Because that’s what we’re all striving for, right? Consistent profit. Scalability. Sustainability. 

Collaborative innovation is where it’s at. 

Why is collaborative innovation so good for business? 

According to Alfons Cornella, Founder of Infonomia and Co-society, there’s a very simple explanation:

“The world and the markets are too complex to try to settle them on our own.”

Indeed, why go it alone, when we can generate more value for customers by pooling our knowledge? 

Collaborative innovation is…

“Conducive to the formation of ‘new resources’, resulting in knowledge spillover, bringing ‘collaborative surplus’ to enterprises, and breaking through resource constraints” – MDPI research on Collaborative Innovation

All good profit generating stuff. There’s just one problem:

It’s a lot easier for the big corps, than it is for us SMEs. We don’t have the same access to big chunks of money, far-reaching networks, extensive resources and know-how to get the same idea-to-profit results.

Researchers of the Journal of Business Economics and Management put it well –

“Larger firms have greater capacity and more resources (research, technology, marketing skills, financial autonomy, experience, teams) to develop and implement successful innovations”

Having said that, hope is by no means lost for smaller businesses…

Successful, profitable, collaborative innovation involves people across all disciplines and walks of life – it’s not just for the big corporations who have the right resources – who have the expensive consultants and the domineering CEOs. It’s for SMEs too.

So, according to Cornella in his Harvard Business Report on co-innovation here’s what you need to do to make innovation work for you (i.e. turn those ideas into £££)… With a Groundswell Innovation twist added in, of course!

1. Share – it’s the generosity in sharing knowledge that creates the conditions for collaboration, and that begin to ignite sparks of potential. From inter-department to cross-sector collaboration, when you pool data, skills and expertise, you can build a bottomless well of innovative opportunities. And with the right people involved, you’ll find it much easier to decipher which of those opportunities is most viable.
2. Trust – collaboration isn’t about one party taking advantage of the other. All parties need to understand the common goal… and what’s required of them to succeed. You need to make sure all stakeholders can answer the question: what’s the purpose of this collaboration? People need a strong reason to share their hard-earned insight willingly.
3. Be understanding (read: patient) – innovation is a long-term game, so don’t expect short term gains. This is where most businesses get stuck; too many people want the quick fix, the easy money. But that’s not sustainable. You need to make a long-term game-plan and stick with it… Trials and tribulations make up the fabric of innovation!
4. Authorise – as a CEO you need to be fully on board with the innovation process.You need to lead by example. If you’re not all in, then your employees won’t be either. What’s more important though is the idea of permission/authorisation – give your employees permission to explore, test, investigate and question. Give them permission to fail: not every idea will be a good one, but each one will offer a lesson.
5. Collaborate rather than compete – Competition will be seen as a failed collaboration. Remember that common goal? It’s not about who gets there first, or who put more resources into getting it… You joined forces to reach a goal, and that partnership is the reason why you’ll succeed – you’re a team!

Great ideas right? But let’s see how that actually fits together in real life!

Collaboration nation?

As a nation, we’re already witnessing the value of collaboration as our intersectional enterprises come to fruition.

Cross-sector

Homes for Cathy have a mission to tackle the link between homelessness and poor health. They’re working with various partners across the health, social care, and housing sectors, to provide:

“Intensive support for each person to improve their health outcomes and also their life skills and tenancy skills, so they have more likelihood of being able to move on to more secure, permanent accommodation in the long term.” 

Good quality housing = good quality health + reduced strain on the NHS. 

National collaboration

The Eden Project North. What was a vision is now in full swing, and will mean a much-needed boost for Morecambe and the North West.

Key stakeholders, including the city council, Lancashire County Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Lancaster University, local businesses, industry experts and the general public have all been a part of making this happen. Eden brought people together to think about ideas, and not just the end-goal … there have been spin-offs and other projects that will also benefit the area.

International collaboration

As we’ve already discovered, most innovation relationships are national or cross sector in scope. But the Connected Places Catapult is going one step further to bring ‘high potential’ cities (such as in the UK and South Korea) together through their Innovation Twins Programme, to enable collaboration and support between both countries across:

“Government, business and academia to drive real outcomes… accelerate long-lasting R&I collaborations and create a pipeline of opportunities for bilateral trade and FDI.”

Creating a thriving, innovative, global economy is within reach, though not without its challenges.

Collaboration will get us there. But it has to become the norm.

