innovation starts with “i”

innovation starts with “i”

helene blowers: we are taking about change, but how do we get it going?

how to move orgs forward.

Tony Tallent, Director of Youth & Outreach Services, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC)
helped open up imaginon, deal day: drop everything and learn (for staff—steal this idea!)

everyone is talking about it, talking about different things, talking about the ingredients of change. think about where you land, are you the jelly or the cellophane?

what innovation is NOT:
process improvement, suggestion boxes, best practices, thinking outside the box (officially retired)

innovation is the intersection of ideas, imagination and pivotal point of reality

it is: doing new things! creativity, action. DOING.
Doing.New.Things. period. action.

what do you want? what do you need?
efficiency innovation
evolutionary innovation
revolutionary innovation
(book title: seeds of innovation)

efficiency innovation

book bundles: an idea that came from a user, “you know… take some books, tie some yarn around them and I could grab a pack when I was on the go”
very low tech

evolutionary innovation

taco bell: open 24 hrs. now taking atm. bringing parts together to make a new product or service

revolutionary innovation

the ipod: changes how we interact and use music (and more!)
zoom shopping (have one in the library?)

Fresh practices: remixing ingredients.

4 components:
creativity
strategy
implementation
profitability

shout out to youth services!!!


I am an innovator:
I have ideas, I’ve done my homework, I’ll do the legwork, I am capable of more than my job description, I am a leader too, I take risks with you.

innovation is a partnership: btw idea person and organization

innovators as managers: give staff a framework, put resources behind expectations (! yes! how can staff innovate without proper resources to do so!), create growth opportunities, SUPPORT work, celebrate success, take risks with you.
no glory grabbing, boys and girls! push the success down and celebrate!!


what does innovation made to you and your organization? how to they converge?
improvement (i words!) !!
we all have our own definitions- how do we make them all come together.

the blender: take the things that you know, successes, failures; take the pieces to make something new. don’t make a wheel.

wild seeds!! wild blooms!

Strategy:
how you are able to convince your organization to move fwd and change?

Make it believable! Focus on the MVV
Mission, Vision, Values: tie those ideas to the MVVs.
how does this new idea fit into the framework of what our library is going: how does it tie to the things our lib is about. this is how the idea is going to meet the needs of what we do.

tell a story: how will one person be affected/changed by the idea.

create alliances: farm your ideas, you’ve got buy in from colleagues when things are ready to move forward

test drive your ideas: prototype, build something with it. hard to sell on “it is really cool” doing the legwork.

don’t ask for permission, ask for support. showing mgmt and org that you are willing to provide the legwork and support.

never SELL your ideas on paper! you can’t see vision on paper. sell it personally, ask for time at a mgmt meeting or a decision maker. sell it visually in someway. walk through the vision, and walk them through a story. your lovely document, 1.5 spaced is in the a huge old pile on a directors desk.

wild success does not look like business as usual. it is panic. wild success because ppl are MAD!! staff members don’t have direction, no scripted answers.
it is magic, it is happiness, it is off the hook.

Summer Reading is a huge program:
gave theatre vouchers instead of chocolate. and what happened: huge demand! had to add more shows.

failure is about innovation! you need to fail, and fail often. these are the experiences you will be learning from. failure is okay. be ready, accept it. BRING IT!!

7 habits of highly innovative ppl:

1. persistence: legwork, alliances
2. remove self-limiting inhibitions: be more than the job descript
3. take risks, make mistakes: reward mistakes. (cliff jumper award)
4. escape: get outside your environment, take it someplace else
5. write things down: postits, notepads everywhere, write it down!!
6. look for patterns and connections: things might appear to be polar opposites, but they are connected
7. stay curious: so much of what libs are about

presentation wasn’t about these ideas, wasn’t about a product. but about change, how to get those ideas into practice. feeling okay about taking risks and making failures. as managers making an environment where idea change is okay.

q: what can you do to help ppl get into change:
a: hb, keep talking about it. keep making ppl comfortable with it. in order for an alvanche of change to occur, needs to be a lot of erosion. keep working at it. keep selling your ideas.