2023 Training - Participant Reflections
Gigi Ong-Alok
Innovation facilitator & Inclusion lead, Partos
The invitation
Like an unexpected envelope from an unknown sender on your digital doormat, I vividly remember receiving an email with the caption ‘Innovation Training’ reading ‘Something for you? www.idiainnovation.org. I had heard of IDIA, but never realized they offered trainings, nor did I judge myself qualified enough to partake in an unique program on innovation. Yet, when I set all my insecurities aside, I felt that this training was just what I needed. And hence, I started reflecting, dreaming, and writing.
The question I proposed to bring to this training was bold: How can I use innovation and scaling as an approach to transform the ‘systemic challenges’ in international development for an inclusive and just society.
I asked this question as an Innovation facilitator and inclusion lead at Partos, A Dutch Umbrella organization for that supports International Development Organizations (INGOs) to accelerate change by creating spaces where professionals can learn, collaborate and experiment. But in this question I was hiding a deeper agenda. How do we manage for social change, when our current internal management seems to be unfit to tackle historical injustices and power asymmetries within our sector in the first place? With hope and good faith, I submitted my application.
The next letter I received, was one of excitement!
The landing
In the months, weeks and days before the training I was stoked, felt blessed and could hardly imagine that I was one of the (29) participants that got accepted. I imagined my peers to walk in the room with a futuristic costume made out of recycled oatmeal fiber, weaponed with integrated devices to measure body intelligence (such as regulating sweat to boost brain capacity), AI sunglasses that could strip you naked and read your LinkedIn bio which I updated for the occasion. Above all, I envisioned bright minds with an endless commitment to make lasting impact. Only the last part was (un)fortunately true.
The set-up of the training was equally impressive. My notes of IDIA’s secret ingredients of success:
1) Innovation microcosm: This program brings together Innovation champions from all over the world, representing Innovation teams and departments from governments, donors, universities, INGOs, Social Enterprises or grassroot organisations. Some worked on Global Health, others on digitalization, Gender Inclusion, Innovation ecosystems or Resource delivery.
2) Location, Nature & serenity. This year the training was hosted in Cape Town, South Africa in a beautiful conference hotel situated along a lush little forest, with a small creek, two giant turtles and the beautiful backdrop of the Table Mountain. Throughout the day your basic needs are saturated with comfort, endless options of food and if needed strolls in nature.
3) Great facilitation: I was blown away by the incredible detail in facilitation, learning design and space-holding by the Faculty trainers. The program was even tailored to our individual learning preferences through a prior assessment, to understand how they should navigate the diversity of needs.
4) Contextualisation. Luckily, we also spent time outside the conference halls & garden. On our third day the group split up to interact with inspiring social innovation initiatives around Cape Town.
5) Humour & fun: Maybe we need shared credits for this one, because our cohort had its share in starting social drinks on the days we had no group activities planned! However, faculty trainer Tom Feeny deserves Olympic Gold for his great skills in hosting ‘who wants to be an Innovation Millionaire’ and bringing the group together.
The bumpy road ahead
But this only scratched the surface of my experience. In one week, everything I thought I knew about innovation was flipped upside down, shuffled, rearranged, and then served on a silver plate with the description: IDIA training, Innovation Management for Change, a week-long deep dive into discomfort, confusion and solutions. Allow me to share some of these memorable moments.
“Stop innovating – if you don’t know how to learn or scale. Innovation doesn’t create impact…”
With this bold statement Christian Seelos – the Scaling & Innovation ‘guru’ of this program – knocked-out my imaginary futuristic innovation superheroes in one blow. Shocked (but also excited) I looked into the room – panic, confusion, frowns, smiles, concerned raised hands of the usual suspects. We work in a sector that adores the word impact, and I think that until then, most of us had claimed that our innovations lead to social impact and change. And hence, we create innovation hubs and incubators, Challenge funds for innovation, Innovation cultures, new ideas & approaches. But is it necessary?
What I take away from this statement is that we cannot separate innovation from learning. Rather we can see innovation as a learning journey in which we explore and seek to “validate ideas with uncertain outcomes.” This also helps to identify what bad ideas are being pushed through for too long, or successful formula’s receiving insufficient resources and time. As the majority of participants play a role in funding innovations, these are crucial insights. I am now more informed when to apply innovation as a strategy, and when innovation can be an (in)effective stepping stone for scaling.
Innovation doesn’t create impact, because ‘innovative’ solutions or ideas always start with high uncertainty and unpredictable success rates. The ideas we come up with to fix social problems are never ready-made solutions for high impact, because they are still risky, not validated and we yet have to develop our capacity to bring it to scale. As innovators we are often concerned with clearing the road from challenges and bumps and taking wrong turns, before arriving at our destination. And therefore, we prototype and validate, learn and adapt to conceptualize the problems, prioritize needs and find the most inclusive, sustainable and predictable route to scaling impact.
“Who are you?”
Apparently not someone who creates social impact. But it was extremely relevant to discover our individual qualities in our innovation leadership roles. At several unexpected moments, Mwihaki, the chief narrator of this training, opened her toolbox of storytelling and self-discovery and invited us to get out of our cognitive brains and into personal connection. I recall that on our first day we were paired with one of our fellow peers and had repeat the same question three times: “who are you?” I usually thrive in such situations, but I felt the discomfort of opening up to a complete stranger. Yet through these interactions, it was beautiful to see how shared vulnerability becomes an vehicle for shared understanding and vision.
In relation to innovation, Mwihaki also introduced the power of storytelling and demonstrated different storytelling elements we could use, not just as an effective communication strategy to build connections, understanding and idea-conversion. Storytelling also has the transformative power to touch our emotions and belief systems and carries long traditions of individual and collective healing.
“How do you want to show up during this week?”
Kippy Joseph, our Faculty mother gifted with delicate and wise words, asked us. For me this question represented my hidden agenda; how can we ensure accountability and create equitable, inclusive and decolonial innovation processes.
In my work at the Partos Innovation Hub I approach innovation as a method to exploring systemic solutions on injustices within the global development system, f.e. on racial justice, inclusion or shifting power in partnerships. As a global community of Innovators, IDIA already makes a significant contribution in their working group on Equity & Innovation. But, innovating a system that still shows strong remnants of colonial injustices in fundraising, communication, decision-making & partnerships is difficult, and innovation management is no exception. While I expected to find answers in this training, the same power dynamics persisted in the first days, as we danced around sensitive topics such as white privilege & racism in the sector, gender inclusion and masculinities, LGBTQI inclusion and our colonial legacies. But as the week ended, and we moved closer to our intentions, these walls started to crumble a little.
Our departure
On the last day, in our final hours together some of us were nominated to share our personal stories, and I was one of them. I decided to show-up by revealing my hidden agenda, followed by other peers. We were all able to move the hearts of global innovation leaders and I was equally touched. I am forever grateful for the community we build in just one week and the connections made across all differences. We came to the core:
“In this training you expect to learn about innovation tools, but actually you start learning more about yourself, your position and how to engage with the world around you.”
I walked out of this training with a brand new picture of futuristic innovation heroes. I found my hidden super powers in storytelling and what inclusive leadership qualities I have to offer. Beyond learning how to manage innovation, I found purpose in facilitating meaningful experiences that have the potential to transform the realities and mindsets of individuals, teams and communities; just like this training transformed me.
