Innovation U N L E A S H E D with Positive Deviance

1. Innovation U N L E A S H E Dwith Positive Deviance Keith McCandless, Social Invention Group January 2007

2. Key Themes • Drawing out innovations that has gone unnoticed in your organization or community; • Improvising with the materials and imagination at hand - bricolage (not trying for perfection); • Supporting communities-of-practice that sustain innovation; and, • Recognizing that innovation is a social process that spreads peer-to-peer

3. What Is Innovation? Innovation is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create value (Drucker) Getting a valuable new idea or technology or advance-in-practice adopted (Rogers) Innovations are non-linear shifts that change the rules and transform common practices (McCandless)

4. Innovation, Not ImprovementChanging the Rules in the High Jump Innovation Improvement …Meters…

5. Continuum of Theories Let It Happen <<< Help It Happen >>> Make It Happen

6. Premise of Positive Deviance In every community there are certain individuals whose uncommon practices/ behaviors enable them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbors who have access to the same resources.

7. The Vietnam Story The future is already here… but it is not at all well distributed.

8. Positive Deviance Process • Define • the problem and what desired outcome would look like • Discover • if there are individuals/units who already exhibit the desired behavior/outcome • Determine • the uncommon, but demonstrably successful behaviors/strategies enabling the “positive deviants” to find an innovative solution to the problem • Design • an intervention/program enabling others in the “community” to practice the new behaviors/strategies. (Note: focus on practice rather than knowledge!) Adapted from Jerry Sternin

9. First Steps -- DEFINE • Define the problem and desired outcome or innovation • Determine data required to identify Positive Deviants (those already exhibiting desired status/behavior) if they exist • Identify those to be involved in the inquiry… beyond the usual suspects • Frame the inquiry in a way that the benefit is clear to those involved

10. TRADITIONAL Externally Fueled (by “experts” or internal authority) Top-down, Outside-in Deficit Based “What’s wrong here?” Begins with analysis of underlying causes of PROBLEM Solution Space limited by perceivedproblem parameters Triggers Immune System “defense response” POSITIVE DEVIANCE Internally Fueled (by “people like us”, same culture and resources) Down-up, Inside-out Asset Based “What’s right here?” Begins with analysis of demonstrably successful SOLUTIONS Solution Space enlarged through discovery of actual parameters Bypasses Immune System (solution shares same “DNA” as host) CONTRASTING APPROACHES I Adapted from Jerry Sternin

11. Acting Your Way Into New Thinking… not thinking or designing your way into new acting BEHAVIOR CHANGE KNOWLEDGE Social Proof Opportunity for practice Perceived Advantage

12. S P R E A D OF INNOVATIONSThe tyranny of averages always conceals sparkling exceptions to the rule. JS Diffusion Attributes Relative advantage Compatibility Complexity Trial-ability Observability PD Behaviors identified as “advantageous” by peers created within cultural context requires no special resources opportunity to practice through PD participants and personal experience

13. Awareness-to-Integration Development EffortsFocusing on Adoption & Integration in Communities Transformative thinking & innovating 2. However, adoption occurs in communities-of-practice with interpersonal “peer” influence at play Integration Innovation is a routine part of behavior Adoption Clinician tries out the innovation OBJECTIVE OR AIM Skill & competency building 1. Traditional change efforts focus on generating awareness & agreement with evidence or data Agreement Clinician evaluates relative value of the innovation Awareness Clinician hears about innovation for the first time Information transfer Expert Centered Individual or Patient Centered Community & Group Relationship Centered © 2004, Keith McCandless DELIVERY APPROACH

14. Non-Linear, Bottom-up Fringe-In Learning Process Focusing on Self-Discovery and Social Proof Within the Community Integration Innovation is a routine-but-unseen part of behavior 3. Further, PD unleashes creativity adaptability and collective mindfulness among working groups, moving from explicit- to implicit- to tacit- know-how spontaneously Transformative thinking & innovating Awareness People whose behavior needs to change discover PDs Agreement People see peers solving the problem with the same resources OBJECTIVE OR AIM Skill & competency building 2. However, adoption occurs in communities-of-practice with interpersonal “peer” influence at play Adoption People practice & co-evolve behavior in their local context 1. Traditional change efforts focus on generating awareness & agreement with evidence or data Information transfer Expert Centered Individual or Patient Centered Community & Group Relationship Centered © 2004, Keith McCandless DELIVERY APPROACH

15. Sources of Knowledge, Learning & Talent Telling ++ +++++ Adapted from Alan Duncan, MD (Mayo Clinic)