Introduction

Our world is moving at a lightning speed. And, it’s no 

illusion: with technological advancements, a global 

economy, cultural shifts, and new generational 

perspectives, it’s no wonder that emerging ideas, 

products, and policies seem to introduce daily 

disruptions. Commonly referred to as innovations, 

we witness, experience, and adopt these changes 

as consumers everyday. What’s challenging, 

however, is the ability to embrace or even catalyze 

an innovation within our professional lives. Today, 

all stakeholders—from intern to chairman of the 

board—are prioritizing innovation.

Beyond the buzzword lies opportunity for disciplined 

creativity. We cannot simply say we want to 

innovate, we must understand why we should 

innovate, build a culture of innovation, fail forward 

and learn and grow from our attempts. 

What is innovation? 

Let’s explore the four basic steps to innovation to 

guide you as you begin your journey.

1. Understand.

Listen with curiosity.

Understand the value you offer to audiences—

and what can be added to improve service 

delivery.

Listen with empathy.

Walk in your audience’s shoes without any 

assumptions or expectations—here is where you 

find the pleasant surprises!

Listen with intent. 

Get started with your listening initiative and map 

out your mission, program by program. 

2. Identify.

Assess the challenges.

You cannot manage what you cannot measure.

So, developing a reliable tracking system of

challenges is critical.

Prioritize the challenges.

Who are you inviting to the table to identify the 

challenges with the biggest return on innovation? 

Be open minded in your selection. 

Isolate the challenges.

Avoid “analysis paralysis.” Start small so you 

can gain some quick-wins and encourage your 

organization to support the initiative.

3. Brainstorm.

Brainstorm together. 

When cross-functional and unlikely teammates 

are paired up to brainstorm solutions, they are 

more likely to find novel connections—creating 

more value for the organization.

Brainstorm bravely. 

Set ground rules that encourage curious 

and open thinking. “Blue-sky” brainstorming 

allows your organization to truly explore the 

possibilities.

Brainstorm nimbly.

Don’t get stuck on the finer details, and don’t 

wait. Funding cycles need not determine 

operation cycles. 

4. Prototype/test.

Assess feasibility.

Ask yourself: Will your innovative idea work? 

The National

Resource Center on

Nutrition & Aging

Innovation: Part Discipline, Part Creativity, 

All Possible

Summary Brief

1

Written by: Laura Kisailus, madebydarwin.com. Commissioned by the NRCNA.

Innovation Process
21

Identify the mechanics of who-what-where-whenhow (i.e., do you have the needed funding or 

capacity to execute, etc).

Determine viability. 

Ask yourself: Should we do this? Does it stand 

strong against the competition to add value and 

maximize impact?

Anticipate desirability. 

Sometimes our audiences don’t know what they 

want or what’s possible (think: UBER), but we take 

a calculated risk with our innovations that pivots us 

within a future context.

Who is innovating? 

Take a look below for inspiration and motivation!

Case study: Develop a technology-assisted home 

food delivery initiative.

Problem to solve: How to enable home-bound 

vulnerable older adults to leverage available 

community resources to access needed, nutritious 

supplemental foods. 

To learn more, click here.

Case study: Modernize the congregate meal 

program (a pop up cafe concept: Encore Cafe.

Problem to solve: How to address decreasing 

participation at traditional congregate meal sites. 

To learn more, click here.

Case study: Forge new healthcare linkages and 

expand services across a statewide network

Problem to solve: How to improve quality, increase 

efficiency, and reduce the epidemic of older adult 

malnutrition. 

To learn more, click here.

Read the extended brief to learn more. 

https://nutritionandaging.org/briefs/

RESOURCES

Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofits, Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2008/12/delivering-on-the-promise-ofnonprofits

Creating High Impact Nonprofits, Stanford Social Innovation Review: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/creating_high_impact_

nonprofits#

Design Thinking for Innovation, Coursera [University of Virginia]: https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinkinginnovation