Lean Organizational Change
Accelerate change in government with innovation adoption theory
Theory helps us make sense of our world and take action effectively. Consider gravity - we don’t need a theory to tell us that objects fall to the ground — we need theory to understand why. This allows us to design and build things like bridges, towers, and airplanes. The same goes for social theories. Social theories help us better understand why people act in certain ways, how groups organize, why something is acceptable in one culture but not another, and how systems produce the outcomes we observe. Most importantly, theories can help us understand how social change happens.
Form and content
The Dr. Everett Rogers’ Innovation Adoption Curve is a theory that depicts how new technologies are introduced and adopted in society. When teaching this theory I invite the class to think about innovation adoption as a story of culture change. Instead of only considering how new technologies spread through society, I want them to also see how new behaviours, practices and perspectives are introduced and adopted. Changing our focus from the content (technology as gadgets and appliances) to the form (the pattern of how technology is introduced and adopted) allows us to see the application of the theory to social and cultural change (ideas, behaviours, attitudes, practices). The diffusion/adoption curve provides us with a lens that can help us act more effectively and accelerate the adoption of new practices in our organizations.
Scale and fractals
As an undergraduate student many years ago, I would linger at the macro level of theory. For example: applying the diffusion of innovation theory to think about how phones and the Internet became common across the globe. This perspective can be overwhelming and the actions of individuals are easily lost, meaning the opportunity to put theory into practice is missed. But theory should empower us to act effectively in our world.
Understanding a bit about fractals might help us put theory into practice. A fractal has a pattern that repeats at both smaller and larger scales. Picture zooming out from something and still seeing a similar pattern. Theory should allow us to do something similar and apply lessons from the Macro (societal) scale at Meso (organizations) and Micro (individual) levels. In recognizing this we might then take social theories, such as the Rogers Innovation Adoption Curve, and apply them at organizational and individual levels.
If the Innovation Adoption curve is accurate, if the story of innovation adoption is also the story of culture change, and if this pattern can be observed at organizational as well as societal levels, then the theory can be used to better understand how we might effectively shift an organization’s culture.
Applying the Innovation Adoption Curve in Government
Between 2017 and 2019 I had the privilege of working with the Government of New Brunswick to grow the innovation maturity of the organization. In our efforts to advance a culture of innovation and accelerate the adoption of new tools and techniques in the provincial government, we borrowed heavily from the innovation adoption curve. The theory identifies five archetypes in a population along a bell curve:
Innovators — introduce new concepts, tools, behaviours
Early Adopters — join when ideas are fuzzy, and technology is buggy. They want to be part of the innovation story
Early Majority — join when they see value
Late Majority — join when there is plenty of support
Laggards — join only when they have to
(Bonus) Resisters — maintain the status quo
This theory helped us take a focused “show-don’t-tell” approach. I learned that it is important to start where your organization is and not try to convince everyone at once. We focused our efforts on identifying the Innovators and Early Adopters within the organization and worked with them to demonstrate value to the Early Majority. Meanwhile, we were trying and testing new ways to spread, support and sustain innovation within the Government.
Three Dimensions of Organizational Change
The first dimension of organizational change is at the practitioner level. This is where we apply the Rogers Innovation Adoption curve and its archetypes most obviously in an effort to spread innovation. The Innovators are those who introduce new concepts, tools or techniques into the organization while the Early Adopters are those who are most eager to learn about new concepts and put new tools and techniques into practice.
In the Government of New Brunswick, we sought out the front-line, program, policy and strategic staff who were more adventurous and committed-to-change, to be our Innovators and Early Adopters. People believe in the value when they see the practice, but they are changed when they experience it. By mobilizing the Innovators and Early Adopters we were able to put the new into practice that then showed the value to the more pragmatic members of staff: the Early Majority and Late Majority.
One of our earliest examples of this happened in a policy project involving staff from six departments and six entrepreneurs. We booked an underutilized board room in a warehouse for four months straight to convene and facilitate collaboration between them. Having a dedicated space produced all sorts of value, and this effort was partly responsible for the establishment of the first open collaboration space at the Government of New Brunswick.
Activities in the first dimension included a Public Innovation Challenge, a Public Innovation Internship program, a Public Innovation 101 Workshop, and trying out low-cost/low-fidelity prototypes.
The second dimension of organizational change is at the management and executive level. Here, we aimed to educate and motivate management to support and promote innovation. Similar to the Innovation Adoption Curve archetypes, managers can be advocates or blockers of innovation. Christian Bason writes about management as either a 360-degree innovation enabler or a layer of clay. With the Government of New Brunswick, we looked for leaders who were eager to try new ways of working to solve complex and wicked problems. The relationship between the executive champions and innovation practitioners is critical to get the time, space and resources needed to do the work and show its value.
Activities in the second dimension included executive training, presentations to management and engaging in the Deputy Minister Public Innovation Council.
With the supply side of innovation mobilized and the innovation champions creating an initial demand pull for innovation, we needed a set of repeatable activities and processes to support and sustain the work. We needed an innovation framework.
The third dimension of organizational change consists of the organizational condition. At this level, we concerned ourselves with the maturity of the organization as a whole, as indicated by the practices, processes, programs, policies, and infrastructure that support and sustain innovation.
I’ve taken the Berg Consulting innovation maturity model and adapted it to a public sector context. There are four levels of maturity:
Entry Level Innovation Practices — broad reference to innovation, executive sponsorship vague or unknown, limited training, idea boxes and brainstorming, no innovation strategy
Emerging Innovation Practices — recognized need for innovation, limited executive sponsorship, training programs, siloed innovation strategies and practices
Coordinated Innovation Practices — a common language for innovation, some executive sponsorship, innovation included in the strategy, repeatable processes
Innovation Leadership — embedded innovation culture, strong executive sponsorship, innovation core to strategy, integrated innovation program across government.
Activities in the third dimension included developing a collaboration space, labs, incubation program, Public Innovation Challenge, design sprints, applications of Theory U, project-based workshops, and Public Innovation 201 Workshop.
Seeing is believing, but experience changes you
If you want to accelerate change in your organization, here’s what I’ve learned. Start from where your organization is at. Don’t try to convince everyone all at once. Find the people who are excited to try new things, and start small.
Look for executives and managers who are willing to free up resources, time, and space to try out new ideas in small ways. Demonstrating the value gives them the confidence to advocate and communicate with others within the organization. As you start getting results, more people will become interested. This gives you a chance to offer new experiences to those who are more practical while producing even greater outcomes. Your colleagues will believe in the value when they see it in action, but they'll be changed when they experience it themselves.
Coupled with other models of organizational maturity, the Dr. Everett Rogers’ Innovation Adoption Curve provides us with a lens on organizational change that can help us greatly accelerate the adoption of innovation practice in our organizations. How meta!
