OVERCOMING
BARRIERS TO
ADOPTION FOR
INNOVATIONS IN
POLICY
REFLECTIONS FROM THE INNOVATION TOOLKIT
CARALEIGH HOLVERSON
Innovation refers to an idea, embodied in a technology, product, ou
processus, which is new and creates value. To be impactful, nouveautés
must also be scalable, not merely one-off novelties.
—National Economic Council and Office of Science & Technology Policy
“A Strategy for American Innovation,” October 2015
The U.S. federal government is most
likely not the first institution that comes
to mind when considering agile, adap-
tive, and innovative new initiatives, mais
numerous federal departments and
agencies have in fact been quietly mov-
ing toward such frameworks in recent
années. This raises two questions: What
does innovation look like in the current
federal context? How can innovation
thrive in a diverse, segmented, institut-
tionally constrained, and risk-averse
bureaucracy? Drawing from lessons on
policy innovation from the Obama
administration, I offer reflections based
on an intensive nine-month research
project for the Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP). The aim of
the project was to gather findings to
guide the development of a federal
“Innovation Toolkit.” The Toolkit—a
digital knowledge-sharing resource for
federal employees intended to debut in
late 2017—aims not to spur innovation
for innovation’s sake, but to encourage
the continual evolution of the federal
bureaucracy toward a 21st-century gov-
ernment that works better and costs
less. This effort to capture the broad
range of recent innovative efforts and
document how agencies have piloted,
iterated, and scaled novel practices is
64
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
one component of a larger strategy to
encourage the adoption of these inno-
vative tools and mindsets throughout
the government.
Research Projects Agency but also in
the Department of Health and Human
Services and the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
A review of the Innovation Toolkit
research process and its findings offers
a window into the variety of active
efforts taking place within executive
branch agencies to diffuse and scale
new ways of working across the govern-
ment. In this article I will briefly explain
the project’s genesis and the efforts to
bring the Toolkit to fruition; detail the
theoretical grounding that motivated
the endeavor; and explore challenges
and strategies for supporting further
dissemination of federal innovations.
To the reader curious (and perhaps
skeptical) about the state of innovation
in government, I offer an optimistic
view of the prospects for continued
growth of awareness, and in the adop-
tion and adaptation of successful inno-
vations systematically across the entire-
ty of government. More innovation is
occurring in the federal government
than is commonly realized. Strong
pockets of innovation exist in nearly
every corner of the federal bureaucra-
cy—not just from the usual suspects
like NASA or the Defense Advanced
While most of the Toolkit research was
focused on capturing the tactical
knowledge necessary to implement spe-
cific innovative methods, the successful
deployment, adoption, and adaptation
of innovative tools was also a specific
focal point. Our research found that
achieving widescale transformational
change often involves moving many
levers in concert at once. En particulier,
successful efforts to introduce innova-
tion require both “top-down” and “bot-
tom-up” approaches; to sustain initia-
tives, concurrent efforts are necessary at
both the individual and enterprise-
level. Although it is true that many gov-
ernment agencies are governed by a
culture of compliance and risk aver-
sion, our research found a significant
distinction between the commonly per-
ceived barriers to innovation and the
actual obstacles, which are often more
rooted in tradition than regulation.
Sustaining the progress made in recent
years will require a concerted effort
across federal agencies to foster a cul-
ture that embraces continuous learning,
experimentation, and collaboration.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caraleigh Holverson is the Cofounder and Managing Director of the Policy Design Lab, a consul-
tancy that advances the implementation of evidence-based, innovative approaches that broadly
benefit the public. Holverson served as the Policy Design Lab’s primary author for the draft
Innovation Toolkit content.
© 2017 Caraleigh Holverson
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
65
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
TEXT BOX 1. Key Findings from the Innovation Toolkit
(cid:2)(cid:1)Concurrent work at the individual and enterprise levels is required to sustain initia-
tives.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Tradition, not regulation, is more often at the root of barriers to innovation.
(cid:2)(cid:1) Cross-agency shifts in culture and mindset are needed to build cultures that foster
continuous learning, experimentation, and collaboration.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Cultural shifts are already happening, as evidenced in the movement to build a federal
innovation hub.
Our immersive research on how inno-
vation is thought of, talked about, et
executed in the federal ecosystem sug-
gests that, beyond the specific processes
and tools, successful innovation rests on
building a culture and encouraging a
mindset that values experimentation
and openness. As the movement to
build a federal innovation hub now
transitions to a networked collaboration
of peer innovators, it bodes well for the
continued uptake and adoption of vali-
dated innovative tools throughout fed-
eral agencies.
