Facilitating Innovation

Facilitating Innovation

Nate Hill @natenatenate Idaho Library Association 2015

presentation: http://natehill.net/idaho

The ol' switcheroo

How I did this at my old job

How I'm beginning to do this at my new job

Chattanooga's 4th Floor as an example

From Edge to Core

prototype ideas, fold projects and culture back into your organization

"we know this place sucks right now"

by helping your library, you are helping yourself

The 4th floor is a public laboratory and educational facility with a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts.

avoid analysis paralysis

launch more new things!

the result

emergent structures you can learn from

link the edges, pull new services to the core

The 4th Floor worked because:

• we aimed to help solve other people’s problems - we empathized
• we both used and facilitated the design process - dogfooding
• we loved to collaborate, and brought value to the table
• we knew that culture is EVERYTHING
• we tried new stuff all of the time - we iterated
• we all liked making real things - we made prototypes
• we went and partied at other people’s parties, not just our own

Applying this pattern to another kind of organization

METRO is a lab where New York's libraries and archives come together to learn, innovate, and collaborate on digital initiatives.

In the spirit of rapid prototyping, here are a few things we currently have under way

Thanks Idaho!!!

Nate Hill @natenatenate Idaho Library Association 2015

presentation: http://natehill.net/idaho