To talk to us about innovating in your business, get in touch. We work with businesses in Lancashire, the North West, and beyond.

The post Collaborate and Innovate to turn your ideas into £££ appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

Pepsi wants to sell more pop in Europe. 

Their cans are the same colour as Coca-Cola’s – red. But… Coca-Cola is dominating market shares. So, surely a £500 million campaign to change their cans to blue must be the answer? 

They paint a Concorde supersonic jet in the new Pepsi uniform, bring in Andre Agassi, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford to promote and televise the campaign… 

But in the food industry, blue doesn’t really cut it – it’s not considered ‘fun, dynamic and exciting’ – it’s just a bit conservative. 

I’m sure you can guess what happens (the title is a dead giveaway!) – Pepsi don’t see the returns they’d hoped for. 

Why? 

The issue was two-fold: 

• They wanted to scale but hadn’t bothered to exercise their due diligence; 
• They simply decided the solution was to focus on ‘the next generation of cola drinkers’… but failed to work out how best they could do that. 

Unfortunately for Pepsi, there’s more to product development than great ideas, like…

Exploring the feasibility of scaling products!

‘Scaling is the process of rolling out something on a large scale. Whether it’s a social movement seeking to improve society with a policy to reduce inequality, or a corporation trying to make a buck, scaling is central to what most major organizations are usually trying to achieve.’ – John List 

Frustrated by his own scaling endeavours, List (an economist at The University of Chicago) decided businesses needed a process to follow – so he wrote one. 

In his book, The Voltage Effect, List attempts to systematise and improve scaling, using failures such as McDonald’s Arch Deluxe (more on that later) to show us what we can do differently to ensure success. 

This article – ‘How to roll out big ideas and avoid the Museum of Failure’, List describes the 5 vital factors you need to consider when scaling: 

1. Avoid false positives 
2. Ensure focus groups are fully representative of the target demographic 
3. The initial ingredients to your successful trial must be scalable 
4. Watch out for ‘spill overs’ and the unintended consequences of scaling 
5. Ensure your product has positive economies of scale 

There’s some valuable nuggets of wisdom there, but if we’re going to do this properly… we need to see it in action!  

Let’s take a look around our carefully curated Museum of Failure – there’s definitely some lessons to be learnt. 

Exhibit No.1 The false positives 

Brace yourself, it’s another ‘let’s just go with our favourite idea!’

In 1996, McDonalds rolled out their new product The Arch Deluxe dubbed ‘the burger with the grown-up taste’. 

It was received well by their focus groups… but completely flops after release.  

Why? 

McDonalds got so caught up with their exciting new idea, that they forgot to focus on the target consumers themselves – what did they want? What did they need? 

Instead, they focused on what they wanted, which resulted in this costly catastrophe! 

Exhibit No.2 The full representation of target demographic  

Fast forward to 2021. The European Super League proposal is announced… And shot down within hours. 

The project fails as soon as it begins.  

Why? 

The 12 founding member clubs didn’t tap into their audience’s mood and their current distrust of billionaire club owners. Fans felt like the ESL was betraying the values and traditions of their beloved clubs. 

Fan power is as strong as ever but the ESL project failed to recognise that – it was certainly not the positive change to football they’d hoped to achieve! 

Exhibit No.3 The scalability of every product 

We’re in 2019 and the first foldable smart phone has just been released: Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. Pretty soon though, complaints about its durability delay its official launch. There are problems with the build quality and display of the screen, which is made of a plastic that easily scratches. 

Samsung state that the product must be handled with care. 

There’s no doubt this was a flop and in Samsung’s quest to launch the first foldable smart phone, they forgot one vital step – the idea was not tested technically. Uh-oh. 

Exhibit No.4 The dreaded spill overs 

It’s 2014 and Google Glass has just been released to the public. Smart devices, multitasking and hands-free use-ability are the latest trends in the tech industry… So, there’s no better time to release a new wave of immersive consumer tech, right? 

Following a limited run the year before, Google was convinced the smart glasses would be a success… But they were a little hasty. 

They forgot about the small matter of surveillance and privacy laws – consumers were not impressed. 

‘When Google ultimately retired Glass, it was in reaction to an important act of line drawing. It was an admission of defeat not by design, but by culture.’ – Wired.com 

Exhibit No.5 The economies of scale 

Let’s go all the way back to 1976 and the unveiling of the Concorde – a jet capable of flying at supersonic speeds.  

