Let customers into the engine room

In both private and public Denmark, we meet ambitious leaders and directors who think big, want more innovation, quality and faster results. They will bring their organization into the future and remain top-relevant. They want to be flexible, break down barriers, form partnerships and find radically new solutions. In other words, they have ambitions for the organisation to become ever more innovative, entrepreneurial and agile. However, managers' patience is put to the test when the organization doesn't keep up. The organization's innovation power and ability to adapt in relation to workflows, task solving and mindset in relation to its stakeholders requires the organization to realign itself. This is not an easy task and we often see that it is a long process of change, which often drains organizations of energy. As a solution to increasing innovative and agile muscles, several organizations are addressing the transformation processes by inviting citizens, users and customers into the engine room. In this article, we'd like to share how some of the bravest organizations that we work with succeeded in doing so.‍

A Shortcut to Durable Results

Let's start by looking at the effect and results. Involvement and co-creation is not an end in itself. What are the benefits of letting citizens, users and customers into the engine room when visionary direction is needed, new developments are needed, or when products, services or task solutions need to be qualified? We often see that it provides:
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• Increasing innovation through new eyes on own practice and thereby uncovering the organization's blind spots.
• Better products, workflows and services, as more players have been involved in creating these
• Long-lasting results as there is distributed ownership among all involved.
• More forces to lift the core task, as those involved, not only become part of the idea development, but also become part of the realization itself.
• Energy, desire and commitment of all involved and thus increased well-being in relation to the task solution.
• Development of both professionalism and job satisfaction among employees, as they are in direct dialogue with the target group and develop together with them.

Example 1. Commune

In a municipality, for example, it succeeds in developing core operations in a number of challenged welfare areas in 100 days, with a strong strategic connection to the municipality's strategy. Approximately 100 professional employees, their managers, municipal politicians and management, showed courage and shut citizens, associations, businesses and communities into their engine rooms early in the process. The municipality's focus on launching co-created experiments proved to be an effective method for both creating quick and instructive results and changing the culture and transformation of the organization. Through the experimental method, a community of practice was created with the municipality's employees and their surroundings, which resulted in completely new approaches to and ways of solving difficult tasks. For example, some of the experiments offered concrete suggestions on how the municipality can help vulnerable families through art and cultural activities or how crime in vulnerable residential areas can be mitigated through new models of cooperation between young criminals, politics, municipal employees and volunteers in and outside the area.

Example 2. The private enterprise

In an international company, the top management in the Danish division of the company wanted to accelerate the realization of the company's strategic landmarks. Instead of sending all managers on a course as they used to do, top management chose instead to work concretely and actionably with their management practices through a self-selected challenge that was closely linked to the business and strategy. Through the work on the challenge, managers and their employee teams were given the flexibility to invite relevant stakeholders into developing new solutions to the challenges. This meant that interaction with key stakeholders within the company across national borders was strengthened. In particular, the cultural barriers and considerations in the cooperation on product development between the Danish, American and Chinese departments were something that, through the process of innovation, was turned from cumbersome to enriching.

Five brave gripes with customers inside the engine room

The results speak for themselves. And what are they doing, the bravest of the organizations with which we work? Overall, we see five elements that create the new relationship with customers, citizens, users and partners that is needed to open up new solutions.

The bravest organizations:

1. Inviting into the Unfinished
2. Failing to give bad excuses
3. Involving front-line workers
4. Creating and sprinting together
5. Thinking big and starting small

Here are a few more words on each point

1) Invites into the unfinished

To achieve new results, it requires that the organization be disturbed in its own culture and way of understanding what it needs to achieve. This disruption, we see, can come naturally by inviting external stakeholders into the development work. And no, the classic user survey is not enough. They need to come into the room and into the dialogue. It may seem trite, but it takes great courage. Because when we invite people into the engine room, our work is often unfinished. Imperfect.
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We see that it is very difficult for many managers and employees to come to terms with the idea of inviting into the unfinished. There is a notion that products and services must be fully developed, that the organization must have a clear concept or offer a clear answer to a need. The organizations that succeed dare to let go of that notion, and see it as a strength to be able to close early on a common development where solutions are created with Customers instead simply for the customers. Those organizations that really dare to open up the engine room do not just invite customers or citizens into the development process. Organisations that have an eye on the resources of their surroundings also have the courage to invite other external stakeholders, such as partners, subject matter experts, politicians, associations, interest organizations, researchers, students and educational institutions, to inspire, challenge and qualify solutions.

2) Failing to give bad excuses

We hear plenty of bad apologies for not involving outside stakeholders. The apologies include:
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• “We've already asked customers what they think of us”
• “We know what they will say”
• “We're too busy for that.”
• “It is not possible to involve our users, for reasons of formalities or regulations”
• “It interferes with our work”
• “Nothing good comes from inviting citizens along”
• “The timing is bad”
• “We're not ready to let people in”

Sometimes the excuses come in a form in which they sound dismissive or outright arrogant. Almost as if people think that they know the customers better than the customers themselves. We hear employees and managers referring to customers, citizens and users as a troublesome and disruptive element. It's not useful to anyone.

