Making Space for Innovation
Innovation was a popular topic during our Neighbourhoods themed fortnight. More specifically, we considered how we can bring together our existing communities to innovate and reimagine Redbridge. ‘Making Space for Innovation’ heard from three speakers, who inspired us to embrace change and encouraged us to use our partnerships and relationships to reimagine the future of neighbourhoods for our residents. Interestingly, each of them thought about ‘space’ in a different way.
First of all we heard from Chris who joined us from The Public Services Lab. His focus was on developing relationships and partnerships to bring about innovative solutions to the problems that we see in the borough. He argued that, at present, services are done to people rather than being created with them. Chris challenged us to come together, take a white piece of paper and rethink and reimagine our problems. But this posed another important question- who should be in the room for this? And do we, as a council, currently have the connections to bring people together?
Chris spoke about some stereotypes of local government which we are all too familiar with: silo-ed activity where services are busy delivering to a high standard, but don’t communicate with each other or other organisations. He put forward an argument for nourishing an important partnership - a blend between the private, public and the third sector to produce the best outcomes for our communities.
It struck me that there was something in particular we can learn from The Public Services Lab: they have taken the time to understand what drives each sector and how they perceive the other organisations that they work with. To innovate, the public sector is crying out for us to take risks, look for opportunities for early intervention and focus on the root of problems rather than the symptoms that emerge from them. They want to see more action and less talking. So, who’s ready to join us and take action?
Following on from Chris, Councillor Niraj Dittani from Harrow then spoke to us about seeking opportunities for innovation. Councillor Dattani is a creative, innovative thinker and works for Spacehive, a crowdfunding platform which enables local people to deliver on local initiatives, such as the playground in Wanstead Park.
He’s always challenged the way that things work. As a Councillor he has pitched what have been seen as ‘out there’ ideas, and he was open with us about the fact that people haven’t always been on board with his vision. He also encouraged us to look towards ‘the Council of the future’ as one shaped by innovation. We were asked to imagine a scale of 0 (least innovative) – 10 (most innovative). In all of his work with local authorities, Councillor Dattani argued that no Council is at 10. So how can we be the first? He said that he’s had to work with local authorities to change their processes, behaviours and mindsets to be open to this model. As the world of local government changes, how can we nurture the ideas of people like Councillor Dattani who want to drive positive change for residents?
We were also encouraged to look proactively for opportunities for innovation. Councillor Dattani has worked with a lot of tech hubs and it’s rare they’ve done any work with Councils. Councils aren’t making the best use of the technology that’s out there.
So what is stopping us from innovating? Perhaps we have limited knowledge of technology and what could be out there to help us. Digital is the way we communicate, shop – why shouldn’t it be how the Council interacts with its residents? Councillor Dattani has also seen people be wary of the risk surrounding innovation. However, there is a lot of concern around the future of local government and now is the time to think outside of the box and challenge ourselves to take the leap. A final thought from Councillor Dattani - if you were to design a Council from scratch today, how would you go about it?
Having heard about developing relationships and opportunities for innovation, the final speaker then spoke to us about opening our minds to innovation.
Dr Matthew Thompson spoke to us about ‘playing with the rules of the game’ to bring about transformative social innovation. He defined social innovation as using our imaginations and skills for problem solving and applying them to social problems for progressive ends.
He said that most people think about innovation as knowledge, process, and product – an opportunity to bring in profit or to get a competitive edge in a global market. However, the most important part is creativity and imagination. Where innovation has previously focused on developing something new in a free-floating market place, we are located in Redbridge and have to be aware of the context of our problems. Dr Thompson made us aware of a current tension between social innovation (the changes in the way that we do things, organise etc.) and transformative social innovation (the changes to systems and processes). It is time for us to rethink ‘enterprise’ and apply it as ‘social entrepreneurship’. Put simply, it’s time for us to find collective ways of delivering as the people of Redbridge.
He argued that we need to look at innovation as a state of ‘play’. As it stands, we exist in a multiplayer game – a place where everyone knows the rules (although sometimes we’re distracted by game changers such as Brexit and local government funding). However, games dictate rules and demand an often predictable resolution. Organisations and institutions like the Council are often seen to play by ‘the rules of the game’- but it’s not a level playing field because some people understand the rules of the game and others don’t. Instead of just playing ‘the game’, we need to be open to playing generally. Playing is a free expression of creative energy. Imagine a playground where playing sees children design a whole host of their own games, create their own rules and invite everyone in to be part of the process.
If we want to think in more detail about ‘Making Space for Innovation’, it is probably time for us to forge our own playground. How can we ‘make friends, make friends, never, never break friends’ to form long lasting relationships which enable innovation? How can we look outside of the sandbox and swing higher for new ideas? How can we open our minds to a new way of playing?
