In recent years, the public sector has faced significant challenges, ranging from environmental crises to public health emergencies and humanitarian disasters. Research indicates that addressing these grand challenges requires ambitious missions to drive innovation and create public value. However, this endeavor is often impeded by a variety of constraints from institutional, political, and organizational domains, which greatly hinder innovation and transformation efforts. Understanding the inherent differences between the public and private sectors, this study concentrates on the legitimacy challenges and complexities encountered by public organizations focused on innovation. It delves into effective strategies for managing innovation, providing guidance to policymakers, administrative leaders, and change agents on navigating legitimacy challenges during innovation processes, all while balancing compliance with existing rules and regulations. I highlight the concept of "liminal space" as a framework to support innovative ideas, strategies, and solutions. This space represents an environment that is willing to relax established norms, values, beliefs, rules, and definitions to support an idea, and it can be influenced by innovative actors. By embracing this concept, organizations can foster an atmosphere conducive to innovation within the public sector.
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