Without measurement, it is hard to judge the success of an organisation’s innovation effort. Some possible process indicators for organisations to consider include:

• staff perceptions of innovation, including through use of the question ‘Is your agency innovative?’
• State of the Service Report agency responses to questions on innovation
• impacts achieved from innovations—what has occurred that would not have occurred without an innovation?
• innovation activities that have failed and been discontinued, and what they have taught the organisation
• areas of reduced uncertainty—what has the innovation taught the organisation about the field in which it was attempted or implemented?
• narrative case studies of how innovation has improved outcomes
• a range of process measures, possibly facilitated by the use of an ideas management system with a reporting capability.

Successful innovations should be identified and celebrated. Writing successes up as case studies can be a valuable means of capturing and sharing insights including through the Public Sector Innovation Showcase.

Agencies should report on their larger individual innovations. This will assist in codifying lessons and diffusing innovations to other agencies, as well as in promoting innovation within the agency.

Mapping networks to see where innovations have and have not come from and to identify any possible areas of weakness can also be informative.