Overview: The Internal Innovation Pipeline @ The HHS Idea Lab
- 1. The Internal Innovation Pipeline of the HHS IDEA Lab Read Holman, HHS IDEA LAB U.S. Department of Health and Human Services January 2016
- 2. 2 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 3. 3 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 4. Government doesn’t do this well. 4 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 5. Government doesn’t do this well. If testing is done, then it’s approached as an itemized list of technically-driven tests... instead of as a spectrum of increasingly sophisticated customer-driven tests. 5 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 6. 6 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. Government doesn’t do this well. If testing is done, then it’s approached as an itemized list of technically-driven tests... instead of as a spectrum of increasingly sophisticated customer-driven tests. “Is it secure?” “Is it 508 compliant?” “Did it go through clearance?” “Does it meet the requirements?” “Does anyone actually want this thing?” “Even if people say they want it, will they actually use it when given the tool?” “If they do use it, will the tool have the intended effect on the user?”
- 7. These questions mitigate for technical risk. “Does it work?” is interpreted as “Is it up and running?” 7 Government doesn’t do this well. If testing is done, then it’s approached as an itemized list of technically-driven tests... instead of as a spectrum of increasingly sophisticated customer-driven tests. These questions mitigate for outcome risk. “Does it work?” is interpreted as “Is it having an impact?” “Does anyone actually want this thing?” “Even if people say they want it, will they actually use it when given the tool?” “If they do use it, will the tool have the intended effect on the user?” “Is it secure?” “Is it 508 compliant?” “Did it go through clearance?” “Does it meet the requirements?” Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 8. 8 The incentives for government are simply not aligned with the goals our missions statements demand. Our internal processes have thus evolved not to just hinder but to resist and reject doing things in a customer-centric and outcomes-oriented way. Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 9. 9 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. For example: Do prototypes have to be 508 and FISMA compliant? Do all item of feedback have to go through Regs.gov? Does talking to more than 9 people trigger the PRA?
- 10. These and other questions are answerable. BUT their very existence scares employees from operating in this “testing” space and scares management away from allowing for experimentation. 10 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 11. 11 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. These and other questions are answerable. BUT their very existence scares employees from operating in this “testing” space and scares management away from allowing for experimentation. So we roll out large-scale programs without proper testing. And we’re surprised when they fail.
- 12. 12 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. These and other questions are answerable. BUT their very existence scares employees from operating in this “testing” space and scares management away from allowing for experimentation. Or even worse… They putter along with questionable impact but with so much up-front money invested that they are (politically) hard to kill/change.
- 13. 13 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. These and other questions are answerable. BUT their very existence scares employees from operating in this “testing” space and scares management away from allowing for experimentation. Or even worse… They become idea-driven (rather than a data-driven) programs.
- 14. In 2013, we launched Ignite (Round 1) to support employees who wanted to test new ideas HHS Ignite Accelerator (6 months + $10k @ 20% time) 14 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. To address these issues…
- 15. In 2013, we launched Ignite (Round 1) to support employees who wanted to test new ideas HHS Ignite Accelerator (6 months + $10k @ 20% time) 15 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. HHS employees with innovative ideas pitched to get 6 months of funding and coaching to test out their idea with customers before pitching to Sr Leadership during our own Shark Tank. 70 teams applied. 13 were selected. 5 got full follow-up support to continue.
- 16. We had these Key Findings: More training needed to help teams identify the right problem to address. Some teams went into the “Rollout” stages without sufficient testing. HHS Ignite Accelerator (6 months + $10k @ 20% time) 16 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. In 2013, we launched Ignite (Round 1) to support employees who wanted to test new ideas
- 17. We had these Key Findings: More training needed to help teams identify the right problem to address. Some teams went into the “Rollout” stages without sufficient testing. HHS Ignite Accelerator (6 months + $10k @ 20% time) 17 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. In 2013, we launched Ignite (Round 1) to support employees who wanted to test new ideas
- 18. Round 2 (Summer 2014) --> Round 4 (Summer 2015) Teams started in early phase. Partnered w UMD for training + coaching. HHS Ignite Accelerator (3 months + $5k @ 25-50% time) 18 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 19. HHS Ignite Accelerator (3 months + $5k @ 25-50% time) We had these Key Findings: Teams don’t need funding ...for Discovery or early-stage tests Not many teams are conducting sophisticated tests / getting that far down the pipeline 19 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. Round 2 (Summer 2014) --> Round 4 (Summer 2015) Teams started in early phase. Partnered w UMD for training + coaching.
- 20. HHS Ignite Accelerator (3 months + $5k @ 25-50% time) We had these Key Findings: Teams don’t need funding ...for Discovery or early-stage tests Not many teams are conducting sophisticated tests / getting that far down the pipeline 20 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. Round 2 (Summer 2014) --> Round 4 (Summer 2015) Teams started in early phase. Partnered w UMD for training + coaching.
- 21. HHS Ignite Accelerator (3 months + $5k @ 25-50% time) We had these Key Findings: Teams don’t need funding ...for Discovery or early-stage tests Not many teams are conducting sophisticated tests / getting that far down the pipeline 21 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. Round 2 (Summer 2014) --> Round 4 (Summer 2015) Teams started in early phase. Partnered w UMD for training + coaching.
- 22. Round 5 (Spring 2016) = The Current Round Teams started in early phase. Partnered w UMD for training + coaching. HHS Ignite Accelerator (3 months + $3k @ 50% time) Ignite Finalist Stage (2 months @ 10% time) Hypotheses Allows us to scale by training more employees (there are 47 Finalist teams). Allows the teams that get into Ignite to travel further down the pipeline. 22 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways.
- 23. HHS Ventures Fund (15 months @ 50% time + $100k) 23 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. The HHS Ventures Fund takes to the next level innovative projects with early-but-demonstrated impact
- 24. HHS Ventures Fund (15 months @ 50% time + $100k) 24 Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. The HHS Ventures Fund takes to the next level innovative projects with early-but-demonstrated impact ● Also competitive: Teams pitch to a panel of Sr Leadership who select those to fund. ● Requires Executive Sponsor to signal internal Agency support. ● This stage involves re-integrating with established government processes and policies. ● We help them navigate the bureaucracy. AND we work to ensure the core principles of customer-centered iterations are maintained (this is hard).
- 25. The HHS Ignite Accelerator Ignite Finalists Round The HHS Ventures Fund Live New products, services, and processes that have been validated get implemented. Discovery User needs are researched and pain points are identified. Testing An innovation is prototyped and tested in increasingly sophisticated ways. Our Internal Innovation Pipeline