By Jim Ingram, Director of Finance and Administration, Alliance for Innovation
Faster, better, cheaper: this is the mantra so often heard in organizations pressed to create efficient systems. With pressure from citizens and councils to do more with less, local governments are certainly not immune to the pressure. But what is sacrificed under such conditions, what are the desired outcomes in the long run, and how do we balance necessary resources to operate efficiently, prepare for and be resilient in the face of unexpected disruptions, and innovate in the process?
In a recent (9/23/14) Forbes.com article, Jason Bloomberg, a leading technology analyst and expert in the area of digital transformation, writes on “Innovation: The Flip Side of Resilience.” Bloomberg’s inspiration came from a conference presentation made by Ohio State University Professor David Woods (Professor of Cognitive Systems Engineering and Human Systems Integration). Although the audience for Bloomberg’s article and Woods’ presentation is primarily focused on Silicon Valley tech types, a great deal of it relates to any organization’s capacity to adapt and be agile. In fact, Woods acknowledges that the key resource for organizations is “responsible people” and that “technology and automation are tools and resources for people to act.”
Read the entire article at http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/blogs/blogpost/3116/Resiliency_and_Innovation__Anticipating_Disruption.
