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TOR 142 ― Creating An Innovation Mindset With Corinne Gray Of UNHCR

Corinne Gray

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One reason that innovation has become one of those words that you just cannot escape in social impact, is the fact that the institutions that have occupied this space for the bulk of history are the anthesis of what we would consider “shiny new objects.” But really, if we sit back and think about it, for many (and maybe most, or even all) of them, the rapid or constant change that we associate with innovation is actually the exact opposite of what these institutions we’re built to achieve. Seriously. The public relies on public structures like governments and international organizations for setting and maintaining rules and processes that ultimately lead to a common, knowable… and stable… environment in which we can run our lives. Injecting the change associated with innovation into any system or process creates uncertainty, which is the opposite of what the “institutionalization” of something seeks to achieve. All of this is to say that, its no wonder that realizing innovation within this sector is a massive challenge – and one that fascinates me to no end. Luckily, this is something that my guest for the 142nd Terms of Reference Podcast knows a thing or two about. Corinne Gray is an Alternative Finance Specialist in the Innovation Unit at UNHCR, where she leads efforts to engage staff and refugees in open innovation. I’m confident you’re going to enjoy our conversation about how UNHCR is working to develop an ‘innovation mindset’ and how that ultimately makes a difference for refugees.   You can connect with Corinne here: http://www.corinnelgray.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnegray/

IN TOR 142 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT

  • What it’s like to lead innovation as an agent of cultural change, and as a practice with actual impact in the situations and lives of refugees
  • How, considering half the world’s refugee population is under 18 years old, education is a given when developing response programs
  • Why innovators should not fear working themselves out of a job
  • The value of design in program thinking, but also as an empowerment tools for refugees, and finally as a way to identify and appropriate solutions from the most varied fields

OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING

Names:

Topics:

Places

EPISODE CRIB NOTES

«What we really are trying to do is look at what are some approaches that we can borrow from other sectors, for example the private sector where you would see commitments to concepts like research and design or prototyping. And that’s really what we see ourselves doing. How do we create that as a mindset, and how do we embody that in the way we do humanitarian response».   03:23 Innovating at the UN for the refugee’s benefit
  • UNHCR’s Innovation Unit is a “service to the organization”
  • Innovation was incorporated into response, as of recent
  • Which ways need improvements, efficiency?
  • Peers conflate her team with “tech people”
  • “We drive a particular culture”, based on value assessment and increase”
  • Take a future-thinking approach
  • And future-thinking
  • And early solution testing
  • Like in sustainable, renewable energy
  • Or education, as half the refugees are under 18
  • “Talking refugees is talking education”
  • Or communications, with and for and around refugees
  • Feedback, data, connectivity. She makes sure refugees are online
  • Cash and services, for the refugees on camps and their family
  • Capacity building is important
  • A UNHCR Innovation Fellowship offer a year-long opportunity to enhance an operation
  • Another part is corporate innovation programs
  • An innovation platform with challenges
  08:07 Change a multinational agency’s culture? That’s it huh
  • “It’s not that innovation is necessary. It’s that the concept is new”
  • “It’s not that innovation has not innovated in the past”
  • It’s about focusing a practice
  • And to centralize learning about approaches, internal and from everywhere
  • Innovation requires engagement
  • Which requires a dedicated team
  • That assess the value of existing and new tools
  • “It requires many touch points”
  • Places and divisions along UNHCR call her to identify solutions
  • Do they exist, are the within reach, do they need to be made from scratch
  12:51 Will you work yourselves out of work?
  • “I am game to be obsolete”
  • It was part of the job’s appeal
  • “Innovation should not be considered separate”
  • “I don’t know that Google has an innovation unit”
  • Stephen: Google X Moonshots?
  • UN also has a Lab
  • The point is the UN should tackle innovation intrinsically
  • The Education Lab shows a lot of progress in this sense
  • It is co-owned, by Education and the labs
  • It came up from the bottom up, “it’s satisfying”
  • Innovation areas should come like that. Refugee education was clear and present
  17:43 Something borrowed, something new from a sector not like yours
  • The Ideas Box, by designer Philippe Starck for Libraries Without Borders with UNHCR support
  • It is a tech toolkit, designed around the Haiti Earthquake, adapted to refugees
  • e-readers were a previously unconsidered solution, today they stand to deal the biggest blow to illiteracy by any previous technology or program
  • “Some solutions aren’t final”, but always keep asking about what the final solution looks like
  • 2020 is ramping up as UN’s time for a new strategic direction
  21:14 What Corinne’s eyes have witnessed
  • “I’m yet to see something disruptive”
  • Incremental innovation is the common tune
  • But something that really changes the game, well…
  • Not that there aren’t ideas that could eventually amount as much, everywhere all the time
  • Like some at 2016 Global Design Challenge
  • Ikea Foundation held an open contest about refugee conditions
  • The Welcome Card: Digital identity for refuge seekers
  • Refugees do not have enough information to make sound decisions about their destination. The Card would inform them, perhaps give them digital cash
  • Truly ground-breaking ideas need to be applicable into the existing infrastructure, that hinders them
  26:03 What’s hard about your work?
  • Trying to innovate in an ecosystem not particularly generative
  • Like celebrity apprentice, the UN has a lot of baggage
  • “Lack of agility”
  • Innovation is best served by a flexible ecosystem
  • Bureaucracy has reasons to exist though
  • “An imperative for change is leadership that prioritizes innovation”
  • When the imperative is there, the organization changes, its units do
  • “Those changes don’t happen overnight”
  • Stephen: Do tipping points trigger innovation?
  • “I think that has happened”
  • Syria crisis propelled refugees into the public discourse like nothing before
  • Innovation will be a part of the (public) response
  • We live at an age of convergence, and where innovation is crucial
  • “Our team motto is ‘innovate or die'” in the style of private companies
  32:00 Life is lab replication
  • “We don’t create a second agenda. We focus on how what the UN does can be done better”
  • This standpoint and stakes allow her to “design for standardization”
  • She works with units together
  • Innovation must go beyond a separate, cool term
  • We also need to recognize as innovation things that deserve to but don’t get to be
  • Units work with her team already expecting some change in business as usual
  34:59 Corinne’s hot picks
  • Fine Arts, Refugee entrepreneurship
  • The Unreasonable Institute
  • African Entrepreneur Collective
  • “I try to read everything”
  • Fast Company
  • WIRED
  • Product Hunt
  • Global Impact Investing Network
  • Stanford Social Innovation Review
  • Political and global trends “can often be more important than technology”
  • Corinne’s “non-profit crushes”
  • MIT’s D-lab and “creative capacity building”
  • “Refugees communicate constantly through design”
  • Stephen: Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford
 

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If you have any questions you’d like to ask me or Corinne directly, head on over to the Ask Stephen section. Don’t be shy! Every question is important and I answer every single one. And, if you truly enjoyed this episode and want to make sure others know about it, please share it now:
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