“Creativity is the lifeblood of the BBC. Herman has worked with individuals and groups across the BBC to help them discover new ways of being creåative. He has also played a critical role in fostering a conversation amongst senior leaders about innovation in the digital age that has subsequently underpinned our strategy and its delivery” Katharine Everett, Director of Change, BBC
The BBC faced profound changes as digital devices increasingly pulled people away from traditional broadcast programming. The world was changing fast; it would require rapid and radical shift of emphasis to keep up. The company’s challenge was to find new ways of delivering valued content to fragmenting and increasingly demanding audiences while keeping the faith with loyal customers who cherished its core services; its mission was to become the most creative organization in the world.
BBC executives and managers came to Silicon Valley for The Discipline of Innovation workshop at SRI. Following the workshops, EDG facilitated the dissemination of these innovation practices throughout the BBC. In addition, EDG participated in a number of strategic thinking events to help increase awareness of and engagement with the profound changes involved in shifting from a “Public Service” broadcaster in the analog world to becoming a “Public Value” content delivery platform in the mobile-digital world. Hundreds of employees from throughout the company participated to grasp the impact of this monumental industry transformation on their own work. By organising innovation sessions EDG also helped BBC executives and managers to understand the concrete implications of change for the leadership in their divisions and departments in order to more effectively drive the transformation throughout the organization.
After the sessions, in April 2006, Director-General Mark Thompson published his strategy for a creative future. At its heart were radical new services like the BBC’s on-demand console the I-Player, a new web 2.0 strategy and an emphasis on “martini media” – anytime, anywhere, any place.
Watch this short, inspiring video about the transformation that the BBC is ondergoing and the programms that have been put in place to accomplish this at Radio 1.
