Lecture Notes: Growing Innovation from Within

Speaker: Anne Duncan

• Current Role: CIO for the County of Santa Clara
• Previous Role: CIO for the US Environmental Protection Agency

Key Topics

Importance of Culture in Innovation

• Innovation is driven by culture, not just organizational structure.
• Changing the physical structure alone is not sufficient for creating a new work environment.
• Bringing new skills into the organization is necessary for driving innovation.

Building a Culture of Innovation

• Bringing in New Skills:

  • Necessary due to the short half-life of technological skills.
  • Incorporate new talent through fellowships, new hires, etc.
  • Experienced employees and new talent should share skills to mutually benefit each other.

• Internal Skill Building:

  • Example: Creation of TSS University to reskill current employees.
  • Offer support for further education (certificates, degrees) at local institutions.
  • Goal is to make employees valuable and retain them by investing in their skills.

Overcoming Middle Management Resistance

• Middle management often resists change.
• Important for middle managers to be on board for successful innovation.
• Strategies must be developed to engage and include middle management in the change process.

Specific Actions and Strategies

• Consolidation of IT departments across multiple county agencies.
• Mission: Transform county services through collaboration, technology innovation, and operational excellence.
• Developed a set of values and principles:
  • Values:
    • Respect: Treat each other respectfully and behave appropriately.
    • Integrity: Act honestly and follow through on commitments.
    • Accountability: Deliver on promises and achieve results.
    • Transparency: Be clear about activities, reasoning, and expenditures.
    • Compassion: Create excellence through kindness and positive coaching.
    • Excellence: Strive for superior outcomes but not at the cost of other values.
  • Principles:
    • People are the most valuable assets.
    • Bias towards action and change; proactively solve problems.
    • One IT: Foster unity across different IT sectors.
    • Build partnerships to maximize technology value.
    • Encourage risk-taking: Take smart risks, learn from them, and avoid costly mistakes.
    • Learning organization: Foster continuous growth and development among employees.

Conclusion

• Changes in culture are crucial for fostering innovation.
• Although challenging, with concerted effort, a culture change towards innovation is achievable.