Action 2030 Blog
Harnessing innovation to deliver on our goals
05 March 2015
Montenegro sits at one far end of the vast and varied spectrum of countries in which the UN operates. It is upper-middle-income and a country on a sturdy path towards European Union integration, a process which drives much of its reform. Economically, it is positioned in a region where growth will increasingly depend on innovation and where the population’s aspiration for human rights and living standards is informed by peering over the fence to its wealthier neighbors.
This is a stark contrast to the situation just a decade and a half ago when the small Mediterranean country was reeling from regional conflict, demography-changing refugee influxes and economic sanctions. Delayed transition is unleashing many human rights and development challenges and opportunities which fledgling institutions are not yet fully equipped to respond to. Our role as the UN is thus to support the strengthening of both public and civil institutions to ensure tangible progress in institutional performance and the lives of the people those institutions serve.
Hold the excess and stick to the basics
How do we achieve this as the UN? Firstly by recognizing the overwhelming pressure that European Union accession places on a relatively small policy making and implementing community to achieve unprecedented reforms and new standards. There is no room for excessive ‘matrixing’ or planning from the UN: we have to be business-like and focused. Delivering as One cannot, indeed must not, mean more work, complexity or distraction for government and other partners. Processes must be stripped down to the raw basics with a focus on substance and real change in the lives of real people.
Encourage the use of data and knowledge
A huge institutional gap afflicts all public policy space in Montenegro: it is the absence of science and evidence in determining policies and strategies. In the United Nations, the generation of strategic knowledge has been a priority and comparative advantage. We can serve as a role model on the use of data and knowledge by communicating in a way that draws on communication science and that can move an agenda forward. For example we can talk about how our Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) assist countries in collecting and analyzing data, or describe our studies on Roma social exclusion. There are a couple of great recent communications resources on this that I would recommend, such as on public speaking and how to lead change.
Promote innovation for these three reasons
At the UN, we are also promoting innovation, which is important for three reasons:
These innovators, entrepreneurs and thinkers combine the ‘spirit of innovation’ with a hunger for the type of science and evidence so important for quality reform and sustainable change. They have the potential to equal non-governmental organizations as agents of change.
Foster the spirit of innovation
A ‘spirit of innovation’ cannot be achieved through an implementation matrix or an online UN learning programme. It requires a total shake-up in mindset and organizational culture. It requires role-modelling leadership that embraces key pre-requisites for innovation: collaboration across sectors, empowering staff and rewarding a proactive approach, open sourcing, curiosity and creativity, grit and willingness to fail and learn. It also requires a shift from a culture of carefully planned risk-averse programming to agile and adaptable trial-and-error interventions and learning-while-doing. This will be tough, but doable.
Innovation in the UN is about developing new ways that local entities can protect a victim of child abuse, empower a lonely pensioner trying to make sense of a rapidly changing world, or help a refugee obtain new documents. Contributing to human rights and development is rarely business as usual. It requires continuous improvement and that requires innovation.
Improving life in Montenegro – a few examples
First UNDP global meeting on innovation
Bringing together these experiences, Montenegro hosted the first-ever UNDP Global Innovation Meeting. The November 2013 event resulted in the Budva Declaration setting out key principles on innovation for the organization globally. The event’s creative design and the participation of top-notch innovators (e.g. Nesta, Edgeryders, Behavioural Insights Team also known as the Nudge Unit, MindLab, FutureGov) attracted more than 60 colleagues from 29 countries and 16 UNDP Country Offices. UNICEF is hoping to launch one of the world’s first innovation labs on education in Montenegro in the near future.
Another event, an innovations retreat with Nesta, a leading global innovations foundation based in the UK, introduced a group of UN agencies to Nesta’s toolkit ‘DIY: Development Impact & You’. This helped staff to feel comfortable about the ‘spirit of innovation’; the event invited our teams to begin building a shared culture of innovation and creativity.
UN expertise + creativity + motivation
In his excellent book on teaching innovation, Harvard Professor Tony Wagner identifies creativity, motivation and expertise as three core drivers of innovation. At the UN, we have expertise for sure, but what about motivation and creativity? Well, whatever the answer is, there is good news from neuroscience and cognitive psychology that these things can be coached, mentored and nurtured. This is important in the here and now for Montenegro. It is also important for this and future generations of UN staff, to ensure we keep up with the pace of change, remain relevant and harness innovation to deliver on development goals and human rights for the world’s most vulnerable populations.
This is a stark contrast to the situation just a decade and a half ago when the small Mediterranean country was reeling from regional conflict, demography-changing refugee influxes and economic sanctions. Delayed transition is unleashing many human rights and development challenges and opportunities which fledgling institutions are not yet fully equipped to respond to. Our role as the UN is thus to support the strengthening of both public and civil institutions to ensure tangible progress in institutional performance and the lives of the people those institutions serve.
