Jax Wechsler

Talk by Charles Leadbeater for GovCampNSW

I saw Charles Leadbeater  author of We think – The Power of Mass Creativity speak recently about innovation in the public sector as part of the GovCampNSW initiative.

I thought I would share a few of the notes I took at his talk:

> creativity comes from communities that share a cause i.e. passionate communities that both share and compete creating better ideas together.

> creativity is about combining things in new ways not brand new things

> it comes from looking at things in new ways (from the view of your service recipients!)

> Frustration feeds innovation when it is combined with hope ie hope for something better, innovators encourage and respond to frustration and respond with hope and opportunity.

> Keep the jargon out of conversations about innovation as it can be very alienating.

> 5 P’s of Public Service Innovation

+ PRODUCT : What is your product exactly? are you trying to find people jobs or improving their employability?

+ PRODUCTION : How is it produced? You need to think about things in relationship to their entire life-span.

+ PLACE : Where does it happen? Can it happen in a place you wouldn’t expect it to happen?

+ PEOPLE: Who produces it? Is it co-produced? How?

+ PAYMENT : Can it utilise a new business model? Get the people interested in the financial side involved as early as you can – dont leave them last.

> Scaling innovation – start in stealth – be ready to fail and lern and iterate. – ‘launch to learn’

> Build metrics into your innovation program from the start and make sure you have a base line of the before state.

> THE ENEMY OF INNOVATION IS COMPLACENCY!