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INNOVATION 101

2019 NRCNA TRAINING SERIES
Welcome & Introductions
2019 SUMMER TRAINING SERIES

PART 1: 

VIRTUAL SESSION: 

INNOVATION 101

JULY 23, 2019

PART 2: 

INTENSIVE WORKSHOP: 

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 

IN CREATIVE IDEATION

AUGUST 26, 2019

PART 3: 

VIRTUAL SESSION –

LAUNCHING YOUR 

INNOVATION JOURNEY

OCTOBER 2, 2019
@NRCNA_engAging

Innovation 101 Webinar

With Gregg Fraley

Part 1 of 3 total sessions

July 23, 2019
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• Five Dimensional Curiosity Scale

• Asking your team/staff about views on innovation

• Doblin’s 10 Types of innovation video

• Three article from Gregg Fraley

• “Projects Are How Innovation Happens”

• “Brown Bag Innovation”

• “Basic Innovation Messaging to Operational Employees”

Homework and Pre-Reading Assignment
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• Welcome and thank you

• Have a paper/pencil laptop handy to jot

notes

• We’ll be doing an exercise that requires

you write

• Slides are available through the NRCNA

team

• I’m a resource to you via email,

greggfraley@gmail.com

• The Big Picture of Today’s session:

• Why & How of Innovation

• Start on an Innovation Process,

– which continues at Conf, then postconference

Today’s Session
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Mindset (personal)

It all starts with your attitude(s)

• Curiosity

• Open mindedness

• Problem solving orientation

• Collaborative (YES + AND)

• Persistence

• Learn from failure

• Enrolling others in projects
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• What's your sense of "innovation readiness" at

your organization, and this includes you?

– 5. Ready, willing, able, enthusiastic

– 4. General interest, but questions and minor issues

– 3. Somewhat interested, some negativity and/or cynicism

– 2. Not interested, for whatever reason, resistant

– 1. Negative and cynical about the concept of innovation

Polling Question “A”
INNOVATION WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• Remember Kodak? Radio Shack? Blockbuster?

• “Innovate or Die” is not just a cliché/phrase

• Innovation can be intimidating, scary, and complex

• The companies listed tried to innovate

• Survival required more risk

• 30% of Non-Profits lost money over last 3 years

• There are many methods, frameworks, theories,

and the discussion of environment, and culture...

• And yet it can be as simple as...Projects

Why Innovation?
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Why Don’t Organizations Innovate?

• Because people don’t like to change,

and like to avoid risk

• If things are humming along, why

change?

• The larger the organization, the more

focused it is on operations, which is

entirely different from innovation

• The desire, the motivation, tends

to happen when there is an

Emergency
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

What Is Innovation?

• Implemented

Creativity

• Creativity is “Novelty

that’s Useful”

• Big “I” and Little “i”

• Doblin’s Ten Types
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3
Mel Rhodes

4 “P’s”

INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• Culture

• Mindset

• Communications

o Requires

decisions about

what you’ll commit

to doing

Lens on Organizational Creativity
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

• Culture change only

happens one way:

Projects

• How to manage

innovation project

• 7 Step Process

adapted from “CPS” (aka

Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving)*

• For more on CPS, see CPS Resources Sheet

Innovation Process
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Visioning, What Possible Projects?

• Get out your pen/paper or use your

computer

• Without judging yourself...

• Start making a list of possible

projects for innovation

• What’s a huge challenge? Medium

sized? Elephant in the room? Small

and annoying? Opportunity? Low

Hanging fruit
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Visioning, Project Selection

• Who’s your Wisdom Hero?

• Write that name down

• Imagine that person

o Key Characteristics, etc

• Now, make a selection
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Problem Frames (are actually Questions)

• Format: How Might We Learn

Problem Framing?

• How Might We...+ Verb + Action

• create, build, fix, eliminate (some

verb)

• ...Recruit more volunteers?

• ...Double our donations?

• ... Serve more people?
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Create Your First Point Problem Frame Now

• How Might We...+ Verb + Action

• Tips:

• Not too focused, not too general

• Avoid building in criteria or guardrails

• For Example:

– How Might We improve morale in our

staff and volunteers, without upseting

old timers or chronic complainers or

blowing the budget on training?

Feel free to share your problem 

frames in the chat box!
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

What Might Be Happening

• Getting a fresh perspective on a problem you’ve

been thinking about can be difficult

• Don’t ever settle for the first one, make a list of at

least 10 other ways to frame the problem. Take

time and work this list.

• Brainstorming ideas to answer this question

comes next, and, the key to successful idea

generation is... A good problem frame!

• Return to your ”wise hero” and imagine what they

would say

• When you’ve diverged and had an “aha” you’re

then probably ready to pick one
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Challenge Mapping (advanced tool)
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

The Basics of Challenge Mapping

• Start with your starting frame in the center, use Post-Its or a white

board

• You create new problem frames by asking yourself two types of

questions:

o Why?

o What’s Stopping You?

• Why tends to unveil deeper reasons around a challenge, so, listen to

your answer, then make it a question.

• What’s Stopping you unveils tactical reasons around your challenge.

Again, listen to your answer
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Before Dallas...

• Re-examine the wish/vision/project list

• Settle on one you want to work on between now and Dallas, and at

the session in Dallas

• Before you get to Dallas, do a Challenge Map, or, at least just list

Problem Frames around your selected project. Optionally, get your

team involved and have them help you create a nice long list of

Problem Frames.

• Get a sense of which Problem Frame strikes you intutively as the

right one to spend time jamming ideas for

• In Dallas, we’ll focus on idea generation after a review
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Polling Question “B”

Now that you know a bit more about the why and how 

of innovation, how do you feel about your readiness 

to get a program started?

5. Enthusiastic

4. Interested

3. Somewhat interested, but need to learn more first

2. Not interested, think it's not for us at this time

1. Won't attempt to develop an innovation program
INNOVATION 101 WEBINAR, PART 1 OF 3

Q & A
KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING

• Join the Innovations

101 team online via

NRCNAengage!

• Why?

Exclusive content

Connect with your

peers

Swap insights and

ideas

Stay inspired!
KEY RESOURCES

LITERATURE

REVIEW

Read it now at

www.futureofcongregate.com
KEY RESOURCES

NRCNA ISSUE BRIEFS

Maximizing

commercial kitchens

Sustainability and

revenue generation
UPCOMING EVENT

Nourishing Seniors Through 

Medically Tailored Meals

• What: Online Webcast and

In-person Convening

• When: Thursday August 8,

2019

• Where: Crystal City, Virginia

• To Register: Click here
@NRCNA_engAging

www.nutritionandaging.org

SEE YOU IN DALLAS!

MONDAY AUGUST 26, 2019