THE INNOVATION TOOLKIT
The Innovation Toolkit was conceived
in the Office of Science and Technology
Policy in 2014. Its development and
direction were led by Thomas Kalil,
OSTP deputy director, and Daniel
Correa, senior advisor for innovation
politique. The Toolkit, which reflects their
vision for innovative 21st-century gov-
ernment, was grounded by OSTP’s col-
laborative approach to working in part-
nership with agencies and external
actors. While the Toolkit was initiated
by OSTP, its focus was consistently
directed outward—either to spotlight
agency-led work, or to demonstrate
how future White House leadership
could create partnerships with external
stakeholders to achieve greater out-
comes.
The methodological “tools” featured in
the Toolkit follow the broad contours of
federal innovation as first envisioned in
the “Strategy for American Innovation,»
a bold policy-strategy document issued
by the Obama administration in 2009
and updated in 2011 et 2015. In the
Octobre 2015 version, the administra-
tion confirmed plans to develop the
Toolkit “to facilitate the broader adop-
tion and awareness of a core set of inno-
vative approaches” that had been suc-
cessfully tested and validated in various
pockets within the federal bureaucra-
cy.” Conceived of as a digital learning
resource for federal employees, le
Toolkit would “explain how and why
these approaches can yield important
results for the American people.”1.
In the nine months preceding the end of
the Obama administration in January
2017, Joshua Schoop, Philip Auerswald,
and I engaged in an intensive research
and documentation process to assist in
creating content for the Toolkit. Notre
contribution was of course one piece in
a sustained (and ongoing) crowd-
sourced effort to bring the Toolkit to
fruition. Building on volunteer efforts
66
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
TEXT BOX 2. “Innovation” in the Federal Context
The scope of the Toolkit covered a range of innovative tools. Some approaches were
structural—like appointing a chief innovation officer or starting an agency innova-
tion lab—while others were programmatic, like introducing tiered grantmaking, un
I-Corps (Innovation Corps) cohort, or prize competitions in agency programs. UN
select few focused on the power of White House leadership, such as the ability to
spur collaborative, multi-agency grand challenges or convene external stakeholders
and generate aligned public-private commitments. Broadly, cependant, ces
approaches can be distilled into several fundamental precepts. Innovation in the
federal context entails:
(cid:2)(cid:1)Building environments that encourage continuous learning, experimentation, et
improvement
(cid:2)(cid:1)Using modern tools and approaches to solving intractable problems
(cid:2)(cid:1) Creating a government that is open, transparent, responsive, data-driven, evi-
dence-based, and citizen-centered
(cid:2)(cid:1) Setting ambitious goals that can be achieved only with a combination of direct
action by the federal government and the mobilization of collaborative efforts
from other actors (including companies, nonprofits, foundations, and state and
local government)
(cid:2)(cid:1) Sourcing outside expertise to enhance day-to-day effectiveness through flexible
hiring authorities, public-private partnerships, crowdsourcing initiatives, et
prize competitions
(cid:2)(cid:1)Prioritizing agility, openness, and data-driven decisionmaking as default ways of
working*
* Thomas Kalil, unpublished memo, Avril 11, 2016.
of a cadre of Presidential Management
Fellows and with direction from OSTP,
we engaged more than 150 innovative
change agents in substantive content
review or in-depth interviews. Le
majority were established champions of
innovation, including senior leaders,
career employees, and accomplished
subject-matter experts who were enthu-
siastically serving a “tour of duty” with
the federal government.
Our approach was adaptive and it
reflected the applied nature of the con-
tent. We conducted a review of the pub-
lic innovation and change management
literature, but were primarily focused
on synthesizing practical insights from
the considerable internal documenta-
tion shared by agency leaders and OSTP
staff. Qualitative research methods
guided our interview selection and con-
tent coding process. From hundreds of
hours of audio and thousands of pages
of documentation, we developed nearly
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
67
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
TEXT BOX 3. The Goals of the Innovation Toolkit, as Envisioned by
Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director of OSTP
(cid:2)(cid:1)Increase awareness at all levels of the federal government of innovative approach-
es that have track records of success in the public sector.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Strengthen the knowledge and evidence base about how and under what circum-
stances to use these approaches.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Promote the increased and effective adoption of these approaches when appropri-
ate.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Encourage the identification, documentation, and sharing of promising practices
through communities of practice—within agencies, across agencies, across levels
of government, between government and the private sector.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Increase the chances that the knowledge and use of these effective, nonpartisan
approaches will persist across administrations, especially given that they are non-
partisan.*
* Thomas Kalil, unpublished memorandum, Avril 11, 2016.
