Post by stefanieoshea on Apr 28, 2016 19:23:12 GMT
• What are the windows of opportunity where we, as an organization, can even better cultivate a culture of innovation? And more specifically, how might we, as members of the Leadership Academy from a range of divisions across Fedcap, continue to work together to cultivate a culture of innovation?
I think that the area in which we can truly begin to innovate is in the way we spread the message about what we do. This is an age where social media rules everything and people are comfortable with messaging and information coming at them much more rapidly than in previous generations. As a nonprofit, it was historically unpopular to “brag” about your good work, but today that is the only way in which to compete with donors, potential staff, funding sources and consumers. We have to share what we are doing and it has to be innovative and unlike what other people are doing.
As members of the Leadership Academy we can collaborate and prioritize what we want to be shared and with who, with an eye towards the benefits that we can reap departmentally and as an organization. Doug founded the Daily Table by thinking about a need and then figuring out an innovative way to fill that void, which was the basis for something revolutionary that got the people talking.
• What types of questions might you pose to your team to inspire innovation? How do we make sure that we are looking at the right problem? For example, what assumptions do we make in workforce development about people who are out of work - how do we look at the problem from different angles to see the problem differently?
One of the questions that I like to ask in my one-on-ones with staff or in team meetings is: what is working? What is not working? I think that this gives people the opportunity to review what we are doing well but also take an honest look to where we may be failing short, which then allows us to brainstorm how we can make things work better. When it is around the work we do with clients (so, 99% of the time) I will sometimes ask the staff person to look at it from the perspective of the client, the funding source, or the guardian of the client to make sure that they are not looking at it through the same lens. It is too easy in our world to jump to the assumption that we know what is best for others since we have dedicated our careers to just that, but that can cause us to look at things from a completely different perspective than the people we serve, and we (myself included) sometimes need to come back to another way of thinking about things.
• What barriers, based on our conversations and discussion in the book, do you see that could get in the way of implementing a great idea?
There are many barriers to implementing great ideas and I think that in our world it is often because we do not want to mess with a good process in the hopes of making it great, based on the chance that we may fail, waste resources, or negatively affect the opinion and trust that our stakeholders have in our programs. It takes guts to pull the brakes on doing the same old thing in the hopes of improving it, and sometimes the risks can make that step seem much too scary to take!
• How might we surmount those barriers?
We surmount them by having leadership that is willing to think innovatively and not be comfortable in sitting in the status quo. You also have to have staff people that can make the argument for pushing down those barriers by doing the research, collaborating with others and making solid strategic plans around the ideas.
• What is the next thing?
The next thing is the next big idea – the thing that makes Fedcap stand out from other organizations and become a household name, not just in our world but with the general public. The next thing has people buzzing about our work and getting people interested in what we do, including how they can help us do more.
Doug also talked about how important it is to communicate and relate directly to the community close by to see things from their standpoint. As we think about calling forth a culture of innovation at Fedcap, how might you involve your clients and/or stakeholders in a conversation about Doug’s question: “What are the product or services that are not being met?” As we proceed in the Leadership Academy, it will be interesting to collect client feedback and bring back what we’ve learned to share with each other.
One of the things that CWS has done for many years is to provide and collect “client satisfaction surveys” so that clients can give anonymous, honest feedback about the work that we are doing and how it is impacting their lives. We have also used similar surveys to collect feedback from employers and customers of our social enterprises to get the same anonymous feedback. These are great tools for determining whether services and programs are meeting the intended goals, but they mean little if the information is not analyzed and discussed, with a follow up to all about what will change as a result of the feedback. When people take time to give their honest opinions, they want to know that it has been heard and what will be done with that information and then see something come from it, which is where I think we can improve. Just as Doug went into neighborhoods to get feedback on his products and services, it would have meant nothing if he did not make obvious changes or plans based on the feedback people provided, and would have made those people lose their faith in him if they had been ignored after taking their time to give feedback.
I think that the area in which we can truly begin to innovate is in the way we spread the message about what we do. This is an age where social media rules everything and people are comfortable with messaging and information coming at them much more rapidly than in previous generations. As a nonprofit, it was historically unpopular to “brag” about your good work, but today that is the only way in which to compete with donors, potential staff, funding sources and consumers. We have to share what we are doing and it has to be innovative and unlike what other people are doing.
As members of the Leadership Academy we can collaborate and prioritize what we want to be shared and with who, with an eye towards the benefits that we can reap departmentally and as an organization. Doug founded the Daily Table by thinking about a need and then figuring out an innovative way to fill that void, which was the basis for something revolutionary that got the people talking.
• What types of questions might you pose to your team to inspire innovation? How do we make sure that we are looking at the right problem? For example, what assumptions do we make in workforce development about people who are out of work - how do we look at the problem from different angles to see the problem differently?
One of the questions that I like to ask in my one-on-ones with staff or in team meetings is: what is working? What is not working? I think that this gives people the opportunity to review what we are doing well but also take an honest look to where we may be failing short, which then allows us to brainstorm how we can make things work better. When it is around the work we do with clients (so, 99% of the time) I will sometimes ask the staff person to look at it from the perspective of the client, the funding source, or the guardian of the client to make sure that they are not looking at it through the same lens. It is too easy in our world to jump to the assumption that we know what is best for others since we have dedicated our careers to just that, but that can cause us to look at things from a completely different perspective than the people we serve, and we (myself included) sometimes need to come back to another way of thinking about things.
• What barriers, based on our conversations and discussion in the book, do you see that could get in the way of implementing a great idea?
There are many barriers to implementing great ideas and I think that in our world it is often because we do not want to mess with a good process in the hopes of making it great, based on the chance that we may fail, waste resources, or negatively affect the opinion and trust that our stakeholders have in our programs. It takes guts to pull the brakes on doing the same old thing in the hopes of improving it, and sometimes the risks can make that step seem much too scary to take!
• How might we surmount those barriers?
We surmount them by having leadership that is willing to think innovatively and not be comfortable in sitting in the status quo. You also have to have staff people that can make the argument for pushing down those barriers by doing the research, collaborating with others and making solid strategic plans around the ideas.
• What is the next thing?
The next thing is the next big idea – the thing that makes Fedcap stand out from other organizations and become a household name, not just in our world but with the general public. The next thing has people buzzing about our work and getting people interested in what we do, including how they can help us do more.
Doug also talked about how important it is to communicate and relate directly to the community close by to see things from their standpoint. As we think about calling forth a culture of innovation at Fedcap, how might you involve your clients and/or stakeholders in a conversation about Doug’s question: “What are the product or services that are not being met?” As we proceed in the Leadership Academy, it will be interesting to collect client feedback and bring back what we’ve learned to share with each other.
One of the things that CWS has done for many years is to provide and collect “client satisfaction surveys” so that clients can give anonymous, honest feedback about the work that we are doing and how it is impacting their lives. We have also used similar surveys to collect feedback from employers and customers of our social enterprises to get the same anonymous feedback. These are great tools for determining whether services and programs are meeting the intended goals, but they mean little if the information is not analyzed and discussed, with a follow up to all about what will change as a result of the feedback. When people take time to give their honest opinions, they want to know that it has been heard and what will be done with that information and then see something come from it, which is where I think we can improve. Just as Doug went into neighborhoods to get feedback on his products and services, it would have meant nothing if he did not make obvious changes or plans based on the feedback people provided, and would have made those people lose their faith in him if they had been ignored after taking their time to give feedback.