ABSTRACT
This volume calls attention to the importance of collaboration and design for public sector innovation. In Chapter 1, we distinguished a model of public sector innovation inspired by NPM from one inspired by NPG (see Figures 1.1 and 1.2 for summaries). While NPM has certainly helped to place public sector innovation on the agenda over the last two decades, we believe that its focus on ‘making the managers innovate’ (as we might slightly restate the more usual aphorism ‘making the managers manage’) leads to a narrow view of the possible benefits of innovation (e.g., lean production) and overlooks the importance of understanding the process of innovation itself. We argue that collaboration and design are at the heart of this process and that attention to these contingent aspects opens up a wider perspective on the possibilities and benefits of public sector innovation. As opposed to a narrow focus on efficiency, the lens of innovation through collaboration and design permits us to imagine more radical innovations achieved through creative problem-solving.
