How to Inject Innovation into Local Government
by Patrick Ibarra, The Mejorando Group
"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction".
- Pablo Picasso
Governments are in business...in the business of public service. Whether in lean times
or flush times, playing it safe is no longer playing it smart. Dramatic change is necessary
today and through the use of a series of vitamins, instead of the traditional pain killers,
leaders can inject an innovative approach into their organizational mind-set of problem-solving.
The source for innovative ideas necessary to positively impact today's public policy issues
confronting municipalities reside in the minds of existing elected and appointed officials,
along with members of their workforce. The key to unlocking the straight jacket and
unleashing leaders and their employees to engage in real talk about real change and
introducing an innovative approach that disrupts the status quo thinking reflected in
the "we've always done it that way" refrain too often repeated in city halls everywhere.
An innovative approach is all about smart risk-taking crucial to addressing today's
unprecedented challenges.
Leaders today must be effective catalysts and translate the forces for change into better
local government. They recognize "doing things different and doing different things" is a
prerequisite for innovation and create a climate that seeks to permeate the traditional
risk-averse culture which limits progressive thinking desperately needed today.
If your city does things the way everybody else does them, why do you think you're going
to do any better? Innovative leaders realize that slashing budgets as a cutback measure
is the equivalent of a person who decides to eat less - the person may lose weight, but
he/she doesn't necessarily improve their health. They contend that traditional innovation
gives way to duplication and makes an organization less distinctive. Consequently, these
leaders recognize their city has a host of competitors in the service delivery business and
adopt a 'next practice' approach over the best practice approach.
Innovators understand their city organization needs talented people more than talented
people need their city organization. Public service is about having a positive impact on
the world around us, where everyday matters. Skilled, passionate people don't simply
want a job, they want to work for a cause and local government is at its core, a cause -
forging an emotional connection with residents to enable government to improve the
quality of life. Innovators foster a work environment so dynamic that most employees
would be hard-pressed to find a similar environment somewhere else. Even though hiring
freezes have become all too common, retaining top flight talent is more crucial today than
ever especially when their roles and responsibilities have expanded with little to no
increases in their compensation.
Innovative leaders think differently about the business of continuous improvement and
invariably talk about it differently as well. Conversations are the oxygen of priorities and
if an organization truly wants to adopt and practice a more innovative like approach to their
organization, they begin by inserting new words into daily discussions and steer people into
a new way of thinking.
Finally, innovative leaders embrace originality as the litmus test for better government and
want employees to be idea entrepreneurs and flourish in a work environment that provides
them room to maneuver. Ultimately, innovators understand that we're only limited by our
imagination in solving today's unprecedented challenges.
If you call yourself an Innovator, what are you doing right now to show it?
Patrick Ibarra, a former city manager owns and operates an organizational improvement
consulting practice, The Mejorando Group (www.gettingbetterallthetime.com), based in
Glendale, Arizona. Patrick is one of the leading U.S. experts on executing change initiatives
for public sector organizations. Mejorando is Spanish for "getting better all the time," and
Ibarra's firm partners with governments, helping them increase employees' performance
and organizational effectiveness by providing consultation, facilitation and training. The
Mejorando Group has worked with a number of cities in Arizona including Casa Grande,
Chandler, Chino Valley, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria, Phoenix, Tucson, and Queen
Creek. For those seeking additional information, Ibarra can be reached at 925-518-0187 or
patrick@gettingbetterallthetime.com.
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