It’s an amazing feat of engineering and a pretty impressive example of modern scientists’ ingenuity.   

But the fuel was too expensive. Not enough people could afford to fly on it. The aircraft was not profitable. And following a horrific accident in which 113 people died after the jet crashed into a hotel… it was a done deal. 

By 2003 the Concorde was retired. 

The economies of scale for the supersonic jets just weren’t viable. 

Now to end the tour, here’s one final exhibit… 

Oranges wrapped in cling film… genius? 

Organic supermarket retailer Wholefoods decided to take convenience to the next level – because why unpeel an orange when you can just unwrap the cling film it’s covered in? 

It’s quick, easy, convenient, and the cling film provides an excellent protective layer to stop an orange from going bad…  

Sounds a bit like orange peel? 

To find out more about how we can help you with your innovation challenges, in Lancaster, Lancashire, the North West and beyond, get in touch.

The post Product flops and how to avoid them appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

Inclusivity refers to the practice of including and valuing individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Ethics refers to a set of moral principles and values that govern behaviour.

The tech world is developing at a pace we simply can’t keep up with. For all the good it can bring, there’s a whole host of, well, not so desirable impacts. And that’s possibly the biggest challenge we’re facing when it comes to inclusivity and ethics in tech innovation; not the development of the tech itself, but the issues we face as a result of it. 

The Collingridge Dilemma

“Each technological change brings progress. However, in many cases, it also causes problems of another variety.” – The Collingridge Dilemma 

First proposed in 1980 by David Collingridge, and now more relevant than ever, the Collingridge Dilemma asks us to think more carefully about the innovations we’re so quick to adopt. Just look at Uber, who monopolised the taxi industry. Yes, the new app might make taxi journeys faster, easier and cheaper for the user. But what of the unintended consequences? The smaller taxi companies who couldn’t offer the same 24/7 on-demand service? The Uber drivers themselves who got more consistent work but ended up sacrificing decent pay for company profit? Who has actually benefited from Uber in the long run?

The problem with adopting tech is that we can’t take it back. As Sergio De Dios González says;

“Once a technology has been implemented, it’s extremely difficult to reverse this decision.”

The impact of new tech is irreversible

All you need to do is look at mobile phones. We can: contact people anywhere in the world, navigate cities, sign work contracts, find the love of our lives and open bank accounts at the click of a button. We’re now more ‘connected’ than ever before.

It’s life on demand. And easily misused. 

Privacy issues, identification theft, data loss and harvesting, security risks; we’ve become more at risk from scams, harassment, bullying… In the name of ease and accessibility. A life of connectivity and limitless opportunity – for those who can afford it. The ethics of mobile phone usage is dubious, as is the ‘inclusivity’ it offers us. 

PETs, policies and programs

Privacy, autonomy, health, social justice, democracy. The Collingridge Dilemma questions whether we could have predicted these problems caused by emergent tech. And if so, what measures could we have put in place to mitigate the risks?

Well, UKRI and Innovate UK have outlined the practices they’re exploring to help create a standardised digital ethics practice, which will support and shape future business innovation. Privacy Enhancing Technologies are a big part of that;

“PETs are a set of technologies that use different computational and mathematical approaches to extract data value. In doing so PETs unleash the commercial, scientific and social potential of data, without jeopardising privacy and security.”

The University of Edinburgh opened The Centre for Technomoral Futures in 2020 with an aim to bring technical expertise together with moral expertise in the name of “sustainable and just models of innovation”.

Unicef has nine living principles “designed to help digital development practitioners integrate established best practices into technology-enabled programs”:

1. Design With The User
2. Understand The Existing Ecosystem
3. Design For Scale
4. Build For Sustainability
5. Be Data Driven
6. Use Open Standards, Open Data, Open Source, And Open Innovation
7. Reuse And Improve
8. Address Privacy & Security
9. Be Collaborative

Whilst we are seeing a promising uptick in risk mitigation practices…

We’re still a long way from ensuring tech innovations are ethical and inclusive.

There are so many emerging solutions, but finding ways to get the majority of people and businesses to implement them isn’t so easy. Especially when most don’t even see eye to eye on the threats we’re facing.

So, how do we define what poses a ‘real’ risk? It depends on the people, their purpose (Profit? Social justice?) and their principles. Because their principles (ethics) govern their behaviour and the extent to which they will consider, and then adopt, specific mitigation practices within their operations.