550 pages of content to be divided mod-
ularly in a digital format. Sixteen specif-
ic content areas described in detail the
effective methods and frameworks that
agencies and their changemakers could
use to pursue specific goals, like launch-
ing a prize competition to elicit new
ideas and solutions, or applying innova-
tive methodologies like Lean Startup
and human-centered design to make
government service delivery more effi-
cient and responsive. Several dozen case
studies illustrated how these innovative
tools have been applied by federal inno-
vators to achieve their agency missions
more effectively, and often at a lower
coût. We also worked with staff from the
U.S. Agency
International
Development and Health and Human
Services to create “deep-dive” case stud-
ies on their respective agencies, lequel
have both been marked in recent years
by systemic advances in initiating and
institutionalizing innovation. The rea-
pour
son for focusing deeply on two of the
most mature instances of federal inno-
vation was to understand how the
process of change had taken place, et
to illuminate how innovation efforts
can evolve when used by other innova-
tors wishing to drive transformative
change in their agencies.
In chronicling successful initiatives
from dozens of agencies, we found
enthusiastic champions for innovation
in nearly every corner of the federal
government. It felt at times like we were
creating an “innovators’ yearbook” as
we raced against the clock to capture the
tacit knowledge in the minds of the
changemakers who were integrally
involved in the most successful recent
innovation initiatives, many of whom
were soon to leave federal service. Non
matter what was to come next political-
ly, a large degree of personnel transition
and turnover was about to occur with
68
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
Chiffre 1. The Adoption Curve Framework
Image reproduced under Creative Commons license.
the changeover in administrations—but
there was never a hint of partisan flavor
to the endeavor. Ainsi, our animating
vision was to capture this knowledge in
the hope of lessening the learning curve
for future innovators, and in so doing to
continue to improve the functioning of
core processes of government.
The goal was not just to tell stories of
great innovation but to shine a light on
good ideas and lay out a blueprint for
future innovators: “Here is how to do it,
what will be most effective, and who
you can call for help.” In documenting
practical guidance and resources on the
“hows” that underline these solutions,
our aim was to offer insights that both
senior leadership and program man-
agers would find relevant for deploying
innovative levers from their particular
vantage points.
There can be a dangerous temptation to
draw overly broad generalities or to
imply that “innovation in the govern-
ment” can be usefully interrogated as a
singular or unified concept. En fait, notre
research for the Toolkit involved multi-
ple overlapping communities within the
federal government, and we attempted
to capture the breadth of activity taking
place in dozens of agencies, each of
them tackling unique challenges with
different skillsets, time horizons, et
working definitions of what constituted
innovation. Precisely because of that
broad scope, cependant, our task created
a unique vantage point from which to
survey the myriad innovation efforts
taking place throughout the federal gov-
ernment.
THEORY OF CHANGE:
TARGETING THE EARLY
MAJORITY
Much of our research centered on
drawing out the tacit knowledge held by
innovation practitioners, mais, comme
described, the Toolkit was also deeply
informed by existing bodies of research
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
69
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
on innovation. The literature on inno-
vation (and organizational change man-
agement) is rife with theories on how
large-scale transformation can occur.2.
Everett Rogers’ adoption innovation
curve and Geoffrey Moore’s contribu-
tion to that framework provided the
most direct guidance for the theory of
change underlying the Toolkit. (Rogers’
adoption curve was also repeatedly ref-
erenced by senior leaders as a decisive
influence in their innovation portfolio
strategies.) As Rogers chronicled, le
spread of new ideas often follows a dis-
tinct sequence. Early innovators cham-
pion a new idea, creating awareness for
the innovation; the knowledge is then
diffused throughout the system, où
other individuals are persuaded by evi-
dence of its efficacy to adopt and imple-
ment the novel concept into their own
travail. Early adopters seek the comfort
of numbers and initial precedent, mais
they will enthusiastically embrace the
promise of a new idea. Late adopters
may be even more cautious but also will
respond to validated evidence of suc-
cess. As uptake increases, a multiplier
effect takes hold, eventually leading to a
tipping point where widespread adop-
tion is achieved.3.
One drawback to the adoption curve
framework is that it can imply a more
simplified, deterministic progression to
the change process than is often the
reality. Actual adoption is frequently
uglier, messier, and more time-consum-
ing than the graph might suggest, et
successful adoption of an innovation is
reliant upon change agents working
purposefully toward that end. Malgré
that caveat, the framing functioned as
useful intellectual scaffolding for both
the Toolkit’s content development and
the underlying rationale for its creation.
The content was framed with the goal of
crossing the “chasm” Moore identi-
fied—that is, to move past the early
stage of innovation, when a few enthu-
siastic early adopters evangelize the use
of a novel approach, to the latter stages,
when a majority of potential users rec-
ognize the value of the approach and
accept its use as a given. The how-to
insights and case studies we prepared
were designed with an eye toward
bridging the gap between the core inno-
vators and early adopters, et le
broader early majority. The Toolkit
summarizes the successful initiatives of
the early adopters for that early majori-
ty, who are thought to be process ori-
ented, pragmatic, and needing evidence
of success. Winning over the early
majority of civil servants—those who
might be curious and open to trying
new methods, but who also need to be
persuaded of the value of a new innova-
tive tool and learn how to implement it
in their work—was seen as the next step
in achieving widescale use of these
innovative tools.
