obstacles to innovation: how to plan for a future with roadblocks
TRANSCRIPT
Obstacles to Innovation: How to Plan for a Future with Roadblocks
Breanne Crumpton
GSK Library Fellow
North Carolina Museum of Art
Dilbert by Scott Adam
Personal Roadblocks Things to consider:
• Finding time
• Looking to “perfect” the idea upfront
• Reluctance to ask others for help
• Fear of failure
Personal Roadblocks Things to consider:
• Finding time
• Looking to “perfect” the idea upfront
• Reluctance to ask others for help
• Fear of failure
Is Failure Bad? Things to Consider:
• A learning opportunity (gaps and values)
• Covering up mistakes can have long term consequences
Failure is NECESSARY for innovation.
Gifbin, Grabbed from: http://gifb.in/UqbV
Barriers to Innovation
Scarcity of Resources Overworked Staff:
• Who all needs to be involved in your project?
• How will you encourage them to put aside time to help with your initiative?
Scarcity of Resources Things to Consider
• Layout a clearly defined vision
• Personalize tasks to the individual
• Help evaluate and schedule workload
• Use meeting times wisely
Scarcity of Resources Budget Shortage:
• Where will the money for the project come from?
• What are the library’s current spending priorities?
Scarcity of Resources Things to Consider:
• Look at building partnerships with internally or externally
• Engage in development activities
Communication • Who all needs to be
involved in the communications?
• Are their potential turfs or areas your project might encroach on?
• Will you need to share resources with other departments?
• How is your team communicating?
Communication Things to Consider:
• Mode of communication
• Understanding terminology barriers
• Empathize and be a good listener
• Body language
Iguanamouth, http://lizardshuffle.tumblr.com/
Lack of Technological Infrastructure • What technology is
required to implement your idea?
• Will training be needed for staff?
• Will patrons needs to be trained?
Lack of Technological Infrastructure Things to Consider:
• The digital divide still exists
• Evaluation of adaption by staff and users
• Partnerships to acquire technology support
Resistance to Change Reasons for Resistance:
• Fear of the unknown
• Mistrust
• Loss of job security/control
• Bad timing
• Individual predisposition to change
Resistance to Change Things to Consider:
• Understand the nature of the resistance
• Who all will the change impact and how?
• Have a clear vision with a schedule on when to affect what changes
Patrons and Library Users • Who is the end user
of your innovation?
• How will the innovation impact your user groups?
• Will you innovation meet a user need or fill a gap in user service?
• How will your users react to the change?
Patrons and Library Users Things to Consider:
• Surveys or focus groups
• User experience testing
• Consider community partners
Institutional Culture • How does your
institution handle change? Is it encouraged? Or is there an aversion to risk?
• Are the practiced values different from the advocated ones?
Institutional Culture Things to consider:
• What is institutional culture?
• People are likely to change only if they see the change as easy, rewarding, and normal.
Resources to Always Keep in Mind When Planning Your Idea
• Library/Institution’s Strategic Plan
• Library’s Budget and Spending Priorities
• Organizational Chart
• Risk Management Chart
Risk Management Examples of Risk:
• Financial
• Technical
• People
• Access
• Migration of formats
Iowa State University, Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), found at: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/innovation/
Iowa State University, Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), found at: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/innovation/
Symptoms of Breakdown:
• Lack of clarity of need or problem
• Lack of ideas
• Low management or employee support
Potential Solutions:
• Concept refinement training
• Customer and market research
• Technology research
Iowa State University, Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), found at: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/innovation/
Symptoms of Breakdown:
• Under-resourced projects
• “Flavor of the Month”
• Unclear “why” we are considering concept
Potential Solutions:
• Customer and market research
• Technology research
• Financial analysis
• Competitive analysis
Iowa State University, Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), found at: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/innovation/
Symptoms of Breakdown:
• High costs
• Long development cycles
• Solutions don’t satisfy needs
• Poor team morale/motivation
Potential Solutions:
• Project management planning
• Prototyping
• Simulation and modeling
• Failure mode analysis
Iowa State University, Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), found at: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/innovation/
Symptoms of Breakdown:
• High costs
• Quality problems
• Solutions don’t satisfy needs
• Team confusion
Potential Solutions:
• Postmortem analysis
• Collect customer feedback
https://betaclassroom.wordpress.com/tag/learning-cycle/
Key Takeaways
• Think ahead and research potential barriers, risk, or resistance
• Know your institution, your peers, and your users
• Keep open communication channels on what the innovation is and why it is happening
• Partnering with others can lead to more resources, buy-in, and strengthen the idea
DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL!
Usually attributed to Gartner Group, Received from: http://navfund.com/blog/is-crowdfunding-a-boon-or-a-disaster