And as highlighted in the Future of Privacy Forum 2020 white paper, industry frontrunners hold considerable power regarding the uptake of inclusive and ethical practices:

“Much of the important digital activity today takes place on top of technology structure operated by a number of leading companies. Access to data is enabled or restricted by decisions those organisations make and the technical or contractual requirements they establish.” 

So, what’s the real solution?

Acknowledgement, discussion, action.

As the UKRI says, practising digital ethics can’t simple be a tick box exercise, “it’s not just a list of technologies (however important) but involves asking questions about: privacy, autonomy, security, dignity, justice and power”

Establishing ethical frameworks could play a key role in that, as “a way of structuring your deliberation about ethical questions.” Chris Fabian and Robert Fabricant suggest questions like:

“Is this platform/product actually providing a social good? Am I harming/including the user in the creation of this new solution? Do I even have a right to be taking claim of this space at all?”

The Collingridge Dilemma suggests that if we’re to build ethical standards into our innovation practices, we must first define what risks and threats a solution poses, before we can take action. We must first reconcile exciting new tech with our ethical and inclusive obligations. After all, can something really be considered innovative if it doesn’t offer a better, faster, cheaper, easier solution to the majority? 

Written by Maia Broadley, writer and creative contributor for Groundswell Innovation

The post Are you inclusive if you’re not ethical? appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series…  

We’ve seen triviality bias at play. We’ve seen confirmation bias and the backfire effect at play too.  

And we’ve seen the impact of these biases in a group setting – it’s killing your team’s creativity – and ability to innovate.  

Luckily for you, we’ve got 3 easy ways to avoid these biases in this 3rd and final instalment of The Death of Ideas – Part 3!  

The one where you prioritise diversity of thinking 

A diverse range of opinions and thoughts is key to avoiding bias.   

So, you need to think carefully about who you hire and who you work with. We’re talking about championing positive inclusion – you have to actively seek out people whose opinions will be different.  

The goal isn’t to ‘tick’ the boxes for your Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policies. The goal is to seek different people from different backgrounds, and invite them to share their unique perspectives.  

So, this doesn’t just apply to the notion of hiring differently – it means including people from different departments in your conversations too, instead of having the ‘usual suspects’ in the room who will spout the same thoughts and ideas time and time again… 

Maybe a creative is fascinated with astrophysics. Or a marketing executive is finally learning about their heritage. Perhaps an analyst has a penchant for Renaissance paintings. Or a comms person is obsessed with rhythm and pace. Maybe a project officer is learning 5 different languages…  

Diversify your team and you’ll diversify the way you team will think, act and approach the problems at hand.  

Essentially if you focus on diversity of thinking, you’ll amplify the creativity and innovation of your team ten fold.  

The one where you can ask and/or answer  

Innovation management should be a democratic process, where everyone is invited to chip in.  

You need to invite them, yes. But you must follow that invitation through by creating a welcoming and supportive environment.  

People need to know that:  

1. Their voices will be heard  

2. Their ideas will be considered  

3. Their questions are valid  

4. Their unique perspective is vital  

Nailing an inclusive environment is key to productivity and creativity. The best way to do that is by refining your innovation process, which brings us nicely onto…  

The one where you use due diligence   

This is all about the process.   

You need to set up a process in which innovation is inclusive, creative and evidence-based.   

If you can do that, people will be with you all of the way – that’s how innovation will flourish.  

So, when you’re devising your process, you need to focus on two things:  

Answering these questions: have you…  

• Focused on your customers? (customer is key!)  
• Asked the right questions?   
• Created an evidence bank?  
• Interpreted your data from multiple angles?  
• Tested your solution?  

• Ensured it’s credible and profitable?  
• Drawn up a go-to-market plan?  

Personalising it to best suit your team and stakeholders.   

There’s a lot to consider when strategising. Not least, making it a fun and engaging (and effective!) process – innovation feeds off inspiration and creativity.   

And that’s our approach at Groundswell – we use unique approaches with every client to make sure you, your team and your stakeholders are getting the best outcomes – mitigating biases by amplifying diverse ways of thinking!  

The post The Death of Ideas (Part 3) appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

What do water coolers, waterproof laptops and the ‘big idea’ have in common?

Biases! Ideas born from the likes of anchoring, triviality and availability cascades.

In the 2nd part of this blog post, we’ve got 3 more for you. (If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, go and read it now!)

