The beginning
Observations and reflections from week one as Head of Innovation at SYMCA...
I started a new job at SYMCA this week š As part of that, I am going to do some regular (weekly, hopefully) writing about how itās all going. This post, then, is the beginning of that writingā¦
With each post, I will be aiming to sketch out:
The priority questions on which I/we have been focusing;
What has been happening - things weāve done, events etc.;
Personal observations and reflections from doing those things;
Where I/we would welcome input and conversations;
Interesting things that are on our radar or passed by in our field of vision.
It wonāt be beautiful prose. But it should make sense. And hopefully it will be interesting and/or useful. If it ends up being neither of those things then let me know and Iāll up my game ā¬ļø If you like the sound of it already then you can subscribe to updates at the bottom of the page.
It seems sensible to start with an overview of the role and its purpose, but feel free to skip that part if youāre familiar with it alreadyā¦
The role and context
The role is Head of Innovation. It is part of a new multi-disciplinary team - the 'i-team' - the majority of which is externally-funded, as I have written about in an earlier post. The rest of the team members start next week and there will be a few others across the organisation that are part of the team in matrix-y kind of way. For a bit of wider context, there are similar teams being set up in other Mayoral Combined Authorities across the UK too.
In South Yorkshire, I imagine there will be a lot of work for us as a team and organisation to do to refine what we mean by 'innovation' in this context. For early clarity though, what we are talking about is a form of 'social innovation', as opposed to assuming anything particularly technical or shiny: the focus is and will always be about exploring clearly defined challenges, building meaningful relationships and experimenting with ways (across the whole of South Yorkshire at varying levels of geography) to achieve positive outcomes for people across the region.
With all of that in mind, there are two priority areas on which we will be focused:
early years literacy (building on and working in tandem with SYMCA's 'Every Child a Reader' programme);
and transport planning, more specifically bus franchising across South Yorkshire.
I am not an expert in either of these things, so please take this as an open invitation to feed into and support my understanding through any expertise and experience you may have from your particular context. Through these foci, the i-team will also be also testing out and learning about ways to embed longer term innovation practices, techniques or ways of working alongside the Mayor (Oliver Coppard), SYMCA colleagues, the organisation's partners and South Yorkshire's citizens.
I also want to talk about neighbourhoods, cities and places. In previous work, I have done a fair bit of work in Sheffield. I recognise that I am less familiar, however, with the ecosystems in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and all the neighbourhoods in between that make up the county. I would welcome any support in building the relationships with organisations (from all sectors) and people that will be crucial in fulfilling the role's purpose. I am keen to get out and about as early as possible.
Priority questions this week
Whatās this job all about then?
How might I understand enough to support the rest of the team when they start next week?
How might we start a conversation with people - internally and externally - about this work?
What tools, spaces and ways of working are there that can support this work?
What happened this week?
Lots of well-structured and helpful SYMCA induction for me. And lots of people to thank for being so kind and supportive, particularly Andy.
Broader programme induction for me - speaking with Ed from BIT and Nina from Demos Helsinki.
Planning for the rest of the i-teamās arrival next week (and trying find ways to sound like I know what Iām talking about on Monday after only 5 days in the job!)
Meeting and starting to learn from all of the (many) internal experts at SYMCA across multiple disciples and programme areas.
Using local buses a bit more, partially prompted by the weather.
Tentatively making friends with Microsoft. A work in progress, but beginning to find the bits of it that might be useful for our work.
Exploring the buildingās physical spaces and how they might be used well to support the work of the i-team.
This LinkedIn post as a starting point for socialising the role and team.
Met the Mayor.
Signed up to a couple of events from the Sheffield Festival.
Personal observations and reflections
The people at SYMCA are lovely and supportive. And very knowledgeable. I feel privileged to be working at the organisation and alongside everyone here.
I am impatient to get going! But it will all take time. And next weekās priority is building relationships with the new team and ensuring their induction experience matches mine so far.
Transition to large office environment from relatively-boot-strapped self-employment has been on my mind. I wondered how it would feel after several years working in quite different ways. But actually, itās felt much smoother than I thought.
The organisation is growing and itās an exciting place to be! With the devolution agenda and the recent integrated settlement, things will not be standing still. I am looking forward to seeing how the i-team can support these changes.
The broader Bloomberg Philanthropies programme is fascinating. Iām very much looking forward to learning from others across the UK and beyond.
The shortest conversations sometimes spark imagination. Several conversations with colleagues have already inspired me to start scribbling ideas for potential bits of work.
There is appetite and potential support across the region. I was quite overwhelmed by the positive response to my LinkedIn post and how much incredible stuff is already happening in the social innovation space locally. Innovation in supporting and maintaining these relationships will be important too. How people interact with and experience SYMCA as an equal partner will be crucial.
Did I mention Microsoft already? š¶
Where Iād welcome input and ideas
Relationship building (in a non-extractive way) across all areas of South Yorkshire, not just Sheffield.
Subject expertise on transport planning, bus franchising and early years literacy.
Thoughts and views on how people would like to partner with, contribute to and benefit from the SYMCA i-team in the short, medium and long termā¦
On the radar
People shared a load of stuff with me this week, not all of which Iāve given the time they deserve. Some examples includeā¦
Open Innovationsā bus tracking tool (prototype)
A Greater Manchester Participation Playbook
The Liminal Moment: Local Authorities as Systems Catalysts or Efficiency Machines?
Beyond the waterfall state: why missions need a different decision-making architecture