Presented by EmcArts Richard Evans, President Melissa Dibble, Managing Director

Presented by EmcArtsRichard Evans, PresidentMelissa Dibble, Managing Director

EmcArts Inc. | 127 West 122nd Street | New York, NY 10027 | www.EmcArts.org

Engaging the FutureA program supported by the Cleveland Foundation

The Roots of Innovation

First Workshop at the Cleveland FoundationMonday, December 12th, 9:30pm – 1:30pm

Opening exercise


Choose one card that captures something important abouta major persistent challenge in audience engagement your organization is facing

Choose a second card that captures what your organization would be like if your challenge was successfully addressed

Then… Return to your home team, and explain why you selected each of your cards. Your other team members offer their own perspectives on the cards, and what they see. Then review the two sets of cards as a whole in your team.

Technical vs. Adaptive Challenges Technical challenges can be solved via gradual improvement in current practices – extensions of business-as-usual rather than breakthrough change.


Adaptive challenges have no set procedures, no recognized experts, and no evident responses available to meet the challenge or solve the problem.

“If you throw all the technical fixes you can at the problem and the problem persists, it’s a pretty clear signal that an underlying adaptive challenge still needs to be met.”

− Ronald Heifetz

Our goals today

1 Investigate existing assumptions underlying your audience engagement work and propose some alternative hypotheses to drive new thinking

2 Clearly describe and share your organization’s adaptive challenges around audience engagement

3 Share some of the practical lessons we’ve learned from our work supporting innovation


Our time together: The roots of innovation

What is innovation?

Question existing assumptions and identify contradictory evidence

Develop new hypotheses about future success

Break


Practice describing your organization’s adaptive challenges, and decide on one challenge to work with

Outline follow-up activities you can do in your organizations

Review the ETF timeline for 2012 and introduce the Incubating Innovation opportunity

A Working Definition of Organizational Innovation for NonprofitsInnovations are instances of organizational change that:

1. result from a shift in underlying organizational assumptions

2. are discontinuous from previous practice

3. provide new pathways to creating public value


Questioning Existing Assumptions about Success

Developing New Hypotheses for the FutureEmcArts Inc. | 127 West 122nd Street | New York, NY 10027 | www.EmcArts.org

Edgar Schein:

“Assumptions evolve as repeated successful solutions to problems. What was once a questionable hypothesis about how to proceed becomes a reality that is taken for granted…..”


Questioning Organizational Assumptions

“In order to innovate, organizations have to resurrect, examine, and then break the frame created by old assumptions.”

- from Leadership and Organizational Culture

Shifting Our Underlying Assumptions1 What established assumptions about

success for our organization are we questioning?

2 What evidence is there that contradicts these assumptions?

3 What new hypotheses about success might fit better with the recent evidence, and could drive new thinking?


Shifts in Assumptions: Example 1


OLD ASSUMPTION:Having our physical campus is the only way for us to do our work.

CONTRARY EVIDENCE:oThe campus is large and expensive, navigation is difficult for families, and it sucks resources into maintenance and repairs.oThe campus is often under-utilized, and sometimes over-crowded.oOur small off-site programs are achieving local engagement.

NEW HYPOTHESIS:We can achieve our mission without having a single central campus.

Shifts in Assumptions: Example 2OLD ASSUMPTION:Selling whole-season subscriptions is the best way to maximize our ticket revenue over time.

CONTRARY EVIDENCE:oSubscription numbers are persistently down, but single ticket sales are rising.oFeedback tells us patrons want to decide close to the event.oPeople are coming in large numbers to participatory events.

NEW HYPOTHESES:A wholly new pricing structure, and focusing on single tickets, will maximize revenue.

People will become loyal if we offer them more chance to actively participate.


Moving from Old Assumptions: Worksheet Example

Selling whole-season subscriptions is the best way to maximize our ticket revenue over time

Subscription numbers are persistently down

Feedback tells us patrons want to decide close to the event

Old Assumption Evidence contradicting the Assumption


Evidence contradicting Old Assumptions: Example

Selling whole-season subscriptions is the best way to maximize our ticket revenue over time



Old Assumption

Evidence contradicting the Assumption

Other PositiveEvidenceSingle ticket

sales are risingOur % occupancy

is holding upPeople are

coming in large numbers to participatory activities

To develop a new hypothesis:

Use the current evidence – either negative or positive – to make an informed prediction

Reverse your old assumption to discover a newpossibility: does this better fit the currentevidence?

Simply identify an alternative hypothesis


Developing New Hypotheses about Success


JUDGMENT

MOVEMENT

How does the idea stack up against my past experience?

What can we make of the idea?