Fortunately, there are many who do not let themselves be slowed down by the bad excuses. Managers and employees who challenge and pave the way for the closure of their organization. They challenge their own and others' assumptions that they know the citizens or customers, or that these audiences cannot be involved. We have worked with organizations where incarcerated inmates, vulnerable citizens, users with disabilities, patients, school students and many others have been involved with great success. They see the 'troublesome' and 'disruptive' elements as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the customers for whom they work and thus better understand their core task. They have sincere respect for their target audience (s), believe that they can contribute something, and are constantly focused on creating value for them.

Management plays a key role in overcoming the bad excuses. Those who succeeded have leaders who take the lead and insist on letting customers, users and citizens into the unfinished development work. In fact, they see it as a prerequisite for being able to provide relevant products and services. Not to shut themselves up about themselves. They require persistence and a focus on opening up a culture where involvement is a matter of course.

3) Involving the frontline staff

Where we see successful involvement becoming the source of innovation, it is not only external stakeholders who are involved. It is in the meeting between customers, other external stakeholders and the organization's employees in operations that new thoughts and perspectives arise. Front-line workers are essential when it comes to getting involved in a development process.

We see organizations that make idea contests, case competitions and other things where external ones can create new solutions. It can be valuable, but the potential can best be scaled when both internal and external create together. In part, it creates better results. In part, it ensures anchoring in the organization. We see that the employees involved have a tremendous ownership of the solutions. They themselves become ambassadors for the solution and help bring their colleagues along. Therefore, employees must be mobilized across the organization.

We come in large organizations where departments can be perceived as a company within the company. The silo division affects thinking and thus also the ability to create joint results. Those who really succeeded in creating results based on external involvement involve employees and managers across the organization's departments, hierarchy and functions. Many put cross-cutting cooperation on the agenda in these years as an important theme. There is no point in simply talking about it. Those who succeed in actually strengthening cross-sectional cooperation are those who focus on the core task, and then bring together the external and internal cross-cutting forces that are needed to solve the tasks.

4) Creating and sprinting together

Working with participatory development requires the right infrastructure. Squeezing development work into the usual staff meetings has little effect. A framework must be set to come together in a way where we can create and produce together. Where the involvement becomes real, there is a framework for co-creation. These are not classic consultation processes or reports, but productive meeting formats where collaboration is created. With curiosity, openness and mutual respect. Several successful organizations have adopted the sprint approach. Sprint is inspired by design thinking and action learning. Just like on the run, there is sprinting, by working intensively over a relatively short period of time. It is the opposite of long heavy development cycles with terms of reference and long project plans. “Sprint teams” are created across employees, customers and other external stakeholders. Together they must find a solution to a predefined challenge. Ideas are developed and quickly tested to gain new insights. Continuous and efficient adaptation and prototypes and small experiments are created.

Where we see a good framework, the development processes are well thought out and procedurally planned. This does not mean that large project models have been made, but that a process design has been made for how to work with development and testing, and who is involved when. A key factor is also that the processes are facilitated. One or more internal or external facilitators are selected who can clarify the framework, assist “sprint teams” on their way and challenge them. The facilitators do not have to be the leaders, but it is crucial that there is managerial support and the process is thought out as part of realizing the organization's strategy.

5) Thinking big and starting small

For many organizations, letting customers, users and citizens into the engine room is a big mouthful because it is a new way to understand its development work. It is a shift in the approach to co-creating with the target audience. The idea of thinking big and starting small can make it more palatable. When successful, there is an understanding that everything does not have to be solved all at once and an acceptance that it is a learning process to work with involvement. It is a gradual maturation of the organization to be able to handle external perspectives. Moreover, it is often new for the target audience to get involved. We see that it bears fruit when the involvement is delimited to specific elements. It gives customers, users and citizens the opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas about specific challenges and opportunities that are close to their own everyday lives. At the same time, it is easier for employees to accept thoughts and ideas from the target audience when the focus is defined. It makes it easier for them to develop prototypes and test new solutions, through small experiments. In this way, the involvement becomes concrete, energy-filled and value-creating.

Do you have the courage?

Those organizations that managed to invite into the unfinished business, this is because the management really wants it and creates the enthusiasm about it. It is leaders who make clear the value of creating solutions together with others, and are ready to push for it to be possible. It is leaders who do not let themselves be stopped by the bad excuses, but create new frameworks to get involved and produce together.
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We see how much it has given the municipalities, companies, hospitals, educational institutions, and other organizations that we have helped create a framework for involvement. We believe that the involvement of relevant actors and stakeholders has a huge potential to fulfil your strategic ambitions. Do you have the courage?

Think big. Start small. Start now.