The Shared Service Architect's Innovation Toolbox

The tools in this toolbox are based on many years of practical field work and research into innovation in the private and public sector. The research and practical experience has evidenced that whilst much is written about 'doing innovation', little practical advice has been provided on 'how to do innovation', especially in the area of innovation around collaboration and shared services in the public sector.

In the Cabinet Office five stage shared service journey, this book is designed to be used after a business case is developed. The activities can be applied to the 'preferred option' to make it innovative and more effective than anything that has gone before.

However the book is also a freestanding work that can be applied when innovation is demanded to overcome problems.

In the CSR 2010, the word 'innovation' appears over 30 times as a way of combating budget reductions. It is clear that the new agenda in the public sector on shared services and community/place budgeting ‘to do more with less’ has shone the light clearly on ‘innovation’ as a solution.

Innovation processes are useful, but innovative people are essential

However, the casual ambiguity with which the word 'innovation' now regularly appears in documents on public sector shared services puts pressure on a large number of leaders and senior managers, who do not feel they are personally innovative. They feel there are now two camps. Those who can innovate, and those who cannot.

This book illustrates that this is a false premise. Just as you can learn to drive, speak a foreign language or play a musical instrument, you can learn to innovate and lead/facilitate groups of citizens, colleagues, senior leaders and politicians to innovate too.

The purpose of the Shared Service Architect’s Innovation Toolbox is to equip you with quick to apply innovation tools, techniques and templates to help you in your public sector collaboration work.

The Shared Service Innovation Route Map below illustrates the stages that this book supports.

Quick to read and quick to create

These tools, each described clearly in its own section, are designed so that what you read in the morning you could be applying in the afternoon.

 The introduction to each tool explains the background to why each tool is important. Key documents are referenced in footnotes for each tool. This enables you to explain to colleagues why you have chosen the tool and the evidence for its need.

Then there are recommendations on how to use the tool in a step by step format. It also suggests any materials that you should have to hand. For example post-it notes or flip-charts.

There are example layouts for the tool so that you can develop and adapt it for your specific purpose. All of the tools have been designed so that they can be replicated rapidly on flip-charts or in MSWord, MSPublisher or PowerPoint.

The final page for each tool is a user log for you to keep a record of when you used the tool, the outcomes and any adaptations you would make when using the tool again

Click here to download the introduction and contents page

Product Code: SSAInnTB