Innovation in local government is not just about big ideas or new technology. It is often about small changes that eliminate wasted work and give employees more time to serve residents. I spoke with innovation expert Brian Elms about how governments can rethink daily processes, empower staff, and create meaningful improvements.

Elms, founder and CEO of Change Agents Training and creator of Denver’s Peak Academy, has spent more than a decade helping public servants identify broken systems and transform them into better ones. His mantra is this: the people who do the work are the best suited to improve the work.

From Efficiency to Effectiveness

A lot of us chase efficiency. But Brian challenges that word. “I actually don’t use the word efficient anymore,” he explained.  

“I watched a professional painter transform a room in minutes. Meanwhile, it would have taken me hours. That is not just efficiency, that is mastery. And our best public servants already have that. What they need is the ability to become more effective at their work by removing the obstacles in their way.”

What’s Slowing Down Innovation in Local Government

So where does wasted effort hide? Everywhere. “I start from the premise that all process is waste,” Elms said. “Every email is an error. Every phone call means someone could not get what they needed. Once, the number one call in Denver was: What time do you open? Fixing that simple barrier freed staff to focus on real resident needs.”  

It is not about working harder. It is about clearing the bottlenecks that keep us from doing our best work.

Killing “We’ve Always Done It This Way”

We have all heard it: this is the way we’ve always done it. Elms’s advice? Flip it. “No one feels excited about the way we’ve always done it,” he said. “So ask: how can we make this better? Challenge people to improve on what exists. That reframing sparks creativity instead of resistance.”

Elms also encourages local government professionals to stop chasing perfection. “The first idea is the worst idea. The first attempt always fails. That is just the bad first pancake. What matters is creating a culture where experimenting, testing, and improving are possible.”

The Bigger Why

At the end of the day, this is not about process; it is about purpose. “Helping people through their livelihood is the most powerful thing you can do,” Elms said. “People take government jobs because they love serving their community. My job is to help them find ways to do more of that, with less wasted effort.”

Real Solutions

A key difference in Brian’s approach is action. That is why, in collaboration with ICMA, he is leading the Innovation Bootcamp training series (September 23–October 17). The course is all about helping local government professionals work through real challenges and create a workplace where innovation can thrive.  

“At the end of the bootcamp, you don’t just walk away with ideas. You’ve actually solved a problem you deal with every day,” Elms explained.

  As he puts it, “When you invest in people, they invest in you. And that is how we transform government services together.”