Different departments and agencies
exist at different points along the adop-
tion curve, with many federal agencies
progressively adopting one or more of
the innovative approaches comprising
the Innovation Toolkit. Cependant, rela-
tive to the full scale of the federal gov-
ernment, the market share of the
approaches comprising the Innovation
Toolkit remains low. One reason for
this is that the approaches themselves
are relatively new, and awareness and
understanding remain limited. A sec-
ond reason is that much structured sup-
port for would-be innovation adopters
has been under-resourced or scattered
and siloed. The most significant reason
for this low market share, cependant,
70
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
relates to the challenges of introducing
innovations in the federal context.
Those challenges—and strategies for
increasing uptake—are the focus of the
rest of this paper.
ADOPTION BARRIERS:
PERCEIVED VERSUS REAL
OBSTACLES
Perceived Barriers
Change management on any large,
institutional scale entails its own set of
challenges. I will briefly explore some of
the recurrent barriers to adoption we
found during our research. Cependant, il
may be more instructive to first explore
examples of some of the perceived
obstacles to deploying innovations in
government. While the public sector
may be institutionally averse to risk-
taking, many of the common concerns
are not really the insurmountable barri-
ers they are often understood to be. Notre
research found that regulation is often
presented as the chief obstacle to inno-
vation, but that often fails to stand up to
close scrutiny. New initiatives often
encounter resistance that is grounded in
tradition, as opposed to black-letter law.
Besides recalcitrant “But we’ve always
done it this way” attitudes, there is fre-
quently a lack of clarity about the actual
requirements of a given law or regula-
tion. An aspiring innovator may be told,
“No, you can’t do that,” when in reality
the new ways of working are fully com-
pliant with existing laws and regula-
tion. This is most evident in areas like
recruitment and procurement, où
well-meaning human resource and con-
tracting officers may be unfamiliar with
lesser-known mechanisms such as flexi-
ble hiring authorities or innovative con-
tracting approaches. Schedule A(r) fel-
lowship hiring authority, which permits
term appointments for “tours of duty”
of up to four years and can source appli-
cants without using the USAJOBS.gov
portal, is a hiring mechanism excepted
from many requirements and available
to all federal agencies (voir 5 CFR
213.3102 (r)). Its use has been limited,
ostensibly because many human
resource officers are not acquainted
with the scope of its potential applica-
tion. And while the Federal Acquisition
Regulations (FAR) are often seen as
strongly inhibiting experimentation
with new approaches for issuing federal
contracts, the code governing contract-
ing matters finds that “reasonable risk-
taking is appropriate as long as risks are
controlled and mitigated.”4. A number
of “innovative contracting” approaches
piloted in recent years operate wholly
within the existing confines of the FAR,
as explored in Text Box 4 (see next
page).
Two additional examples of misunder-
stood regulations that can unnecessarily
inhibit the use of new methodologies
such as Lean Startup or human-cen-
tered design include the Paperwork
Reduction Act, which governs federal
employees’ communications with the
public, and Section 508, which by law
requires information presented to the
to all.
to be accessible
public
Compliance with Paperwork Reduction
Act procedures can be incorrectly
understood as limiting certain types of
communication with external stake-
holders, but in fact it does not apply to
cases of limited user testing or customer
discovery (par exemple., if the information is not
“structured” or has been compiled on
fewer than nine individuals). Et,
while compliance with Section 508 est
required for digital and web develop-
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
71
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
TEXT BOX 4. Innovative Approaches to Contracting
The federal acquisition workforce is responsible for awarding and administering more
que $450 billion in contracts each year.* There are a variety of newer, Plus facile, plus
effective acquisition models and processes that can be used under existing regulations
and authorities to help agencies maximize value while minimizing their spending.
These innovative contracting approaches emphasize buying what works and paying
only for successful outcomes. They also share an emphasis on stimulating demand in
the marketplace for new solutions. As “demand-pull” mechanisms, they can offer fed-
eral agencies the ability to discover, prove, and scale novel solutions and more impactful
résultats. These approaches include:
(cid:2)(cid:1)Rapid technology prototyping to try out new technologies rapidly and inexpensively
(cid:2)(cid:1)Staged contracts to solicit proposals and quickly assess their merits
(cid:2)(cid:1)Competitive milestone-based payments to attract new solutions to well-defined, mul-
tistage problems
(cid:2)(cid:1)Incentive prizes to source new ideas from citizen problem-solvers
(cid:2)(cid:1) Challenge-based acquisitions to break the entry barrier for new actors, like startup
firms
(cid:2)(cid:1) Nonbinding purchase agreements to collaborate with industry and incentivize new
solutions, without firmly committing to future purchases
(cid:2)(cid:1)Advance market commitments to create new markets and commit to long-term pric-
ing for purchases+
* “Overview of Awards by Fiscal Year,” USASpending.gov, 2017.
