Week 6: Communicating Innovation

Written by: Steven Jacobs, Recreation Leader at the Department of Parks & Recreation

The topic for our second-to-last class at the Academy for Municipal Innovation was focused on communicating innovation and how we present our ideas. Jeff Klemens and Mark Havens, our instructors for the session, were a captivating combo. They explained to us that keeping our presentations short, human and to-the-point are paramount to communicating efficiently to an audience.

One major takeaway for me was the idea that when we are presenting—context is everything. It is important for our audience to have context and understand the relevance of what we are saying. Ultimately, our audience should determine how we deliver our message. This is important to remember when making a presentation, especially in municipal government.

In my line of work as a Recreation Leader, we present our ideas to unique audiences, including the sometimes-challenging public. We have be cognizant of the core message we are delivering, keeping in mind that it can be catered and adapted to fit the needs of any given audience. Above all else, however, if we can show the audience some love (i.e. make them feel valued, understood, appreciated) and do just one thing well in our presentation, we are likely to have success.

I feel confident that I can implement the lessons we were taught during this class in my daily work, and not just as it relates to innovation. For example, I’ve already had the opportunity to use one tip that Mark discussed regarding how to end a presentation. This past Friday, I was a guest speaker at Academies at Roxborough High School for their career day and when it came time for questions, instead of saying to the students, “Does anyone have questions?”—I asked, “What are some questions we have?” Boom! INSTANT SUCCESS. By slightly tweaking the phrasing of the question (making it less threatening) I could elicit a few responses from the students, which would have been difficult to do if I had stuck with the unoriginal “Does anyone have questions?” line

I’m looking forward to the culmination of everything in our final class of the semester. However, it will be bittersweet as I have thoroughly enjoyed these past six weeks (and not just because of the lunches)! I suppose all good things must come to an end…at least for now.

What is the Academy for Municipal Innovation?

AMI is a seven-week program that introduces participants to the principles and practice of innovation. Participants will learn to integrate tools and techniques of innovation drawn from design thinking, system thinking, business analytics, and ethnographic research to discover innovative solutions to complex real-world problems. The program will be delivered in a studio setting, anchored in Jefferson University’s (formerly Philadelphia University) signature nexus learning pedagogy of active, collaborative, and real-world learning. Each session will introduce practical techniques & tools that can be immediately applied at work to inspire innovation through collaboration.

Throughout the program, the City (Innovation Management) will offer opportunities to further develop the skills and tools that participants are learning in the classroom. Brown bag lunches, innovation consulting sessions, and workshops will take place throughout the fall to encourage students to engage with the material in the context of their everyday portfolios, and to provide them with a space to meet past graduates and learn about how they’ve integrated innovative thinking into their roles.