The one where if it’s said enough times, it becomes tru

AKA The Availability Cascade

Jerry came up with the waterproof laptop idea and as we agreed, there’s lots of ‘credible’ points to back this new innovation up. It’s important to note that he was the first one to offer his idea.

Everybody likes that idea – well done Jerry.

It’s basically indestructible – good point Allison. So that’s a tick for a practical, long-lasting product.

You can take it literally anywhere – which appeals to our globetrotting customers. Nice idea, Dave, that makes it perfectly on target for our ideal customers.

And, it’s not been done before. Very true Jasmine – so it’s potentially a very profitable and original product.

Meeting adjourned. A waterproof laptop is our next project… And yet, you’re still concerned that Jerry’s idea isn’t actually all that great in the first place. The waterproof laptop won’t really solve any problems – it’ll probably be creating more, and that’s not really the point of innovating, is it?

So, what’s gone wrong?

The ‘big idea’ gains traction by repetition, becoming plausible by your group’s collective belief.

The one where all evidence confirms your idea is absolutely ground-breaking

AKA Confirmation Bias

We start our proper research into waterproof laptops. We need to know it’s a plausible and profitable idea.

· Our market research suggests that this kind of tech, with its USP, would make millions – it’s profitable.

· There’s a clear gap in the market for it – it’s feasible.

· Lots of people like to watch TV in the bath – it’s needed.

· It reduces laptop-bath-related-accidents by 70% – it’s plausible.

But we’ve ignored all the other research which tells us: DON’T DO THIS!

Those other pieces of evidence don’t fit into the narrative we’ve been telling ourselves, so we just turn a blind eye. We’re heading straight for the opposite effect of innovation: a useless, unprofitable and unwanted piece of tech… Whoops.

In the final instalment of our dive into cognitive bias, we arrive at:

The one where you go along with it anyway

AKA The Backfire Effect

The boss loves our laptop idea – especially because we offered great ‘evidence’ to support it.

However, other people are realising that it’s not really the answer to making the business carbon zero, so we present a case against it.

Alas, the boss likes the waterproof laptop, so there’s no pivoting or re-assessing the idea. Instead, he doubles down and injects more time, money and effort into it – ‘it will work!’ (if we throw enough money at it).

You realise this is completely out of hand… but the next thing you know, prototypes are being made. And now the boss only has ears for Jerry and his novel ideas.

Why should the rest of you bother anymore? Boss and co. worship Jerry and they’re blind to the truth: we’re not actually solving any real problems.

It’s a superficial solution. A passion project dressed up in a corporate suit.

That doesn’t matter – no one is going to listen to you anyway.

Are you sure about that?

Maybe it’s just your own biases coming into play.

Now we’ve come full circle. Everyone has biases but there are ways to mitigate their effects. We need to address these problems to make way for truly innovative solutions.

And no, I’m talking about waterproof laptops!

Which begs the question: what can we actually do about it?

Read part three in our series, The Death of Ideas 3

The post The Death of Ideas (Part 2) appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

FADE IN.

It’s late in the evening, and you’re sitting around the dinner table… the wine is still flowing and everyone is doing the obligatory ‘nibble at all the leftovers on the table until there’s only crumbs left’ (You were hoping to have that last slice of cheesecake, once everyone had left).

So, you’re wined and dined and the conversation is turning to those two avoid-at-all-costs dinner party topics: politics and religion.

All it takes is one differing opinion on even the tiniest of matters and the room erupts into lively conversation. That is, until one off-hand comment changes the tone – someone vigorously disagrees, another finds it offensive, it’s all a bit too close to home for others and some are just finding it all downright hilarious. The night ends with subdued ‘thank you’s’ and curt ‘goodbye’s’…

FADE OUT.

Sound at all familiar?

It’s not fun, which is a bit of a problem. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. The problem – as seen in the dinner party scenario – lies in our cognitive biases. The ones which shape our own belief systems, perceptions, opinions and decision making.

The second problem comes from the complex combination of different cognitive biases mixed into a group setting.

The third problem is probably alcohol related (losing your inhibitions and all that!) but that’s beside the point.

So, what’s all this got to do with inhibiting innovation? And why does it matter?

Problem #1 = Cognitive biases. You’ve probably already guessed it, but they affect our creativity and imagination, which means they affect our ability to innovate and be entrepreneurial.

Problem #2 = We all know that creativity feeds off collaboration. In group settings we can bounce ideas off each other, create new ones or veto unhelpful ones.