Hold the excess and stick to the basics
How do we achieve this as the UN? Firstly by recognizing the overwhelming pressure that European Union accession places on a relatively small policy making and implementing community to achieve unprecedented reforms and new standards. There is no room for excessive ‘matrixing’ or planning from the UN: we have to be business-like and focused. Delivering as One cannot, indeed must not, mean more work, complexity or distraction for government and other partners. Processes must be stripped down to the raw basics with a focus on substance and real change in the lives of real people.
Encourage the use of data and knowledge
A huge institutional gap afflicts all public policy space in Montenegro: it is the absence of science and evidence in determining policies and strategies. In the United Nations, the generation of strategic knowledge has been a priority and comparative advantage. We can serve as a role model on the use of data and knowledge by communicating in a way that draws on communication science and that can move an agenda forward. For example we can talk about how our Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) assist countries in collecting and analyzing data, or describe our studies on Roma social exclusion. There are a couple of great recent communications resources on this that I would recommend, such as on public speaking and how to lead change.
Promote innovation for these three reasons
At the UN, we are also promoting innovation, which is important for three reasons:
- First, we have a human rights imperative to harness science, innovation and knowledge to fulfil human rights;
- Second, global progress on health, education or poverty means we have an increased focus on vulnerable populations who have not been reached through traditional approaches, so we need to try new ones;
- Third, there is a powerful new force shaping public policy space and it comprises the type of disruptive innovators, social entrepreneurs and thinkers emerging through avenues like TedX, social media and digital activism.
These innovators, entrepreneurs and thinkers combine the ‘spirit of innovation’ with a hunger for the type of science and evidence so important for quality reform and sustainable change. They have the potential to equal non-governmental organizations as agents of change.
Foster the spirit of innovation
A ‘spirit of innovation’ cannot be achieved through an implementation matrix or an online UN learning programme. It requires a total shake-up in mindset and organizational culture. It requires role-modelling leadership that embraces key pre-requisites for innovation: collaboration across sectors, empowering staff and rewarding a proactive approach, open sourcing, curiosity and creativity, grit and willingness to fail and learn. It also requires a shift from a culture of carefully planned risk-averse programming to agile and adaptable trial-and-error interventions and learning-while-doing. This will be tough, but doable.
Innovation in the UN is about developing new ways that local entities can protect a victim of child abuse, empower a lonely pensioner trying to make sense of a rapidly changing world, or help a refugee obtain new documents. Contributing to human rights and development is rarely business as usual. It requires continuous improvement and that requires innovation.
Improving life in Montenegro – a few examples
- The award-winning mobile app ‘Be Responsible’ uses digital technology to promote citizen responsibility. Citizens use SMS text messaging to report illegal waste dumps, misuse of official vehicles, irregular parking, roadblocks, and failure to comply with tax regulations.
- The UNDP project ‘Open Ideas for Montenegro’ is a competition that encourages social innovation by the people of Montenegro using the Web and mobile phones. In addition to ‘Be Responsible’, citizens designed other innovative apps, too, including one that allows persons with disabilities better access to information and another that provides information on the quality of consumer goods.
- UNICEF has adapted behavioural science to develop alternative ways of recruiting foster parents as part of an effort to eradicate the devastating practice of placing young children in institutional care.
- New technologies and innovative partnerships between actors, the drama school and educationalists helped to provide audiobook textbooks for children with visual impairment, also through UNICEF. This innovation replaced prohibitively expensive braille books and enabled children to learn within their own communities and not to be ghettoized in special schools.
First UNDP global meeting on innovation
Bringing together these experiences, Montenegro hosted the first-ever UNDP Global Innovation Meeting. The November 2013 event resulted in the Budva Declaration setting out key principles on innovation for the organization globally. The event’s creative design and the participation of top-notch innovators (e.g. Nesta, Edgeryders, Behavioural Insights Team also known as the Nudge Unit, MindLab, FutureGov) attracted more than 60 colleagues from 29 countries and 16 UNDP Country Offices. UNICEF is hoping to launch one of the world’s first innovation labs on education in Montenegro in the near future.
Another event, an innovations retreat with Nesta, a leading global innovations foundation based in the UK, introduced a group of UN agencies to Nesta’s toolkit ‘DIY: Development Impact & You’. This helped staff to feel comfortable about the ‘spirit of innovation’; the event invited our teams to begin building a shared culture of innovation and creativity.
UN expertise + creativity + motivation
In his excellent book on teaching innovation, Harvard Professor Tony Wagner identifies creativity, motivation and expertise as three core drivers of innovation. At the UN, we have expertise for sure, but what about motivation and creativity? Well, whatever the answer is, there is good news from neuroscience and cognitive psychology that these things can be coached, mentored and nurtured. This is important in the here and now for Montenegro. It is also important for this and future generations of UN staff, to ensure we keep up with the pace of change, remain relevant and harness innovation to deliver on development goals and human rights for the world’s most vulnerable populations.
