Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Winter 2010
Co-creation is key to innovation in government Christian Bason Director, MindLab
As public managers face a near-perfect
effectively address some of our most
storm of deep budget cuts, rising
pressing
service costs induced by demographic
organisations
change,
and
are
challenges. leveraging
These the
conscious and systematic approach to public sector renewal;
citizen
practices and tools of innovation to
services,
create radical new value. Real-world
they must co-create new solutions to
cases show that cost savings of between
resources
effectively meet this challenge.
20% and 60% can be possible while
capacity at all levels of government;
expectations
increasing
societal
• a shift from random innovation to a
for
better
• a
shift
from to
managing building
human
innovation
also increasing citizen satisfaction and Public sector innovation – new ideas
generating better outcomes. In order
• a shift from running tasks and projects
that create value for society – is not
to make such paradigmatic innovation
to orchestrating processes of co-
new. However, public managers around
much more likely, leaders in government
creation, creating new solutions with
the world, from Australia to the UK, and
must build an infrastructure of innovation
people, not for them;
from the Netherlands to Denmark, are
– a public-sector innovation ecosystem.
demonstrating how a significantly more
The ecosystem is built through four
conscious and systematic approach
simultaneous shifts in how the public
organisations
to creating innovative solutions can
sector creates new solutions:
leading innovation across and beyond
• a shift from administrating public
the public sector. 14
to
courageously
Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Winter 2010
These
‘four
C’s’
of
public
sector
than to share it. Politicians sometimes
and
(some would say often) prefer short-
In Australia, the Centre for Social
developed simultaneously, if we are to
term positive media exposure over what
Innovation (TACSI), which is spon-
create sufficiently resilient and powerful
could be the most effective long-term
sored by the Government of South
public organisations for the future.
solution. Incentives for sharing tasks
Australia, launched a campaign
and knowledge amongst public sector
to crowd source ideas for innova-
organisations are not very high, and
tive social solutions from ordinary
internal politically motivated competition
citizens, putting one million AUD
may overrule sensible collaboration.
in the pot for the best proposals.
innovation
must
be
nurtured
Figure 1: The public sector innovation ecosystem: four C’s
This “Social Innovation ChalCOURAGE (leadership)
Anti-innovation DNA. Public sector
lenge” resulted in 8 rewarded
organisations
fine-tuned
projects in fields ranging from
spite
digital solutions in care for the
innovation the
CO-CREATION (process)
CONSCIOUSNESS (awareness)
are
hardly
machines.
trumpeting
of
In
‘reinvention’
of and
ageing to urban renewal.
entrepreneurship, many of them still embody the type of
hierarchy and
bureaucracy that private companies
Where’s
have been fighting to throw away since
organisations have a long way to go
the ‘downsizing’ era of the mid-1980s.
before they honestly can claim that
Organisational silos, traditional roles
they are putting citizens’ needs at the
and lack of cross-cutting coordination
centre of their efforts. This point has
Executing the four shifts towards an
are still significant challenges. New
been at the core of observations by the
innovation ecosystem implies specific
forms of collaboration such as project
OECD, the European Commission and in
challenges and new tasks for public
organisation, virtual organisations and
several reviews of British public sector
leaders at all levels – from the politician
dedicated innovation units are still in
innovation.
and the chief executive to mid-level
many countries considered exotic.
efficiencies is somehow more natural to
CAPACITY (structure)
managers
and
institution
heads.
It
the
citizen?
Achieving
Most
public
administrative
government than delivering high-quality
between
Fear of divergence. As co-founder of
recognising that innovation is important,
the design consultancy IDEO, Tim Brown
and doing something concrete about it.
has pointed out the major innovation
An orchestra without a conductor.
Most of all, it requires the courage to
barrier in most organisations is that
Public sector organisations have few or
really
leaders don’t allow for innovation projects
no formal processes for conducting the
to diverge sufficiently. While that may be
innovation process. Managers focus on
a problem in the private sector, it’s an
budgeting, operations and tasks, and
even greater issue in the public sector.
employees may be highly skilled lawyers,
Public managers and employees tend
economists,
why
to shy away from the edge of something
schoolteachers – but few of them have
in
new, sometimes even before they know
formal skills in creativity or innovation.
government. It might therefore be well
what it is. Some of it has to do with a
At best, public sector organisations
worth enhancing our awareness of
lack of experience and competence
operate with highly linear, ‘stage-gate’
some of the most critical obstacles that
in managing the innovation process.
project processes. However, innovation,
public managers face as they try to drive
But most of it is cultural: most public
particularly in its early ‘front end’ phases,
change from within the system:
organisations intuitively do not seek to
needs to focus more on co-creation:
requires
closing
co-create
the
new
gap
solutions
with
people, not for them.
