Innovation Guide 2023 - 10

Creating a Culture of
Innovation in Your Agency
By Maureen McCarthy
I
nnovation comprises one of the core values that guide the Park District of
Oak Park in Illinois. That is, we strive to continuously try new methods and
ideas, adapt services according to trends, and continually improve processes.
Periodically, we review our actions and accomplishments across each
value, looking for ways to be better. In our review, we asked our community if
they view the park district as innovative. To the surprise of many, our community
members did not. Following an internal review, we learned that some staff
viewed themselves as innovative, but the agency lacked a mechanism or process
that encouraged staff to be innovative. These findings presented a huge opportunity
for the agency. We needed to expand our innovation efforts. We needed
to create a culture of innovative thinking that permeated the entire agency, from
seasonal staff through leadership. And we needed to develop a process to do so.
A Team Effort
Our first step was to assemble an
innovation team charged with developing
a process to gather and implement
ideas. The team comprised
of members across departments -
some with experience and others
with none. The team began by exploring
how staff viewed innovation.
Through interviews and discussions,
most staff considered innovation to
encompass the next big idea, like the
iPhone. While big ideas are vital to
innovation, the team knew that small
ideas grow and develop too. With
these learnings in hand, the innovation
team focused on developing a
process that would garner ideas both
big and small that would make our
processes easier and make our parks,
programs and services better.
Next, the innovation team needed
to develop a mechanism or process
to gather ideas. It was important for
the program to be easy to access and
use. The team identified a simple webbased
program that was user friendly
and easily accessible to every employee
in the agency. The program allows
staff to post their ideas and others to
add, comment or vote on ideas. This
helps the ideas grow and develop organically.
We themed the program
" Launch Pad " to illustrate the idea of
getting good ideas off the ground and
into our everyday work. At the start,
the agency dedicated $10,000 from
nonresident fees to fund some of the
ideas. While not crucial, we do believe
it motivated staff to participate.
Encouraging Innovation
The next hurdle for the innovation
committee was to identify ways to engage
all staff, not just those who had
the means to make things happen.
Staff engagement, especially among
part-time staff, was a challenge. To
encourage submissions from all - no
matter how big or small - we rolled
out a series of awards. Staff members
who post an idea that is launched receive
a moon-man statue. Staff members
who perform the work to launch
the idea receive a small star statue.
Staff who submit the largest number
of comments on ideas receive a MoonPie.
Finally, we launched the Stinky
Award to help staff feel comfortable
posting ideas that might not be a home
run. This award, along with a trophy,
is presented to the person with the idea
we tried but that did not succeed. This
demonstrates the agency's willingness
to take calculated risks; not all ideas
we launch will be successful and we
learn from these experiences. Awards
are presented to staff at each quarterly
in-person all-staff meeting to further
encourage engagement.
The innovation team is responsible
for reviewing all the ideas submitted.
To encourage all staff to submit innovative
ideas, the innovation team launched a
series of awards.
10
Parks & Recreation | 2 0 2 3 INNO V AT ION GUIDE | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAUREEN MCCARTHY,
PARK DISTRICT OF OAK PARK (ILLINOIS)
Innovation Guide 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Innovation Guide 2023
