovation cycle do you feel least confident about? What do you want to learn more about in that area?
Throughout the rest of this Leading for Innovation set, we will take you through this process, step by step, ideally working through a challenge of your own so that you can learn-by-doing rather than just learning by thinking!
Introducing the Leading Libraries series. It covers the findings from the C21st Public Servant research, the origins of the four 'Leading for' capabilities and explains how to use the materials.
This set introduces you to resilience and why it is important for leaders. It covers emotional resilience; mental resilience; relationship resilience and social resilience.
It covers the key concepts of dialogue and why it is important for leaders, listening and inquiry skills, an introduction to 'conversational moves' and how to create a space for dialogue.
Emphasising the need for inclusive practice in our services and communities. It covers the foundations of inclusion, barriers to inclusion, power and privilege and allyship skills.
Building creativity and design skills for leaders. It covers the innovation cycle, diagnosis and perspective shifting skills, creative idea generation and safe-to-fail experimentation.
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