Back to the Private Sector

Posted by Saul Kaplan on December 22, 2008

After five and a half years as an accidental bureaucrat I have returned to the private sector. I will be focusing on my passion for business model and system level innovation at the Business Innovation Factory. I have loved every minute of my time in public service and gained a powerful perspective of what innovation looks like when viewed through a community lens.

I have learned that innovation is important to all organizations both public and private. Companies, schools, and government agencies all need to rethink their business models and all struggle to find the time and capacity to explore and test new ways to deliver value to their customers. It doesn’t matter if the customer is a patient, student, citizen, or consumer. All organizations need to do R&D for new business models if they are to remain competitive, harness technology, and deliver more value with fewer resources.

I have also learned that the best opportunities to create value can be found in the grey areas between silos, sectors, and disciplines. If we are going to make progress on the big issues of our time including health care, education, energy independence, public safety, and quality of life we will have to enable collaborative innovation. All of these issues are systems problems that will only be solved with systems solutions. We need to create safe and manageable platforms to experiment with systems level innovation. That is why I created the Business Innovation Factory and why I will continue to serve as its Chief Catalyst.

BIF is about enabling collaborative innovation and I believe in our mission. I am proud of the innovation community and platform we have established and I know that our community is ready to roll up its sleeves and take on systems level experiments that have transformational potential. This is the innovator’s day.

During this turbulent economic period there is no better time to rethink our business models and systems. I look forward to the important and exciting work ahead.

P.S. I am also pleased to announce to the BIF community that Melissa Withers has joined the BIF team as our new Executive Director. Melissa has supported the BIF effort from its inception and we will now have the benefit of her energy and leadership every day joining Chris Flanagan and Tori Drew on our core team. Those of you who know Melissa will agree with me when I say that with her on our team there will be no stopping us now. Please join me in welcoming Melissa.

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