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A Framework to Promote Innovative Thinking and Practice
CLBC acknowledges Dr. Michael Kendrick whose critical thinking and extensive writings on innovation, and consultations with CLBC, have contributed to this framework.
A summary of CLBC's framework to promote innovation and creativity is below.
 Download the full version (111KB pdf).
Introduction
Innovation refers to new or significantly improved ideas, goods, services, processes or practices that are meant to be useful. Innovation falls into four broad areas:
- Product innovation - a new good or service that is substantially improved
- Process innovation - a new or significantly improved production or delivery method
- Marketing innovation - new marketing methods with improvement in product design or packaging, product promotion or pricing
- Organizational innovation - new organizations, business practices, or ways of running organizations
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CLBC’s framework is intended to promote innovative thinking and practice within CLBC, community living and the broader community. The goal is sustainable, person-focused approaches to developing, funding and implementing needed supports and services. Innovations that improve people's lives are needed and welcomed and reflect CLBC’s vision and mission.
Some Key Assumptions
- A culture of innovation can be grown and sustained
- Not all innovations will work
- Innovations must be evaluated
- Innovations can come from anywhere
- Innovations depend on innovation minded and talented people
- Innovations can be seeded and accelerated
- Needed innovations can be named, justified, targeted, prioritized and developed through strategic investments
- Actual and potential innovators can be identified, recruited, supported and linked to other innovators, thus enhancing innovation
- Innovations can be developed in an organized way through coordinated leadership, programs and exploration
- The development of innovations can be supported by organized information sharing
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The Role of Innovative-Minded People
Innovation comes from individuals, not organizations and systems. Without the ability to imagine differently, innovation is impossible. Innovation needs ongoing investments in people and their ability to advance practice.
Innovation Support Network
The Innovation Support Network is a group of service providers helping CLBC and its partners to establish new and creative ways to support individuals and their families. Priorities this year include:
- Exploring what innovation is and what determines when innovation is present
- Organizing an innovation expo to highlight existing innovations
- Investigating sources of “seed money” to assist in developing innovation projects
Additional Actions CLBC Can Take to Promote Innovation
Below are things CLBC can do to promote innovative thinking and practice. Some are already underway.
- Strategic Innovation Fund
A Strategic Innovation Fund that sets aside a portion of CLBC’s yearly budget would enable CLBC to fund projects that provide more choice and flexibility for individuals and their families.
- Supporting the Establishment of Service User and Family Governed Projects
Consumer/family governed projects are developed by small groups of service users or families to arrange and oversee supports tailored to their needs. Individuals and families take on as much, or little, responsibility as they want to create and oversee support arrangements. A chosen provider acts as a “host” agency, not the direct project manager, and enables each project to operate in unique ways. Making this option more widely available will support individual and family creativity.
- Establishing innovative personalized support arrangements as a priority with new funding
A way to encourage system revitalization is to establish innovative personalized support arrangements as a meaningful option with new funding. This does not prevent some growth or innovation in current services; it means service expansion will be concentrated on more pioneering initiatives rather than expanding conventional services and practices. Introducing individualized funding in the fall of 2006 will assist this process.
- More effectively using funds that are already in the system
Another source of funding for renewal is re-utilizing funds already in the system by converting existing services to other models. This requires existing programs to be re-designed, or re-modeled, and this will make some people uncomfortable. However, if support arrangements for individuals do not meet their needs, there is value in opening up existing services for redesign.
- Supporting community workshops and training events to raise awareness about what is possible
Regular workshops and training events can raise awareness about what is possible and provide examples of how to implement innovative alternatives. This process began in June 2006 with the Exploration in Innovation Workshop Series. The first two events featured innovators from the USA and Australia with experience in developing unique supports, one person at a time.
- Recognizing BC innovators and innovations
A recognition program would encourage people to become more innovation-minded and to take reasonable risks. Ways to achieve this include using CLBC’s and BCACL’s websites, newsletters and annual conferences.
- Extending formal invitations to the field to proceed with needed innovations
Innovative experiments should be routine and could be achieved by working with service users and families to determine what is presently lacking in the system, and what would be more preferable. This would “anchor” needed innovations in people’s own experiences.
- Leadership development
Leadership is a key to creating an innovation-minded culture. CLBC can nurture leaders by involving them in CLBC sponsored activities, and provide scholarships for emerging leaders to study areas where the field is making progress. CLBC can also support a coordinated program of activity for all innovator groups that helps to build leadership capacity. Other opportunities that will support leaders to emerge include Community Councils and the Advisory Committee to the CLBC Board.
- Ongoing evaluation
Where innovations are developed and carried out with attention to how they affect service users, there have been many advances. However, innovations can have negative consequences if they are not tested against some standard of what is good for people. CLBC must evaluate all innovations from the basis of their originality and whether they are consistent with how people should be supported.
- Issuing an annual innovation status report
An annual status report on progress being made with innovations, emerging challenges and the program of activities that will be pursued by all innovator groups in the upcoming year can help create needed awareness and momentum.
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The Role of Individual Support Plans in Promoting Innovation
Individual support plans are the primary means to identify, fund and implement innovative supports and services. CLBC Facilitators and others (e.g. individuals, families and providers) who assist in developing these plans assume responsibility to address:
- Identifying and prioritizing basic needs
- Meeting needs in socially inclusive ways
- Accessing community and generic supports
- Ensuring that proposed supports/services reflect the most effective way to meet identified needs
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CLBC’s responsibility, through its quality service analysts, is to ensure that the different ways proposed to meet people’s disability related needs result in supports and services that are person-centred, flexible, cost effective and responsive.
A Call to Action
CLBC is committed to sustainable, person-focused supports and services and to expand the capacity of generic community services required by those it serves. For needed change to occur, everyone must play an active role in helping people to achieve full citizenship. CLBC’s innovation framework will help each of us to rethink what is possible, and what we can do to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families.
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