In groups our biases often become amplified.

Which is where the real problems start: if someone’s ideas are constantly getting knocked down during a meeting, they might stop bothering. Equally, if one person’s ideas are always praised, supported or even put on a pedestal, they’ll command the room every time.

It’s these dividers that hinder innovation. We need ‘meetings’ where everyone feels heard and valued – we need to focus on inclusion and the diversity of thoughts (and biases) which come with that.

The one where we avoid the big tasks

AKA Triviality Bias

The big issues that need solving are, well, just too big. Overwhelming. Complicated. Time-consuming.

So, as a group, we focus on smaller trivial issues e.g. How can we make our water cooler more sustainable? Rather than – how can we achieve carbon zero without compromising the quality of our product?

We praise ourselves for solving the small water cooler issue, but that won’t help our ultimate business goals.

Yes, small actions are positive – especially if they spark more ideas and innovations. But if all that time spent on the water cooler ‘problem’ is the sum of our efforts, we seriously need to rethink our approach!

The one where a single idea snow-balls

AKA Anchoring

The boss is rethinking the USPs for our tech offerings… something that’s in line with current customer trends: conscious consumerism and sustainability.

Of course, sustainability reaches right through the supply chain. We know how to tackle that, but what’s the new product?

A waterproof laptop.

Fab idea Jerry.

Everyone agrees.

Which leads a few more people to pitch ideas around the same theme: fully waterproof tech. We’re talking about mobile phones, power banks, headphones… Great.

But on your way home, it all starts to sound a bit naff, doesn’t it?

And on second thoughts, it’s a truly terrible idea.

Anchoring bias is at play here. Everybody anchors their ideas to the first one presented / the first one greeted with approval. The problem of course, is that every other suggestion is based on that first one – no one tries to come up with anything new.

Which leaves us with a waterproof laptop concept. Hmm.

There’s no bank of ideas, no hypotheses to test, no creative alternatives… Where’s the innovation in that?

The post The Death of Ideas (Part 1) appeared first on Groundswell Innovation.

Emotionally, the majority of people I spoke to were disappointed about the outcome. In reality, Brexit seems to have made a lot of people from the Polish community solidify their decision to stay here and commit citizenships

Patrycja Zawisza

An interview with Patrycja Zawisza at Groundswell Innovation

In conversation with Maia Broadley, Patrycja Zawisza discusses her role with Groundswell Innovation for Crewe’s Towns Fund consultation; from market research and re-discovering a community, to finding common ground and sparking inspiration for her thesis.

Crewe Towns Fund – tell me about your involvement

I’m from Crewe and I’m Polish, so I was really pleased to be able to get involved in the stakeholder engagement work that Groundswell Innovation was commissioned to complete by Crewe Town Board for the Towns Fund bid. 

My remit was to reach out to the Polish and Eastern European community because we knew there was a lack of representation.

It was a very odd time to be trying to engage in conversation because of the pandemic but I was even more surprised sometimes by what people said.

During the interviews it was strange to hear many people, Polish people especially, saying “I’m not confident enough in representing the community”. We used to have a very tight knit Polish community here in Crewe, there would be loads of social events going on.

Certainly not easy to connect with people during a pandemic. Did you face any other challenges?

Apart from one interview I did with an interpreter in Crewe, everyone else I had to speak Polish with. And that was kind of a new thing for me. It took a lot of practice to help me find my words in the beginning. It made me tap into the community that I didn’t really associate myself with because I mostly use and speak English. So, when I started reaching out, talking to different people and getting the survey out, I began to realise how large the community really is and how much is going on within the Polish community in Crewe.

Rev. Edwards (member of the Crewe Town Board) talked about the focus on receiving genuine responses rather than just ticking boxes… you’re both a resident of Crewe and a researcher, what was your perspective on the authenticity of the process?

I think it was authentic – we had some quite colourful responses!

As always, there’ll be a lot of people who will see a survey and want to list all the negatives about the place they live. But that’s an important part of the process, to let people vent their frustrations.

When people feel heard, you can often start to turn the conversation around to more positive discussions.  Others talked about everyday issues that can cause huge frustration. For example, rubbish collection, potholes and traffic all have a massive impact on people’s lives. Overall, people seemed quite hopeful to see that something really positive is happening in Crewe.

Getting a range of diverse voices was important for the consultation, how do you think that impacted the Polish community?