+ “Innovative Contracting Case Studies,” White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
2014
ment, that requirement applies only to
official government products and serv-
ices; it does not govern prototypes or
experimental products and services that
have not yet been made official.
Regardless of the law in question, one of
the key findings of our research is that,
to enable innovators to overcome resist-
ance, it’s essential to distinguish recom-
mendations from regulations. One of
the most powerful antidotes is to go to
the source and not to rely on mythic
understanding of where the boundary
lines lie.
Real Obstacles
Besides the perceived challenges, a vari-
ety of genuine—and pernicious—barri-
ers also inhibit the adoption of innova-
tion. Next I offer a brief review of three
broader factors that exacerbate the chal-
lenge of scaling innovation—skepti-
cism, risk aversion, and defenders of the
status quo—and offer thoughts on their
remedy. The consideration of culture
and how to build a culture of innova-
tion merit extended consideration in
the following section.
72
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
Innovation is an overused word for
lequel, regrettably, there is no good sub-
stitute. Many process changes termed
innovative are not, which can have the
unfortunate effect of tarnishing the
term with suspicion. Many career civil
servants may be predisposed to skepti-
cism about new initiatives to support
innovation, in part because of their
experience with agency-wide efforts
that came before. This can be com-
pounded by the short tenure of political
appointees, who may not serve long
enough to see their innovations institu-
skepticism
tionalized. Combatting
therefore requires evidence of real
résultats. Interviewees told us that start-
ing small with pilots or experiments
that demonstrate success can help build
momentum by creating a positive feed-
back loop. As the value of a new
approach becomes self-evident with
early “quick wins,” offices and subunits
can become enthusiastic champions.
Resistance to innovation can also natu-
rally emanate from structural con-
straints. The federal bureaucracy is
inherently a constrained, risk-averse
environment designed for accountabili-
ty rather than flexibility. En outre,
incentive structures within the public
sector tend to penalize failure while
inadequately rewarding experimenta-
tion. Civil servants, regardless of their
innate desire to innovate, operate in a
culture predicated on compliance, et
agency staff are rightly concerned with
having to answer to congressional man-
dates and file annual reports. Several
interview subjects noted, for example,
the pressure on contracting officers;
their training and guidance stress their
personal liability to prosecution for
fraud, waste, or abuse. Federal innova-
tion leaders do well to understand the
civil service’s vantage point and opera-
tional constraints: “The people who
own the operations that government
leaders would like to see ‘innovated’
aren’t measured by innovation,” writes
Jennifer Pahlka, CEO of Code for
America and a founding member of the
U.S. Digital Service. She continues:
“They are measured by (or perceive
themselves to be measured by) stability,
reliability, and compliance with a wide
range of policies, laws, and regulations.
And they retain the authority and
resources to get those results in the face
of any number of innovation initiatives
imposed upon them.”5.
En même temps, one must be careful;
discussions about a compliance culture
can descend, even unintentionally, into
denigrating career civil service as overly
cautious and uninterested in improve-
ment. This is not only an unfair charac-
terization, it can be actively detrimental
to change initiatives. Many career civil
servants were drawn to public service by
their strong desire to make a positive
contribution. They aren’t looking for a
lecture on why innovation is important,
although they welcome tools that help
perform their jobs more effectively.6.
There’s no incentive to innovate in an
environment where risk-taking isn’t
rewarded, or where the dominant
expectation is to cyclically repeat last
year’s performance. To move beyond
innovation evangelists and into the
incentives
mainstream, employees’
must be better aligned to reward exper-
imentation and discovery.
Enfin, one additional “headwind”
merits brief mention: external stake-
holders who can be more invested in the
status quo than they are supportive of
innovation. It is not surprising that the
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
73
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
TEXT BOX 5. Flexible Hiring Authorities and a “Tour of Duty” Approach
“Tours of duty” through flexible hiring mechanisms are a powerful complement to
existing hiring processes. They empower agencies to engage and recruit top talent
using a “call to serve” that can attract the best talent to work inside government for
time-limited tours of duty.
