Some recent developments and articles of interest:

• We all know now that hand washing in hospitals reduces infections, but it too was an innovation one time. Tim Kastelle looks at some of the lessons from the introduction of a seemingly simple innovation.  ”Innovators tend to be pretty smart, and one of the most common mistakes that smart people make is to expect great ideas to be self-evidently good. This is never true. It wasn’t enough to show that hand washing saves lives. It took seventy years of effort to get people to adopt the practice.”¹
• Craig Thomler looks at the recent social media guidance issued in the UK by the Cabinet Office and commends it to agencies in Australia.
• Ben Thornley looks at the needed links between social innovation entrepreneurs and public sector agencies, particularly in the area of impact investment. Ben also notes the establishment of the international ‘Impact Investing Policy Collaborative’ network.
• In the US, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced the Mayors Challenge, a $5m grand prize and four $1m secondary prizes for innovative ideas that improve urban life across the US.
• Can a social media tool increase kindness? Grant McCracken looks at an interesting public sector/social experiment looking to change the mood of a city.  ”Capturing and fixing tiny cultural gestures can lead to large social changes. But we need to discover the Thank Banks, urban mechanics, Culturematics, and other mechanisms that make this happen.”²

As always, please feel free to identify any other recent developments or articles of interest in the comments below.