Change is hard, especially for an organization as tradition-bound and large as the NYPL. Lasting change that brings real value to users and staff AND is welcomed by employees is even harder. Innovation Communities generate change that is: better designed because it incorporates both management’s vision and staff reality; more adaptive and continuous; embraced and owned by all participants; and readily scalable with reduced/no need for change management. ICs create an environment where continuous innovation is welcomed and where staff is more engaged because of a shared sense of purpose, ability to voice opinions, propose change, be heard and effect outcomes.

Innovation Communities are a focused, strategic conversation between management and staff. They operate as a set of three concentric circles: a cross-functional core team of five to seven people who dedicate 20 percent of their time to the project; testers at pilot sites who collect data on tested solutions; and a wide group of conversationalists (staff and managers) who offer their insights through the online (Google+) community. Unlike top-down change, ICs surface multiple perspectives through a conversation that is visible to both management and staff, and offer staff from across the organization an opportunity to participate in defining and implementing change.

NYPL launched three ICs that addressed its core services: Circulation, Reference and Collections. Based on pilots, teams proposed system-wide changes, including switching from floating to non-floating youth non-fiction collections; introduced a Reference Receipt for patrons and new reference training for staff; and improved our holds system to reduce wait times. ICs involved ~300 staff who participated as core team-members, testers or through the Google+ community. “It’s a different path for NYPL to get the staff to have a true voice in promoting change.” “We entered the process with the perspective of employees and came out with the perspective of leaders.”