Flexible hiring approaches can include the use of
(cid:2)(cid:1)Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA)
(cid:2)(cid:1)Direct Hire Authority (with permission from OPM)
(cid:2)(cid:1)Schedule A Part R hiring authority
(cid:2)(cid:1)Expert and Consultant Pay
Flexible hiring authorities have been a useful mechanism for directly addressing
critical skill gaps in IT, cybersecurity, STEM, and human resources. “Tours of duty”
are also a key—if under-recognized—pathway for introducing and diffusing mod-
ern and effective methodologies within government. The talent recruited to serve a
tour bring with them leading private-sector practices, including agile development,
human-centered design approaches, Lean Startup, and other entrepreneurial prob-
lem-solving mindsets.
visibly “disruptive” and innovative new
kids on the block—18F and the U.S.
Digital Service7.—have faced consider-
able criticism, generated in part by
“Beltway bandit” firms loudly sharing
with Congress their displeasure with the
disruption to lines of business.8. This is
naturel, as they have adapted to govern-
ment’s default ways of doing business
and have defined for themselves a com-
plementary role within the traditional
framework. One strategy for nurturing
innovations that are particularly disrup-
tive to established constituencies may
be for innovators to broaden the scope
of inquiry and ensure that citizens—
those most likely to benefit from gains
in efficiency or efficacy—are included
in discussions along with proximal
external stakeholders.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF
INNOVATION IN
GOVERNMENT
Embracing a Shift in Mindset
According to Gilman and Gover, “A
culture of innovation means continu-
ously exploring and adopting new
processes in an ecosystem where risk is
incentivized, not precluded by structur-
al responsibilities.”9. In light of this
voir, perhaps the most pressing ques-
tion is how agencies can engage in a
process of genuine cultural transforma-
tion and create environments that
encourage innovation from all. Many
agencies have cultures that are not con-
ducive to innovation tenets, like starting
petit, continuously iterating, or inter-
acting frequently with users; moreover,
according to the Office of Personnel
Management’s 2015 “Federal Employee
Viewpoint Survey,” only 37 percent of
74
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
federal employees feel that creativity
and innovation are rewarded by their
agency. Beginning to shift the culture
within an agency requires more than
launching an ever-greater number of
pilot projects or launching expensive
initiatives to modernize technology. Il
requires nurturing cultural norms and
practices that support a growth mindset
that is open to experimentation and
continuous learning. Successful innova-
tion efforts are not about introducing a
new technology or tool but about
encouraging an organization-wide
mindset that embraces a rethinking of
approaches.
innovation
Building a culture of
requires agency-wide openness
à
accepting good ideas that come from
anywhere and recognizing that every-
one can innovate.10. Innovative methods
are not mystical knowledge reserved for
an elite few; they are concrete skills that
can be learned. As Jen Pahlka observed,
“User-centered, iterative, data-driven
practices are not something young peo-
ple in jeans do. They are not a gift
bestowed on people from a certain place
who look a certain way or speak a cer-
tain way or who come from certain
companies. They are simply skills one
learns, a bit like French or program-
ming or origami.”11.
At their core, innovative methods entail
learning new skills to solve problems in
a new way. Different innovations may
bring their own buzzword-laden termi-
nologies, but whether using the lens of
Lean Startup, agile development, ou
design thinking, there are common
principles meant to elicit more effective
approaches to problem-solving. Ce
includes understanding the root prob-
lem using problem definition and
decomposition frameworks like root-
cause analysis, systems mapping, ou
backcasting; creatively sourcing new
solutions; identifying the target user
and incorporating them in the planning
processus; embracing continuous learning
and frequent iteration responsive to
feedback; using evidence to drive deci-
sionmaking; and scaling only what can
be validated.
Encouraging the uptake of innovative
methods is therefore a question of how
to create an enabling environment that
not only permits but encourages a shift
in mindset. Scaling and institutionaliz-
ing that new mindset is a matter of how
to transmit the skills that can help pub-
lic servants do their work more effec-
tivement.
Strategies for Encouraging
Adoption
Reflecting the notion that “innovations
arise when people are given a problem
to solve instead of being told to imple-
ment a known solution,”12. Tom Kalil
writes of deploying a “large, constantly
growing toolbox” (ref. Kalil in this
issue) to encourage innovation. Je voudrais
submit that Kalil and Correa’s toolbox
for innovation operates on two levels.
In addition to the litany of specific
approaches in the Innovation Toolkit
(creating a chief innovation officer,
launching a grand challenge, en utilisant
human-centered design, etc.), Kalil and
Correa shared a lengthy list of tested
strategies for how to diffuse those inno-
vations within and across agencies. je
group their tactics into four broad cate-
gories: (1) supporting innovators insti-
tutionally; (2) creating enabling envi-
ronments;
et
rewarding experimentation; et (4)
incentivizing
(3)
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
75
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
TEXT BOX 6. Tools for the Toolkit, or Meta-Levers for Spurring
Adoption*
Support change seekers institutionally
(cid:2)(cid:1)Garner (or become) a high-level champion and advocate to provide necessary cover.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Use policy guidance to devolve decisionmaking within an agency and expedite exper-
iments.