Barriers abound There
are
innovation
plenty might
of be
reasons impossible
services and outcomes.
doctors,
nurses
and
be at the forefront of a change agenda.
open collaborative processes, iteration,
Paying a price for politics. Politically
Risk-taking is typically not embraced, but
active user involvement, visualisation,
governed organisations can be prone
discouraged.
prototyping, test and experimentation.
to keep and maintain power, rather
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Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Winter 2010
Leading into a vacuum and the 80/20
In Brazil, the government has established CGEE, the Center for Strategic Studies and Management Science, Technology and Innovation, which assists decision-makers with systematic foresight and scenario research. The centre has helped inform policy makers in fields as diverse as nano technology and climate change.
rule. Although there is much good to say about evaluation and evidence-based policymaking, evaluation has become such a prevalent tool in the public sector that it overshadows the need for faster, more
experimental,
forward-looking
problem-solving. When it comes to
organisations that want to up their
tape for citizens and small business,
their development efforts, public sector
innovation game need to build an
and
organisations seem to spend 80% of
awareness of innovation as a discipline in
services. By combining the resources
their energies on understanding the past
its own right, and help public managers
of public servants with a dedicated
and (at best) managing the present, and
and staff to see what the implications
innovation staff, including designers and
perhaps only 20% of their efforts on
might be for them. In Australia, for
ethnographers, MindLab is essentially
systematically exploring future directions
instance, several initiatives are paving the
an innovation catalyst. Likewise, in the
for better policies and services.
way to raising innovation consciousness.
Netherlands, the Department of Public
redesigning
online
digital
tax
The commonwealth government has
Works and Water Management is using
many
proposed a new strategy to foster a
scenario
innovations stay locked in their location
culture of innovation in government; the
spaces, facilitated workshops and visual
of origin, not spread, scaled or diffused
Victoria Public Service has launched
technology to engage civil servants
– regionally, nationally or internationally.
an ambitious Innovation Action Plan to
across the organisation to collaborate
Traditional methods such as best practice
embed
cross-cutting
more, empowering them to tackle the
publications, websites, toolkits, command
collaboration in the civil service; and
complex future challenges of living in a
and control efforts, networks and various
in Adelaide, a new Centre for Social
flat country in times of climate change.
forms of collaboratives have proven to
Innovation is running widely-publicised
Across the globe in Brazil, the CGEE, a
be of limited effectiveness. What are the
‘innovation challenges’, leveraging the
government-run foresight unit, is working
tools, approaches and means that can
potential of crowdsourcing for new ideas
to provide long-term strategic insight to
up scale public sector innovations from
by inviting ordinary citizens to contribute
policymakers, using new web-enabled
one domain to all the domains they might
with suggestions to find bold solutions
tools like a Future Timeline, visualising
benefit?
that can create better lives.
trends and generating a better basis for
The
scaling
problem.
Too
innovation
and
planning,
creative
physical
decision-making. These barriers to getting innovation in government off the ground are daunting. However,
by
ecosystems,
building
governments
innovation can
seek
Capacity: Organising to innovate Building
innovation
capacity
is
to
Co-creating for better service and outcomes
to explicitly tackle them head on. Let’s
ensure that political context, strategy,
Co-creation is an approach to involving
consider
organisation, technology, and culture and
citizens,
people all strengthen an organisation’s
recipients of
ability to innovate – rather than the
more directly in the innovation process.
opposite.
organisation
It focuses not just on understanding
Consciousness: Building a language for innovation
I head in Denmark, is an expression
present challenges, but also on creating
of
the desire to embed innovation
new futures with people, not for them.
