At first glance, a statement like that might feel counterintuitive, but you’d be surprised how many times we've heard something close to it from those in government departments, NGOs, financial institutions and even the corporate sector.
The reason is a simple one: Fear.
Unlike the big, multi-million projects with their strategic roadmaps, concrete outcomes, KPIs, and feasibility checks; the £50k project is likely to be a step into the unknown.
It’s a bet on something that may well surface more questions than it answers, and it requires an environment where new ideas can be nurtured before they’re ready to be released into the outside world.
But the potential payoff is huge: the unlocking of a fresh set of possibilities that break through the ‘business-as-usual’ mentality.
Experiments. Bets. Unknowns… These are not words that typically inspire confidence within organisations that are already time-constrained, are facing hugely complex challenges, and who are likely to be working with entrenched ideas and budgets made up of tax-payers’ money.
But experiments, bets and unknowns are the things you need to get comfortable with (embrace even) if you want to create truly transformative ideas.
Over the years we have designed and executed multiple tactics and strategies for navigating through this kind of uncertainty and that entirely human fear of failure.
With our partners we’ve crafted innovation-friendly environments that can operate away from the usual checks and balances, and created an approach that exists far beyond just a ‘lab’ or ‘accelerator’. This approach unlocks a risk-taking, always-learning culture and mindset that means teams can conquer two key challenges:
We call this new model of innovation ‘carve-outs’ and we believe that, as well as benefiting the social impact and international development sectors, that it also holds the key for those in the wider commercial sector who are looking to generate fresh initiatives capable of meeting market expectations, tackle global competitive pressures, and engage with a shifting landscape of consumer values and norms.
In September 2024 we published Innovation Carve-Outs: Curating the Space for Innovation, which proposes an approach that leverages a behavioural framework to simultaneously promote agility, foster a culture of ideation, and scale effectively without imposing unnecessary burdens on the core business. You can download the paper here.
If you would like additional support in implementing a Carve-Out within your own organisation, fund, or wider system then we would be interested to hear more about the challenges you are facing and the opportunity for impact you see ahead. You can contact Asad Rahman on asad@hellobrink.co.
