Week 3: A Value Proposition
The fifth cohort of the Academy for Municipal Innovation kicked off in October 2017. This is a blog series written by participants about their experiences in the program. Today’s author is Crystal Yates, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, EMS for the Philadelphia Fire Department.
How are Walmart and Target successful? How do BJ’s and Sam’s Club exist? What makes Apple and Samsung commercial giants? Jason Crook and Nonya Collier taught me that these companies know their customers but more importantly they know why they exist as businesses. They also know how to appeal to their customers’ values. These companies determine the “Why?” first: “What value can I add for my customer?” “What pain point can I eliminate for my customer?” Then they ask, “Who is my customer?” This is my third week in the Academy of Municipal Innovation and I cannot wait to apply what I have learned so far to the work I’m doing in the Philadelphia Fire Department as I seek to truly implement strong, innovative ideas.
This week in class I learned that if we, the Philadelphia Fire Department EMS, can identify and communicate why we exist, then we have tackled one important part of our value proposition. We know we exist to serve the citizens of Philadelphia, respond to life threatening medical emergencies and to save lives. I thought we did a good job communicating this to the public because we responded to over 280,000 medical emergencies in 2016 – however, the truth is that some of the calls we responded to were not life threatening medical emergencies and did not require us to save a life. Some of those calls could have been handled just as well if they had been directed to a doctor’s office, urgent care center or clinic. So, to innovate at the Philadelphia Fire Department EMS, we must better communicate our purpose to our customers. Asking questions like, “Who are our customers?” and “How do we get them onboard with our Why?” will be critical to improving our impact on Philadelphia residents.
In the Academy thus far, we have learned several innovation techniques including abstract laddering, affinity clusters and problem tree analysis. Working with our cross-departmental colleagues in City government helped me recognize that we are all trying our best to serve the citizens of Philadelphia by looking at problems, challenges and opportunities through different lenses. I am soaking it all up with hopes that I will be able to use what I am learning to make a difference. I am so excited to be a part of the 5th cohort of the Academy for Municipal Innovation and move through the remaining four weeks of learning.
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.