Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 02

February 2017 // Canadian Government Executive / 21 Service Delivery participants as meaningful drivers of con- versation. WC demands a high level of participation and the experience can be immersive. It was designed to elicit an active creative and collaborative capac- ity from attendees, an expectation that goes against the typically passive mode of conference participation. To inspire a shift in conference engagement experi- ence, the OCADU team designed a meta- phorical experience of being a traveler on a world journey. The conceptual set- ting of the “World Café” was presented as a traveler’s experience, facilitated by travel artifacts such as boarding passes and itineraries for workshop participants to “travel” between destinations (tables) to cross-exchange dialogue insights. As the World Café method requires a partici- pant at each table to serve as a host; here they were dubbed “captains” hosting their travelers at each table to share and collate conversations. Open, respectful, and boundary-span- ning dialogue was encouraged. So was creative expression of ideas on table “can- vases” set up for individual and group sharing of ideas in text and visuals. Facili- tators harvested and aggregated emerg- ing ideas, themes, and key concepts with a live visual recording during the work- shop. A summary mural was provided to be shared with conference attendees and as an artifact to inform ongoing research design opportunities at the completion of the event. Many of the public servants in the workshop were surprised that they were encouraged to draw or creatively con- tribute to the table canvases. One was in- credulous: “We can draw?” It is clear that although many government executives may have been exposed to the World Café method in Innovation Labs or facilitated workshops, this type of participatory creative dialogue is still seldom applied internally. It represents a useful oppor- tunity to inspire innovative, open, and boundaryless conversation in public sec- tor organizations. A major purpose of the workshop was to enable real dialogue. The “World Trav- eler” Café facilitated peer sharing, lis- tening, and cross-disciplinary responses to shared challenges. Participants were able to gain validation for contributions that might be taken forward into their organizations following the SRC. Notable workshop insights included proposals and themes relevant to cross-organiza- tional collaboration, service design and delivery, and new skill development. Par- ticipants highlighted the importance of collaboration between the government and the private sector to join informa- tion, data, and skills for the creation of new knowledge towards improved public service delivery. New processes were pro- posed to better understand and articulate client needs. Participants proposed the value of adopting design and creative ser- vice research methods, such as user jour- ney maps, design jams, and co-creation workshops. Participants also identified the lack of connectivity, personalization, and se- curity as potential risks and limitations to designing improved digital services. Trust and the need for a more flexible and adaptable medium for users were emphasized as key to developing more effective citizen-centric services. Over- all, participant feedback after the work- shop evidenced the powerful influence of open, innovative participatory meth- ods that encouraged free-flow and ex- change of ideas. The workshop demonstrated a need for open dialogue and experience-sharing across silos. The boundaryless engage- ment offered by the Café workshop re- veals myriad patterns around the citizen- centric design research experience. These experiences fall into a few archetypal cat- egories such as opportunities, obstacles, losses to be avoided, persistent problems, and innovations to be explored. The out- comes themselves are very informative in setting the stage for ongoing content focus for organizers, and provide confi- dence to participants in understanding commonality of persistent cross-silo is- sues and opportunities. The success of the SRC Café workshop suggests to department leaders that in- novation and performance improvement are available within existing employees, but their knowledge and experience as re- sources for creative development must be leveraged. World Café and other partici- patory methods create the conditions to liberate existing organizational expertise and generate deeper insights when seek- ing comprehensive and creative solutions for citizen-centric services. Perhaps before teams of external expert consultants are hired, department leaders may start with facilitated design workshops to hear from and engage existing organizational exper- tise through collaborative and engaging exploratory design processes. SRC has established the importance of creating a common ground for participa- tory dialogue between government de- partments, academics, and the private sec- tor toward a long-term view of co-creating knowledge and experiences to transform service delivery for Canadians. The work- shop held by the OCAD University SFI team was a complement to this approach, supporting a creative exchange and net- work-building of ideas to enhance service research. The OCAD U team included Roberto Andrade, Pupul Bisht, Chris Chopik, Nannini Lee Balakrishnan, Tania de Gasperis, and Macy Siu, all Master of Design candidates in Strategic Fore- sight and Innovation at OCAD Univer- sity, Toronto. R oberto A ndrade is an innovation facilitator and strategic designer, with international experi- ence in the fields of architecture, design, and innovation. C hris C hopik is a futurist, strategist, group facili- tator, and expert speaker on climate adaptation, infrastructure resiliency, and energy alternatives. M acy S iu is a design researcher, strategist, and facilitator, formerly an intellectual property lawyer, and public servant at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. All three are part of OCAD University’s Strategic Foresight and Innovation program. The success of the SRC Café workshop suggests to department leaders that innovation and performance improvement are available within existing employees, by leveraging their knowledge and experience as resources for creative development.