Design thinking, lean startup methods can unleash government innovation

This week I will be concentrating on Design Thinking and government. As always, I will highlight two articles I found interesting today and Thursday, tomorrow I will publish my blog and Wednesday will highlight an article for the non-profit community.

Today I highlight an article that discusses a new approach to procurement in government. The idea is that instead of government departments spending months, and perhaps years, defining solution requirements rather ask the commercial sector to propose a solution.

“At the beginning of the procurement process, instead of sending out a traditional RFP an agency may issue a business problem statement or statement of objectives. The agency could then ask potential contractors to respond with a short concept paper. Those with the best potential solutions should then be asked to build a proof of concept to demonstrate the potential for the idea.”

What do you think of this approach?

The article can be found here.