Canadian Government Executive - Volume 21

September 2015 //

Canadian Government Executive /

Innovation

marketing) and consultation with or co-

optation of opponents.

Establish performance

indicators and seek external

reviewers

The use of performance indicators has

been an important public sector trend

over the last twenty years. The 2010 semi-

finalists included the Boston suburb of

Somerville’s SomerStat performance man-

agement system that advanced the state of

the art by developing a close relationship

between statistical analysts working in the

major’s office and departmental managers

and involving the community in providing

feedback about performance.

My research shows that public sector

innovations that have established perfor-

mance indicators and that have invited

external review, for example by academic

evaluators or consultants, are more likely

to be replicated and receive awards or

media attention than those that haven’t.

Many public sector innovations received

at least part of their funding from founda-

tions, and foundations want evaluations

to determine the effectiveness of their

contributions.

The Gates Foundation contributed to

several educational innovations, the Rob-

ert Wood Johnson Foundation to health

care innovations, and the Bloomberg Phi-

lanthropies to innovations based in New

York City. All three of these foundations

demand the application of leading-edge

evaluation methodologies such as random-

ized trials to the initiatives they support.

The winner of the competition, New

York City’s Center for Economic Opportu-

nity, was established to improve the effec-

tiveness of antipoverty programs. The Cen-

ter evaluates initiatives using randomized

trials and scales up those that are working

and terminates those that are not.

Performance data and external reviews

should also be made available online to

citizens to encourage feedback and sug-

gestions for improvements, as Somerville

did. This forms a strong link between pub-

lic sector innovation and the Open Gov-

ernment movement.

Recognize that the media

are watching

Another big difference between public

sector innovations now and two decades

ago is the dramatic increase in media at-

tention: from 50 percent of innovations

being the subject of stories then to almost

all innovations being covered now. The

data also showed that, among the national

media, those with a more liberal orienta-

tion (New York Times, Huffington Post,

National Public Radio) are more likely to

cover public sector innovation than those

that are centrist (CNN, CBS) or conserva-

tive in orientation (Fox News, Wall Street

Journal). Innovators should proactively

seek out the media most likely to tell their

story in a sympathetic way; this can be

useful in building public awareness and

support and in finding funding.

Though the methodology I used in this

research is primarily quantitative, I do

provide examples to illustrate the char-

acteristics of innovations that I observe

and measure. One of the dichotomies I ob-

served is between top-down and bottom-

up innovation.

Both the former (political leadership)

and the latter (local heroism) are well-rep-

resented in both periods. A paradigmatic

instance of political leadership among the

2010 semifinalists was the NYC Service

Program. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in-

spired by President Obama’s call to pub-

lic service in his first inaugural address,

moved quickly to establish a program to

enable thousands of New Yorkers to vol-

unteer to assist government in its work.

Bloomberg ordered his staff to design the

program within a few weeks.

An equally paradigmatic instance of

local heroism is Oregon’s Solar Highway

Program. Allison Hamilton, a middle man-

ager in the state Department of Transpor-

tation, saw a documentary on Germany’s

solar energy initiatives, including the use

of solar panels beside the autobahns to

power their overhead lights. Hamilton

worked from the bottom up, persuading

senior managers in her own department

and the electrical utility regulator to en-

dorse this concept. Ultimately, the federal

Department of Transportation agreed that

putting solar panels on the interstate high-

ways, which it regulated, was in the public

interest. Hamilton’s entrepreneurial atti-

tude was apparent in her view that the ob-

stacles she overcame were simply “words

written on paper long ago that could be

changed as circumstances changed.”

My research about public sector inno-

vation provides both inspirational sto-

ries, such as those of Michael Bloomberg

and Allison Hamilton, as well as evidence

of how to achieve results. Successful in-

novation requires inspiration to dare to

change the status quo and analysis of

how best to do it.

andford

orins

is a Professor of

Public Management in the University

of Toronto. He is also a research fel-

low at the Ash Center for Democratic

Governance and Innovation, Harvard

Kennedy School. Borins is a frequent

conference speaker on public sector

innovation and writes a blog on public

management, innovation, and narrative

www.sandfordborins.com.

My research shows that public sector innovations that have established

performance indicators and that have invited external review, for example

by academic evaluators or consultants, are more likely to be replicated

and receive awards or media attention than those that haven’t.