(cid:2)(cid:1) Create different types of infrastructure that make new approaches easy to use, comme
blanket purchase agreements for contracting.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Link the broader performance management agenda with specific innovative tools so
that the agency mission connects directly with agency-led innovation.
Create enabling environments
(cid:2)(cid:1)Create new organizations, like centers of excellence, that aren’t burdened with existing
operational responsibilities and can cultivate expertise in implementing new methods.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Charter an innovation council to build capacity and coordination for broader adop-
tion of particular approaches within an agency.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Use accelerators to pilot new ideas and equip aspiring innovators with new tools for
executing their ideas.
Incentivize and reward experimentation
(cid:2)(cid:1)Formally recognize innovators through awards and acknowledgement, to show that
innovation is rewarded and valued.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Create integrated incentives for adoption at multiple levels within an agency by sup-
porting skill-building, offering space to problem-solve, and valuing the outcomes.
(cid:2)(cid:1)Link broad agency goals to individual performance management plans to align incen-
tives.
Foster a culture of learning
(cid:2)(cid:1)Create high-quality, updated, online resources that help federal employees (tel que
the Innovation Toolkit itself).
(cid:2)(cid:1)Use experiential learning in professional development training to bridge the gap.
* Thomas Kalil, interview, Washington, CC, Décembre 6, 2016.
fostering an empowered culture of
learning. These approaches are often
mutually reinforcing, rather than exclu-
sionary. Kalil and Correa emphasized
that an effective campaign for adoption
often incorporates several of these tac-
tics, as shown in Text Box 6.
Regardless of the levers selected to spur
further dissemination and adoption of
nouveautés, our research raises two
important caveats. D'abord, cookie-cutter
solutions rarely succeed; innovative
approaches work best when they are
localized and adapted for specific
76
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
agency conditions. Bob Sutton has writ-
ten on the perils of avoiding the “repli-
cation trap,” using a provocative analo-
gy of Catholics and Buddhists to con-
trast the choice between a high-fidelity
reproduction of the method in question
against an interpreted version that
retains essential qualities but varies in
some respects.13. The Toolkit interview
subjects agreed on the importance of
emphasizing general frameworks for a
given approach, instead of imposing a
preformed solution on top of an exist-
ing issue.
Deuxième, change agents hoping to spread
their ideas are well-served by using
multipronged strategies to build sup-
port. Besides resource constraints,
internal bureaucratic resistance and
external skepticism are persistent barri-
ers to innovation in the public sector,
according to a 2014 study by Sanford
Borins. Docteur. Borins goes so far as to
argue that “a defensive implementation
strategy for gathering support and neu-
tralizing opposition” is as essential for
successful implementation as the actual
planning and execution of the innova-
tive approach.14.
innovators
from NASA,
Conversations with more than 30 feder-
al
le
Department of Defense, Département de
Labor, and National Security Agency
affirmed that having multiple pathways
to build support for innovative initia-
tives—an “all of the above” strategy—is
often necessary. No one strategy is
appropriate for every context, and gen-
erating buy-in for innovation can take a
top-down, middle-out, bottom-up (ou
dehors) approche. Several approaches are
often used concurrently. For instance,
the support of high-level leadership is
frequently a necessary but insufficient
condition for innovation to flourish.
One of the most consistent findings
from our interviews was the need for
support from senior leaders when
undertaking new initiatives. Senior
leaders were most successful when they
clearly and consistently conveyed that
using innovative approaches was not
simply allowed but actively encouraged,
and when staff clearly understood that
intelligent risk-taking was rewarded.15.
En même temps, innovations were
unlikely to succeed if mandated unilat-
erally from above; en effet, such imposi-
tion is a surefire recipe for pushback.
Spreading new, effective practices also
requires what might be termed “bot-
tom-out” strategy—which, in contrast
with bottom-up change, is about hori-
zontal, peer-to-peer mentoring and
support in which the “top” is barely
involved. Cultivating peer allies can be
an effective complementary tactic, donc
long as innovators resist evangelizing or
lecturing and keep the spotlight on
problem-solving. Champions at all
organizational levels can play a vital role
in encouraging and supporting experi-
mentation.
