Innovation Guide 2023 - 11

If any idea has merit, the committee
chairperson shares the idea with the
department head to see if it can be
implemented. If the idea needs funding,
the innovation team can approve
the funds from the seed money, or the
department can absorb the cost in its
budgets. More expensive ideas may
need to be put on hold until they fit
into a capital plan or a budget process.
Sometimes, ideas do not fit the agency's
needs, have been done or tried
before, or simply are not feasible. The
innovation team communicates with
every idea poster to let them know
where their idea is in the process, including
those that we will not pursue.
Launching Ideas
One of the first ideas we launched
was intended to save our landscape
staff time. The idea was to install a
large industrial gasoline can on landscape
trucks, allowing staff to maximize
their time in the field by avoiding
time-consuming trips to the gas
station when equipment needed refilling.
It was a simple idea that saved
staff valuable time.
A few years into the program, we
added a " Big Idea " contest for those
viable ideas with a price tag greater
than $1,000 that could be funded by
the executive director. The staff who
posted these ideas worked with the
marketing team to create short videos
sharing with the rest of the agency why
the park district should launch their
idea. The videos were shared with all
staff who then voted on their favorite.
The agency funded the idea with the
most votes. One of the first " Big Ideas "
we implemented was submitted by a
parks and planning staff member who
wanted to replace our gas-powered
leaf blowers with electric ones to be
environmentally conscious and ensure
the safety of users. Interestingly, we
noticed a remarkable increase in participation
from our parks and planning
staff that we attribute to launching an
idea from that department.
Changing Strategies
The program continues to evolve, and
we tap the innovation team for ideas
in a variety of areas. One year, we tied
ideas to the agency's strategic initiatives.
This helped educate staff on the
agency's strategic initiatives and generated
fresh ideas to meet those initiatives.
In another instance, the innovation
team helped the agency solve a
problem brought to us from a hiring
manager. The agency was struggling
to attract qualified early childhood
programmers. The innovation team
conducted interviews with staff to understand
and explore why they chose
to work for us. They also interviewed
The innovation team used a simple webbased
program to gather ideas from all
staff members.
early childhood professionals to learn
what attracts them to jobs in the field.
Ultimately, the team identified alternative
marketing messages that focused
directly on employees' wants
and needs rather than agency benefits.
The success of this program relies
heavily on the staff who are responsible
for the process. Regardless of
who runs the program, the key to
success comes from the passion and
desire of staff to champion idea generation
and for continuous improvement.
The most successful team
members have been those who were
excited about innovation and ideas.
Finding the right people to serve on
the team is key to long-term success.
We are now about seven years into
the program. Our community, as well
as our staff, now use words like " innovative "
and " forward-thinking " to describe
the Park District of Oak Park.
Our staff now shares ideas to help us
improve and grow. Many ideas are
launched outside of the innovation
platform, meaning innovation has become
part of our everyday work.
Maureen McCarthy is Superintendent of
Recreation at the Park District of Oak Park
(maureen.mccarthy@pdop.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | 2 0 2 3 INNO V AT ION GUIDE | Parks & Recreation
11
IMAGE COURTESY OF MAUREEN MCCARTHY, PARK DISTRICT
OF OAK PARK
Innovation Guide 2023

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