As New York State Associate Commissioner of Education, Sheila Evans-Tranumn was among the highest-ranking African American women in US state government. As the first academic in her family (she has a double major in English and mathematics), she represents a remarkable story of overcoming enormous challenges to achieve a stellar career in public service. She also embodies a philosophy that speaks very strongly to innovation – for instance, having emphasised accountability at all levels of the New York state school system as a key driver of positive change in the public school system. She firmly believes that what she tries to accomplish is more important than her personal position. At a conference on performance management practices she said, ‘You can achieve nearly anything in government if you don't care about losing your job’.

Leading public sector innovation shouldn't be about risking your job. But to lead innovation, and in particular co-creation, is also to be courageous. If we as public managers don't strive, every day, to do better than yesterday, why should politicians and taxpayers endow us with their money and their trust? For innovation activities to become strategic and systematic, they must be considered the public manager's personal responsibility: part of the professional ethic, of the essence of public service. Public managers must be held just as accountable for their innovation efforts as for meeting the budget. Sometimes that means mustering the courage to challenge the very system that holds one accountable.

As Professor Jean Hartley of the Open University has pointed out, ‘Innovation under networked governance revitalizes the leadership role of policy-makers in translating new ideas into new forms of action’ (Hartley, 2005, p 30). This revitalisation comes at a price, however. Leading public organisations in a more collaborative, open and inclusive way – to orchestrate co-creation – makes significant demands on the confidence and courage of leaders.