Innovation vs. Continuous Improvement: Choosing the Right Path - and the Right Tools July 23 | Morning Excellence Webinar

Many organizations use “innovation” and “continuous improvement” interchangeably. In practice, they’re solving for different things and confusing the two can stall progress.

A common pattern: teams apply improvement tools to challenges that actually require a more fundamental shift, or label incremental changes as innovation without increasing real value.

In this session, Justine Hinderliter of Partners in Public Innovation will help you step back and make more intentional choices about how you approach your work.

Drawing on her experience with public sector organizations, she’ll share practical ways to:

• Distinguish between improving an existing process and making a more meaningful, value-creating change
• Recognize when teams are using familiar tools in situations that call for a different approach
• Match the problem to the right method - whether that’s structured improvement or more exploratory, innovation-oriented work
• Move forward without overcomplicating the effort

For those working within performance excellence frameworks, this session will also help clarify a common sticking point: what counts as innovation and what doesn’t.

Throughout the session, you’ll apply these ideas to your own work so you leave with a clearer lens and a starting point you can use right away.

What You’ll Take Away

• A practical way to decide: improve, redesign, or rethink entirely
• A clearer understanding of what meaningful change looks like in practice
• Examples of where organizations misapply innovation and improvement and how to course correct
• A short set of tools aligned to each approach
• One current challenge reframed with a more effective path forward

Our Speaker

Justine Hinderliter is Co-Founder and Principal at Partners in Public Innovation. She works with public sector organizations to improve how work gets done; combining process improvement, innovation, and leadership development to drive practical, sustainable change. She previously served as Chief People Officer for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, where she led major operational and cultural transformation efforts

Who should attend:

This session is designed for practitioners and leaders who are actively working to improve how their organizations operate, including:

• People leading or supporting continuous improvement or operational excellence efforts
• Leaders who are expected to drive innovation, but are not always clear when it’s required or what it should look like in practice
• Teams preparing for or responding to performance excellence assessments, and working to clarify what counts as meaningful change
• Managers and project leads who find their teams stuck using familiar tools without seeing meaningful results
• Anyone responsible for moving work forward in complex environments where it’s not always clear whether to improve, redesign, or rethink entirely

Thursday, July 23 | 8:00–9:00am CT
(Optional networking and mingling from 7:45–8:00)
Format: Zoom meeting
Investment price: Included with membership for PEN/WCPE/IQC members | $20 for non‑members 

Can’t make it live? Register anyway - all registered attendees will receive access to the recording.