Our Mindset in Responding to New Ideas

Courtesy of Edward de Bono


New Hypotheses to build future success: Example

A wholly new pricing structure, and focusing on single tickets, will maximize revenue

People will become loyal if we offer them more chance to actively participate



New HypothesesContradictory Evidence

Other PositiveEvidence Single ticket

sales are rising Our % occupancy

is holding up People are

coming in large numbers to participatory activities

Describing Your Adaptive Challenges


Describing a Complex Challenge: Incompletely

“Strengthen Marketing.”

“Do more building repairs….”

“We need to Raise More Money!”


Template for a fuller challenge description

A two-part sentence:

The first part of the sentence establishes the mostimportant factors driving the issue….

Identifies the particular conditions or trends that are the cause Refers to actual data (not just speculation or blaming)


Then the second part proposes a possible adaptive response that addresses the driving factors….

Active rather than passive Suggests something you might be able to do something about Is not an extension of existing strategies or behaviors Is built on a new hypothesis about success

Describing a Complex Challenge, with a Technical Solution - Examples

Strengthen Marketing“Because subscriptions are down and people are booking closer to the event, we therefore need to offer them better incentives to commit to the season in advance.”

Do more building repairs…..“Because our campus is old, confusing and inefficiently used,we therefore need to invest in upgrading facilities and signage.”

We need to Raise more Money!“As our expenses continue to grow faster than our income, and we experience persistent annual losses, so our organization must generate more income and implement stronger cost controls.”


Describing a Complex Challenge, with an Adaptive Response - Examples

Strengthen Marketing“Because subscriptions are down and people are booking closer to the event, we therefore need a completely different pricing system and to build loyalty through direct participation.”

Do more building repairs…..“Because our campus is old, confusing and inefficiently used,we therefore need to leverage our off-campus successes into a new kind of home.”

We need to Raise more Money!“As our expenses continue to grow faster than our income, and we experience persistent annual losses, so our organization must overcome its increasing aversion to risk.”


Describe your Key Adaptive ChallengesBecause…. [EVIDENCE from Wksht #1 column 2, and Wksht #2 column 1] (establishes the most important factors driving the issue)


Therefore…. [NEW HYPOTHESIS from Wksht #2 column 2] (proposes a possible adaptive response)

“Because our subscription numbers are persistently down, feedback tells us patrons want to make decisions close to the event, and participatory activities attract people, we willtherefore maximize revenues in the future by pricing in a wholly new way, and offering opportunities for active participation.”

Criteria for selecting an organizational challenge

1. The challenge is complex and adaptive; it does not have any standard or established solution.

2. We either have not yet developed a response to this challenge, or our current responses aren’t proving effective.

3. There is a sense of urgency to address this challenge.

4. If we successfully tackle it, it is likely to have significant impact on our ability to fulfill our mission.

5. Is there a natural sequence to addressing these challenges? If so, which one comes first?


Back home after the Workshop Enroll your colleagues to this work – repeat

the exercises with others

Use techniques to generate new strategy ideas

Respond to Annabel Jackson’s evaluation survey

Take a look at our new arts innovation website (www.ArtsFwd.org)


ETF Timeline for 2012andIncubating Innovation opportunity


ETF Timeline: 2012

Jan – Feb: Next round of site visits by EmcArts; circulation of Rubric of Adaptive Capacity

Jan: Proposals for Incubating Innovation accepted February: Incubating Innovation (Round 1) starts February 7: First Informal ETF Participant Convening March 6: Second ETF Workshop (The Capacity to

Innovate) April: Continued site visits by EmcArts; Alan Brown

begins phone interviews


ETF Timeline: 2012

May 22: Third ETF Workshop (The Practice of Innovation)

June - Aug: Participatory interview training July 9: Second Informal ETF Participant Convening August: Incubating Innovation (Round 1) ends; first

ETF podcast September: Proposals for Incubating Innovation

(Round 2) accepted


Incubating Innovation: Resources

A specially constructed Innovation Team at each organization (~10 members), meeting 5 times

An EmcArts process facilitator for up to 15 days

EmcArts financial analysis and community interviews

$1,500 toward work with an identified Content Expert

$10,000 towards prototyping costs


The Sequence of Five Stages

1. Assessing the current situation and identifying challenges (Weeks 1 – 4)

2. Developing innovative strategies (Weeks 5 – 8)

3. Assessing the capacities needed (Weeks 9 – 12)

4. Testing new strategies and learning from experiments (Weeks 12 – 18)

5. Prototyping new strategies and planning fuller implementation (Weeks 19 – 28)


Presented by EmcArtsRichard Evans, PresidentMelissa Dibble, Managing Director


Engaging the FutureA program supported by the Cleveland Foundation

The Roots of Innovation

First Workshop at the Cleveland FoundationMonday, December 12th, 9:30pm – 1:30pm

Presented by EmcArts Richard Evans, President Melissa Dibble, Managing Director

Documents

Transcript of Presented by EmcArts Richard Evans, President Melissa Dibble, Managing Director