Implementing artificial intelligence in the public sector is complex. Governments and other public organizations must navigate political interests, bureaucratic structures, and risk-averse cultures. Five uncomfortable practices can help public sector organizations navigate these complex environments and pave the way for effective, strategic AI innovation.

Innovation in the public sector often comes from the ground up, with middle managers and front-line staff leading the charge. Politicians and senior leadership primarily take action in cases of crises and failures. They need to adopt a more strategic perspective and support bottom-up innovations.

Eight critical factors for successfully implementing organizational change in the public sector include verifying and communicating the necessity of change, developing clear strategies, building support, and ensuring top-management commitment. Providing adequate resources, institutionalizing new behaviours, and aligning subsystems with change objectives are crucial for achieving transformation.

Successfully navigating the path of innovation requires not just great ideas but also the strategic cultivation of legitimacy through proactive engagement, compelling storytelling, symbolic actions, and strategic affiliations.

Successful innovation within governments and other public sector organizations is as much about shaping the environment in which innovations are developed as it is about the innovations themselves.

Understanding legitimacy and the legitimacy issues related to change, empowers leaders in government to effectively navigate social judgments and processes for fostering innovation and driving strategic change. The process by which this occurs is known as legitimation.

When transforming from the old to the new, it's crucial to make the first move count. Substantial change effort should initially focus on reducing cognitive constraints and organizing backing, enabling innovations to not only start but also scale and integrate effectively.

Governments must recognize the legitimacy tensions in their policies to prevent them from escalating into legitimacy crises. Policy makers should act as policy managers, and policy enforcers must be prepared to scrutinize policies.

n an era where effective use of public finances is a demand from the public, governments must strategically allocate resources, aligning budgets with strategic goals and challenge operational units to demonstrate their strategic contributions or change.

Agents of change in the public sector can innovate by creatively navigating the "gray zone" between legitimacy and illegitimacy, employing tactics such as distancing from, circumventing, and mystifying rules to foster innovation.

Public sector innovation thrives with a mix of diverse individuals, including motivated innovators (Crusaders) and rule challengers (Revolutionist) and necessitates a culture supportive of calculated risk-taking, experimentation, and learning from failures.

Governments and other public organizations require a blend of incremental change, bold experimentation, and strategic transformations. Fueled by a culture that values responsibility, autonomy, and trust, leaders should use strategy to balance incremental and radical change.

Self-managed teams can significantly enhance innovation in organizations, but while the autonomy granted presents a fertile ground for innovation, it is the supportive and strategic role of leaders that cultivates this potential into tangible innovative change.