The Persistence of Innovation in Government

The Persistence of Innovation in Government: A Guide for Innovative Public Servantswww.businessofgovernment.orgTable 11: Obstacles to InnovationObstacle2010Semifinalists1990 to 1994SemifinalistsBureaucratic Resistance 15% 18%Coordination 5 10Logistical 21 10Burnout 4 6Technology 6 6Unions 0 1Middle Managers 0 1Oppose Public Entrepreneurs 0 1Total Internal Obstacles 51 55Laws, Regulations 3 7Political Opposition 2 2Political Transition 3 NAPublic Doubt 8 10Reaching Target Group 8 6Affected Interests 4 3Competitors 1 1Total External Obstacles 29 29Lack of Resources 18 17Total Number of Obstacles 284 512Obstacles per Semifinalist 2.2 2.4Estimated Slope 1.0***Estimated Interceptinsig.R-squared (goodness of fit) .70***Note: For slope and intercept estimates and R-squared, * indicates significantly different from zero at 10 percent,** at 5 percent, *** at 1 percent, insig. = insignificantly different from zero.Sources: 2010 applications. For 1990 to 1994 semifinalists, see Borins (1998), Table 4-1 (p. 67).type of obstacle. The infrequency of political obstacles may mean that bureaucratic innovatorswere often working far enough from the political level that they largely escaped notice by politicians.If, however, their innovations did register at the political level, they had the politicalacumen to understand what was politically feasible and gauge their actions accordingly, forestallingpolitical intervention or obstruction.Finding Eleven: Innovators Overcome Obstacles through Persuasion,Accommodation, and PersistenceIn the face of numerous obstacles, semifinalists used an impressive set of tactics in response.Table 12 shows 18 tactics used to deal with the obstacles to innovation and records the numberof times each was cited. The average number of tactics per applicant is quite close to theaverage number of obstacles, which indicates that applicants were actively trying to overcome23