Navigating the Human Side of Change for Innovation

I often find myself grappling with the intersection of innovation and change. It’s easy to lump them together, and in some ways, they do belong in the same conversation. Everyone is eager for more innovation—they want to ensure their teams are using the best ideas and proven solutions. Innovation is exciting and alluring. Change management, on the other hand, feels a bit less glamorous and more challenging. But here’s the truth: if we want real innovation, we have to embrace the messiness of change.

To truly drive innovation, we need to get comfortable with the discomfort that comes with change. This includes making tough decisions about who to involve, how to communicate, what to stop doing, and how to sustain the momentum. It’s about navigating the complexities of shifting organizational culture and behavior in a way that feels sustainable.

The key to fostering genuine innovation lies in enhancing the human experience of change. When we talk about organizational culture, the real challenge often isn’t a lack of innovative capacity—it’s the underlying human concerns. Worries about job security, feeling valued, and the discomfort of stepping into the unknown can all stand in the way of embracing new ideas.

At the UIA, we’ve learned from countless examples of making the experience of change a positive one (no matter the structure/governance/budget environment of a campus) so we know it is possible. This is why we consistently focus on practical tools, facilitation skills, and tactics anyone can use to make change easier, better, and more collaborative. 

• We’ve found that process mapping as a change management tool that, when used effectively, can lay the groundwork for transformative change at an institution. Organizations can utilize process mapping to make change more collaborative, provide clarity, and support a large group in seeing the system as it truly is, rather than how they imagine it to be. Done well, it can be invigorating, affirming a sense of purpose and inspiring new alliances to advance the work. It is a low-stakes way of enrolling people in change rather than forcing it upon them.
   
• In addition, empathy sprints and well-designed focus groups can surface insights that not only improve your work but also clarify the user experience. These activities remind administrators of their purpose in helping students, getting them out of their offices and into the campus environment, providing valuable data to support process improvement.
   
• Design thinking strategies can build collaboration, help teams address the actual issues standing in the way of student success, and generate more ideas. Logic model work is also valuable in helping campus teams think through the steps, structure, and goals of an initiative to ensure it’s set up for success.

We are invested in equipping people on the ground with the skills to navigate change so that their campuses can improve outcomes for students. With that in mind, we have structured the UIA National Summit to include a series of workshop experiences. Attendees will learn how to use these skills (process mapping, design thinking, empathy sprints, focus groups, and many more!) to facilitate change experiences when they get home. 

Our hope is that people will leave the summit with clarity on the WHY and the WHAT they need to focus on for student success innovation right now. They will spend intentional time building the HOW strategy to ensure they can implement the most cutting-edge innovations to serve their students.

The final day of the summit will give everyone time to plan their WHAT'S NEXT, setting themselves and their teams up to take action when they return home. I hope they leave with meetings already set, a plan of attack, and new partners to build momentum with. 

We know that we need institutions to be more innovative. Our ten years of high-impact work have shown that if you aren’t willing to tackle the challenge of implementing change seriously, we'll never get to where our students need us to be.