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1 Center for American Progress | Innovation for the Public Good: The Importance of Leadership in Social Innovation

Innovation for the Public Good:

The Importance of Leadershipin Social InnovationLeadership is the First Key to Unlocking

an Innovation Culture in Government

Jitinder Kohli October 2011

Being innovaive sars wih having he gus o ake risks. And whenever you ry newhings, chances are you are going o ail some o he ime.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,July 16, 2010

Public-secor leaders like alking abou success no ailurebu Mayor Michael

Bloomberg o New York Ciy is dieren. He helps build a culure o innovaion across

he ciys agencies by encouraging his sa o ake calculaed risks.

Leaders have a pivoal role in promoing innovaion in agencies. Tey should give heir

sa permission o ry new approaches even hough he media are oen criical wheninnovaions don work ou. Leaders also need o signal clearly heir willingness o chal-

lenge radiional mehods ha have mediocre oucomes.

Giving staff permission to try new approaches

Agency sa can be relucan o ry new approaches. In par, hey know ha where

somehing novel does no work ou, he media will quickly poin he fnger o blame.

And agency leaders who alk abou he imporance o innovaion on a good day oen

join in he blame game on a bad day.

Leaders hereore need o be highly vocal and visible abou he imporance o rying ou

new ways o doing hings. In New York, Bloomberg charged he Cener or Economic

Opporuniywih fnding ransormaive ways o reduce povery. From he very sar,

he cener was designed o promoe innovaion and experimenaion. I scours he globe

or innovaive sraegies ha migh help reduce povery and hen invess in pilos o see

which ones acually work in New York.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.htmlhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/html/home/home.shtmlhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/html/home/home.shtmlhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/html/home/home.shtmlhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/html/home/home.shtmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.htmlhttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~president/pls/bloomberg-speech.html

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2 Center for American Progress | Innovation for the Public Good: The Importance of Leadership in Social Innovation

Family Rewards, or example, is a program modelled on a successul projec in Mexico.

I oers amilies cash incenives or healh, educaion, and workorce developmen. Te

model proved successul a increasing high school achievemen, and ha oucome is

now he ocus o a second-generaion pilo being rolled ou across New York as well as

in Memphis. Paymens ocused on middle school and elemenary school atendance and

achievemen were ineecive, so hey were dropped in he second phase.

Challenging traditional approaches that have mediocre outcomes

Leaders who wan o promoe innovaion need he courage o challenge esablished meh-

ods ha oen lead o mediocre oucomes. In New York, where high school graduaion

resuls were unaccepably low, Bloomberg in 2002 cenralized power away rom 32 largely

auonomous school disrics. Principals now have considerably more power over heir

schools. Tey can now decide which eachers o hire and wha suppor hey wan rom he

educaion deparmen. In reurn, schools are more accounable, including responsibiliy

or a public repor card summarizing es resuls and how as hey are improving.

Te New York educaion deparmen has also osered innovaion by creaing an

innovaion zone, or a selec group o schools encouraged o experimen wih new

approaches. A concree example is he groundbreaking school o one where each su-

den receives a personalized learning schedule in mah ailored o his or her needs.

Te resul: a rapid increase in high school graduaion raes rom around 50 percen a

decade ago o almos 70 percen now.

Tere are pleny o public-secor leaders who say ha promoing innovaion is impor-an o hem. Bu leaders have o do more han ha. Tey need o use heir personal

energy o build an organizaional culure ha embraces calculaed risk aking and

looks beyond radiional ways o working. Ta requires enormous eor and commi-

men as well as skilled leadership.

Tis is the latest installment of a weekly column on government innovation produced by CAPs

Doing What Works team in partnership with the Bellwether Education Partners and the

Young Foundation, as part of the Innovation for the Public Good series supported by the

Rockefeller Foundation.

Next weeks installment in our series looks at another crucial ingredient for promoting a

culture of innovation: dedicated funding for innovation.

Jitinder Kohli is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/izone/default.htmhttp://schoolofone.org/http://www.mikebloomberg.com/index.cfm?objectid=8F537A57-C29C-7CA2-F9960B491507142Ehttp://www.americanprogress.org/projects/doing_what_works/innovation/http://bellwethereducation.org/innovation-for-the-public-good/http://bellwethereducation.org/innovation-for-the-public-good/http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/doing_what_works/innovation/http://www.mikebloomberg.com/index.cfm?objectid=8F537A57-C29C-7CA2-F9960B491507142Ehttp://schoolofone.org/http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/izone/default.htm