Expert says organisations can’t leave innovation to chance

Media release
18 October 2012

International expert says New Zealand organisations can’t leave innovation to chance
New Zealand public and private sector organisations can’t leave it to chance if they are to bring innovative and effective change to their business, says ThinkPlace New Zealand partner and innovation expert Leslie Tergas.

Leslie Tergas will be sharing her knowledge at the Organisational Development Forum being held at the Rydges Hotel, Wellington on 9 November, where she is the Keynote Speaker.

The OD Forum, run by Thought Partners, is an opportunity for leaders, organisational development and change management practitioners to build their skills and focus on ways they can work smarter and have more positive effect.

Leslie has recently returned to New Zealand after spending four years in Washington DC where she has connected with the strategic design community and leading thinking in innovation. Projects she worked on included working with Co-Creative and the Federal Drug Administration, and iconic NGO Green America.

Leslie says the New Zealand the public sector is under pressure to innovate and this pressure could lead to innovation ‘anxiety’ rather than innovation ‘action’. She says innovation doesn’t need to be elusive and often the simplest of ideas can gain the greatest traction.

But Leslie says organisations have to put in place processes and systems that drive a new way of thinking and news ways of working. They need to ensure that new ideas are explored and nurtured and people have effective processes in place for working collaboratively.

“We can’t leave innovation to chance,” Leslie says. “And that is what you are doing if you don’t look at the processes and practices that are embedded in your work place and consciously examine whether these are enabling or hindering innovation. It’s only when we have the right systems in place that innovative thinking stops being ad hoc, and is embedded in the workplace culture and operations. ”

She also says there needs to be a pipeline of insight that feeds from communities and individuals’ real experiences into the design of services but also into policy decisions.”

“This is radically different from creating a position or policy and then asking people what they think,” she says.

Leslie Tergas says public and private sector organisations need to ask themselves how deeply are they prepared to challenge the status quo and examine their business-as-usual way of operating, so that they can enable true innovation.

For more information on the Organisational Development Forum including how to register see www.thoughtpartners.co.nz/odforum
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