Arguably innovation is a difficult word:
practices in the organisational structure
Rather than mainly involving citizens
it can be interpreted very differently
of multiple government organisations. A
through quantitative satisfaction surveys,
by different people and organisations;
cross-ministerial unit working with three
as is usually the case today, co-creation
what might be very innovative in one
major
takes
reflects the need for public managers
context might be considered common
on concrete projects in fields such as
and staff to get much, much closer
sense in another. None the less, public
employment service, eliminating red
to
each
of
the
ecosystem’s
dimensions in turn.
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MindLab,
departments,
the
MindLab
businesses
people’s
and
other
key
public services much
everyday
lives
through
Ipsos MORI Understanding Society Winter 2010
qualitative social research and through
Administration
human-
levels of government. Here are four rough
deep direct involvement in workshop-
centred design to reinvent how citizens
profiles of the types of leaders who must
based dialogue about concrete solutions.
experience airport security. Through new
be bold enough to embrace innovation:
Finally, we can tap into the creativity and
insight into citizen’s service journeys, the
innovative potential of ordinary citizens
agency has developed new solutions to
The visionary is the political leader,
by inviting them to submit their own ideas
improve the efficiency and experience of
who must formulate the vision and set
about how to solve societal problems
airports, and enhance the level of
the level of ambition, while overcoming
(crowdsourcing). In other words, we
security. In France, Paris-based La 27e
the temptation to interfere with ongoing
should harvest the entire potential for
Region works as a social laboratory for
experimentation and development.
citizen involvement, as illustrated below.
the
country’s
applying Figure 2: Potential for increased citizen involvement
Co-creation workshops
Crowdsourcing
FEW
applying
regional design
approaches
councils,
and to
other
The enabler is the top manager, who
tackle
must be both protector and the number-
challenges in the fields of education,
one champion of
urban and city development, and social
innovation ability.
the organisation’s
cohesion. They have helped involve local
MANY
Qualitative research
26
service
innovation
CREATING A NEW FUTURE
is
communities and students in co-creating
The 360 degree innovator is the mid-
the architectural blueprint for entirely
level manager; potentially the largest
redesigning a high school in the south of
sceptic of fresh thinking and change
France. In Denmark, we have placed co-
inside government, but also, at best, a
creation at the heart of our efforts at
360-degree facilitator of innovation.
MindLab.
Quantitative surveys
The knowledge engineer is the head of
INFORMING ABOUT THE PRESENT STATE
Co-creation not only ensures that we
institutions which deliver services and
address the real-life challenges of end-
enforce regulation, and who ultimately
For instance, in the UK, the NHS Institute
users of public services; it also guides
determines how the public sector serves
for
is
the involvement of all other internal and
citizens and businesses – every day.
involving physicians, nurses and patients
external stakeholders that are critical to
directly
implementation and assuring behaviour
Being courageous enough to really let
change and societal impact.
citizens and business into the machine-
Innovation in
and
radically
Improvement improving
new
treatments and service processes. In the county of Kent, the Social Innovation Lab
room
Kent (SILK) is reshaping social services
of
public
sector
innovation,
involving them in co-creation, might
Courage
be
ethnographic research, service design
Finally, regardless of how strategic or
these leaders. In a recent issue of the
and empowerment of citizens to take
systematic innovation practices become,
Economist the editors characterized the
part in service delivery. In the United
public sector innovation will not take off
UK government’s spending cuts with
States,
without courageous leadership at all
a single word: ‘Ouch!’. Given the stark
through
creative
the
working
Transportation
methods,
Security
the
biggest
challenge
facing
realities many public managers face right now, it shouldn’t be hard to recognise that In the Netherlands, the Department of Public Works and Water Management in 2008 launched the future centre LEF (it isn’t an acronym, LEF means ‘courage’ in Dutch). LEF is a major physical facility with a number of workshop spaces, open meeting areas, plenary rooms and a large exhibition space. As part of the Ministry, LEF’s ambition is to provide a creative platform for problem solving, ideation processes and enabling breakthroughs for the more than 8.000 employees of the public body. Groups of civil servants can book the space and a team of facilitators to help them tackle their problems and generate new solutions.
embracing innovation is not optional. n Christian Bason is director of the Danish
innovation
unit
MindLab.
Christian Bason’s most recent book, Leading
public
sector
innovation:
Co-creating for a better society, was published by The Policy Press in October 2010.
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