I don’t really see much of the town’s diverse outlook in the local press or anywhere online. In a lot of the interviews, people felt important because I’d say to them, the council is reaching out to us because we’re one of the largest communities in Crewe.

It made the consultation process itself a really positive experience for people whose views are not always visibly represented.  

Did you find commonalties within the different backgrounds and ethnicities you spoke to?

Everyone knows what needs to be improved in Crewe.

A lot of the outcomes people were asking for were well aligned across different community groups. Much more than you might imagine.

When we looked at all the data across the different surveys, and the interviews, the common themes were all pretty much the same. 

They felt the town centre needed a good look at, they also wanted far more facilities where people could come together as a community. Either around sport or around shared interests. The main differences were things like a bigger emphasis on green spaces for the Polish community. If you’re living in accommodation that doesn’t have its own garden, open spaces to play with children or meet with friends become really important for your general wellbeing.

And you spoke about the light-bulb moment for your dissertation. How did the work with Groundswell Innovation influence your research?

You see a lot of different reports on migration and Brexit brought out a lot of articles of people saying they experienced racism… I realised these were the big headlines in the media, but what are people actually thinking? 

Emotionally, the majority of people I spoke to were disappointed about the outcome. In reality, Brexit seems to have made a lot of people from the Polish community solidify their decision to stay here and commit to citizenships.

I connected to the Polish community through Groundswell and realised there’s a lot of community activity going on. I wanted to hear real people’s views rather than turning to the media, so I made that the focus of my dissertation research.

Would you say the engagement piece has been a catalyst for more change, more action? (Not least helping you with your dissertation topic and boosting Crewe’s bid for the £25million backing!)

It has definitely been a catalyst: if it only takes one person to do it for the Polish community and make an impact, then it could inspire other communities to do the same. People have said to me please keep me in the loop, keep me updated on what’s happening next.

I know Crewe Chronicle also brought out a massive four page spread in the newspaper, to talk about it!

To see how a Groundswell consultation and engagement piece can help to catalyse positive change within your community, then head to our case studies page here. 

Connect with Patrycja here

categories: Market Research

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We all know creativity and innovative thinking is key when it comes to generating new services and product offerings… The difficulty is getting your team on board, and then bringing them with you. Which begs the question: what’s the best way to nurture innovation within a team environment?

I should preface this by saying there isn’t one ‘best way’ to go about this. Your approach will depend on the nature of your organisation and the people who work within it.

Which is why I’ve got 5 ideas for you to experiment with – as with most things in life, we don’t all like the same things – so I suggest a mix and match approach is best.  Work out your ‘why’, get to know the way your team works and then start implementing these tips.

It’s not a quick fix (process!) but you’ll end up with a unique innovation process that fits your company’s needs.

Culture is key.

“Everyone has huge creative capacities. The challenge is to develop them. A culture of creativity has to involve everybody, not just a select few.”

– Sir Ken Robinson (UK educationist) on promoting creativity.

Too right. But how do you get everyone involved?

1. Cross fertilisation

I’m talking about diverse teams here. Diverse thoughts. Diverse opinions. The goal is to create an environment where different people – from different backgrounds – can share different perspectives. 

For most, that means hiring differently. But what about the people already in your company? Have you thought about what people from other departments could bring to the table?

Your project officer might have some great product ideas and your finance director might have some awesome analytical insights to offer… 

But you won’t know until you ask them! So, why not invite them to the table?

2. Democratise the process

Innovation needs to be a democratic process if it’s to have any lasting impact. Your team needs to know that they will be supported and heard throughout the process… and that their ideas will be diligently considered.

So, that also means you need to: lead by example

If your colleagues are afraid to question your ideas because you’re ‘the boss’, what makes you think they’ll offer up their own?

Show them it’s acceptable (and encouraged) to think critically, ask thought-provoking questions and offer constructive feedback on any ideas that cross the table – including yours!

Unique perspectives, remember?

3. Mitigate bias…

… by developing an innovation process which is inclusive, creative and evidence based.

Refine your process: create evidence banks, test your solutions, interpret the data from different angles, focus on solving customer problems, and draw up a go-to-market plan.

Make sure everyone knows the steps you have to take to ensure your next idea is credible and profitable. These approaches should be an integral part of your innovation process.