THE NEXT CHAPTER IN
GOVERNMENT INNOVATION
The reflections offered here were drawn
from our research to identify, docu-
ment, and distill promising practices for
the use of numerous innovative tools
across the federal government. Le
Toolkit attempts to capture instructive
case studies of both successes and chal-
lenges; note practical insights for navi-
gating obstacles to deployment; et
otherwise share findings that could
strengthen the knowledge and evidence
base of how and under what circum-
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
77
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Caraleigh Holverson
stances agencies might consider using
innovative tools as a cost-effective way
to accomplish their individual missions.
En même temps, the effort to chronicle
innovations and insights was designed
to function as a “meta” lever for spread-
ing those innovations further. In that
vein, the Toolkit represents the culmi-
nating contribution of Tom Kalil, Dan
Correa, and the entire OSTP team’s
multifaceted efforts to spur agency col-
laborations and diffuse useful knowl-
edge across the government.
More systemic landscape analysis is still
needed to rigorously quantify and
understand the full scope of federal
innovation efforts. One difficulty in
mapping the full innovation ecosystem
is the challenge of uncovering and talk-
ing honestly about failure, en particulier dans
a politicized climate where even neutral
agency efforts can become partisan fuel.
There are some rare exceptions of
evolved agencies or sub-units, such as
le
de
Force
Transformational Innovation, lequel
boldly boasts of a “failure button” and
openly chronicles unsuccessful initia-
tives on their website to promote trans-
parency and learning, but this attitude
is not the norm.
Office
Air
federal employees
Innovation Toolkit—recently
Le
the Better Government
renamed
Toolkit, to emphasize its focus on
empowering
à
achieve better results—is planned for
public launch in late 2017. An early and
explicit goal of the project was not sim-
ply to build a static repository of knowl-
edge but to evolve to a co-created plat-
form that might serve as a hub where
innovators within government can con-
nect and collaborate. Now officially
located within the General Services
le
Administration,
collaborative
crowdsourced effort to finalize content
is being led by Kelly Olson and Amy
Wilson. The creation and launch of the
new hub has moved in a direction that
is not just user-centered but user-pow-
ered, with much of the remaining effort
being crowdshared by a number of pas-
sionate federal innovators. Many of the
change agents we interviewed across the
government emphasized the signifi-
cance of co-ownership and co-invest-
ment in innovation efforts. In moving
toward the goal of inspiring a federal
collective culture of experimentation
that seeks new and more effective ways
of working, the collaboration-driven
innovation efforts to deploy the Toolkit
augurs positively for its success.
1. National Economic Council and Office of
Science and Technology Policy, “A Strategy
for American Innovation,” October 2015.
2. Among the core contributors to this
literature are Robert Behn, Sanford Borins,
Curt Carlson, Henry Chesbrough, William
Eggers, John Kamensky, and Beth Simone
Noveck.
3. Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations.
New York: Free Press, 2010.
4. See FAR 39.102(UN).
5. Jennifer Pahlka, “The CIO Problem: Part 2.
Innovation.” Medium, May 31, 2016.
6. Aneesh Chopra, Innovative State: How New
Technologies Can Transform Government.
New York: Grove Press, 2014, p. 215.
7. 18F is a civic consultancy internal to the
federal government that works for agencies
to develop new tools and services.
De la même manière, USDS operates as an internal
“startup” that deploys teams to help
agencies tackle digital service challenges.
Both were founded in 2014.
8. Jason Shueh, “IT Showdown: Tech Giants
Face Off Against 18F.” GovTech, Juillet 1,
2016.
78
nouveautés / Policy Design
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption for Innovations in Policy
9. Hollie Russon Gilman and Jessica Gover,
“The Architecture of Innovation:
Institutionalizing Innovation in Federal
Policymaking,” Beeck Center for Social
Impact and Innovation and the McCourt
School of Public Policy at Georgetown
University, Octobre 2016, p. 7.
10. This echoes the view that “everyone can be
a changemaker,” the maxim advanced by
social entrepreneurship organization
Ashoka and its founder Bill Drayton (ref.
Drayton’s essay by that title in volume 1,
number 1, of Innovations journal).
11. Jennifer Pahlka, “On Extraordinariness.”
Medium, Août 2, 2016.
12. “Innovation Is a Contract Sport,»
Partnership for Public Service, Février 6,
2016.
13. Robert Sutton, “Catholic or Buddhist
Approach,” eCorner Stanford, Février 12,
2014; see also Robert Sutton and Huggy
Rao, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to
More Without Settling for Less. New York:
Crown Business, 2014.
14. Sanford Borins, “The Persistence of
Innovation in Government: A Guide for
Innovative Public Servants,” IBM Center
for the Business of Government, 2014, p.
29.
15. Thomas Kalil, interview, Washington, CC,
Décembre 6, 2016.
nouveautés / volume 11, number 3/4
79
Téléchargé depuis http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/11/3-4/64/705238/inov_a_00257.pdf by guest on 08 Septembre 2023