How to run a great open innovation competition? Our advice is to SCAMPER

How to run a great open innovation competition? Our advice is to SCAMPER

If you work in innovation, you probably know the acronym SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, and Reverse). SCAMPER is an ideation method that invites innovators to take a product or solution and turn it on its head. You can throw out ideas about how things are done currently and consider what…

Systems-informed solutions should be our new bar, even if we’re still chasing the white whale of systems change.

Systems-informed solutions should be our new bar, even if we’re still chasing the white whale of systems change.

On their own, the solutions generated by innovation labs, accelerators, and competitions won’t solve complex problems. Champions of the innovation ecosystem have realized that sometimes our methods and incentives encourage individual solutions when we need partnerships and collaboration instead. Adopting a systems thinking approach with long-term planning, deep collaboration, expertise, and patience is crucial. However, these qualities…

Systems mapping and human centered design: incentivizing cross-sector collaboration for disaster resilience

Systems mapping and human centered design: incentivizing cross-sector collaboration for disaster resilience

Natural disasters in the Caribbean are becoming more ferocious and frequent. This, coupled with the increasing detrimental impacts of climate change, mean that the vulnerabilities faced by small island nations in the Eastern Caribbean are set to intensify.

Systems Change and Leading in the Land of Complexity

Systems Change and Leading in the Land of Complexity

In this three-part series GKI’s Chase Keenan shares some of the thinking that emerged from a piece of research done by Chase, Sara Farley, Renee Vuillaume, and Glen Burnett. The aim of this research was to further GKI’s understanding of how systems change, and the role that leadership can play in catalyzing that change. You can read the final output of the project here. …

Evaluation 2017 Conference Reflections: The Importance of Systems Thinking

Evaluation 2017 Conference Reflections: The Importance of Systems Thinking

The American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) Evaluation 2017 Conference brought together evaluators from around world for a week of exciting dialogue and hands-on learning experiences. The presiding AEA President, Kathryn Newcomer, presented this year’s conference theme, “From Learning to Action,” which explored the many ways “our community can learn from evaluation to create better practices and…