4. Invest to grow

Investing in your team’s growth is a great way to nurture their workplace creativity. The aim is to create an inclusive, diverse and collaborative environment…

So, why not provide opportunities beyond what’s needed for their role? What are they interested in? Is there another area of the business they’d like to learn about? (This will also help with employee retention!)

It’s worth highlighting that investing in your employee’s development should not just be reserved for those who show ‘high potential’ (more on that another day though).

Investing in your team also means investing in them personally.

5. Innovation training

How many people in your team freeze when you say ‘give me some new ideas for XXX’? Most of them?

The reality is that most people won’t understand exactly what you’re expecting from them. 

‘New ideas’ are great, but you need to get specific: what aspects of XXX are you focused on? What problem are you trying to solve? Are you talking about a complete do-over? A simple tweak?

Break the issue down into bite-sized hurdles – lead your team through the whole journey from problem to resolution.

At Groundswell Innovation we often find that employees need to experience idea generation and innovation in a supportive environment, to get the ball rolling.

They need a guiding hand to break the process down, keep them accountable and show them how even the smallest of ideas can make for truly innovative solutions.

Need some guidance and training? Learn how to create a unique innovation process – the Groundswell way.

Get in touch with Jane! Send her an email via jane@groundswellinnovation.co.uk

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Before we dive into the stakeholder best practices according to Nesta and Groundswell Innovation… Let’s just make sure we’re on the same page about social innovation.

According to Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD) social innovation refers to the design, creation and implementation of solutions which aim to address the socio-economic issues amongst various individuals and communities. Alongside socio-economic problems, many innovation initiatives also positively contribute to an area’s environmental and economic development.  

When it comes to social innovation and championing community-led visions in the public sector, there’s a lot of talk about ‘authentic’ public engagement and consultation. For many, that’s simply another box to tick in the bureaucratic process. But it shouldn’t be.  

Because with the right approaches we can develop policies, collaborations and solutions which have the potential to make a real difference – for the stakeholders they impact most.  

The right tools, the right approach 

So, you’re probably wondering: what are the right approaches? Nesta’s DIY Toolkit is a handy reference document outlining best practice and effective ways to engage stakeholders. A big focus of Groundswell’s innovation consultation is all about ‘collecting input from others’.  

Quantitative or Qualitative? 

Whilst gathering quantitative data is important, it often doesn’t give us the whole picture; you also need to gather authentic qualitative data – because that’s where you’ll see most impact. With that combination, you can draw links between data through a hugely diverse range of opinions and perspectives which will help you develop solutions that will truly have a positive impact.  

Nesta recommends drawing qualitative data from a number of engagement methods, including ‘interview guides’, ‘question ladders’ and ‘story worlds’ 

“The easiest way to understand a person is to speak to them. Interviews are a way to connect with people; an opportunity to hear them describe their experiences in their own words.” – Nesta DIY Toolkit (p.58) 

The idea is to gain an understanding of the problems they face, their environment and the ways they can be supported – and as Nesta says, “interviews also act as evidence for why your work is needed or what impact your work is creating.” 

Key Nesta Tools: 

The best practice to adopt is to create an interview guide or framework for your engagement, to ensure consistency in your process and clarity on outcomes. To get the best out of your interviewees, the process should be engaging, fun and have both broad and deep prompts.  

There’s a great section in the Nesta toolkit all about how to ask the ‘right’ questions, using a question ladder. Be specific, be clear. But please remember, the purpose of authentic engagement is not to guide your interviewees towards your desired conclusion – it’s to provide a space for people to explore and bring to light their own feelings and opinions. 

Don’t dismiss the importance of documentation… 

Whilst it’s insightful to take part in these interviews and workshops and come away full of ideas… You mustn’t forget to create a solid documentation process. You need to develop a structured way to record the content you discuss, so that you have a clear point of reference for further analysis, communication and key insights. Nesta recommends using their story world tool which “enables you to bring part of a person’s world with you once you start designing a solution that is addressed to them.” 

Authentic public engagement and consultation should no longer be a tick box exercise, and at Groundswell Innovation we work hard to deliver specialised stakeholder engagement which focuses on the heart of social innovation practice – the people. 

See our work in action 

For more insight, read our case study where we helped Crewe secure £20m of funding for generation of their town centre: https://groundswellinnovation.co.uk/challenges/crewe-towns-fund 

Sources:  View Nesta’s DIY-Toolkit here – https://www.nesta.org.uk/toolkit/diy-toolkit/  

https://www.oecd.org/regional/leed/social-innovation.htm

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