Creating a Culture of Innovation Through People and Technology
Michelle Neumeier; Rod Brace, Ph.D.; and Michael Shabot, MD, FACS, FCCM, FACMI
While most companies desire innovation, they struggle to achieve it. According to Boland Jones, PGi CEO, “Innovation is a double-edged sword. Everyone must be perceived to be constantly innovative to have a chance of standing out from the crowd in today's crowded technology marketplace. But innovation merely for the sake of it is meaningless.” So yes, innovation is elusive, but it is necessary and achievable.
Innovation can be learned and practiced like other competencies. Innovation should be embedded in every employee’s competency metric, rewarded, and regularly practiced such that it becomes a part of the organizational culture, vocabulary, and everyday work experience. While innovation can be a competitive advantage, it should not be viewed as a unique activity, rather view the pursuit of innovation as a process linked to the organization’s purpose and tied to financial, technical, and clinical goals.
Innovation requires balance to function well. Too much innovation is difficult to maintain and can lead to brand fatigue and consumer disillusionment when the next new, “new” thing is not constantly delivered. Too little leaves you behind the competition. Innovation is best engaged and balanced when it is born out of a desire to help someone, solve a problem, or make something better for people; therefore, it should be people-centric.
Despite the intense pressure to become more innovative, many healthcare organizations are sluggish at best in the early stages of their innovation, failing to implement meaningful programs utilizing human and technological resources. The key to moving forward with effective innovation is to focus on the innovators, not the innovation. In other words, first invest in people, then in technology.
We see three major innovation challenges in healthcare: (1) supporting the staff, including physicians, with innovation training and deployment experiences, (2) handling the unique obstacles that plague hierarchical healthcare organizations, and (3) effectively selecting and managing technological developments and disruptions. Clearly, these three items are linked, and if addressed together rather than in isolation, they can be managed efficiently.
Innovations in healthcare workflows is crucial, and the pandemic proved that healthcare organizations can implement them quickly. In addition, pandemic pressures have reset the need for innovation in clinical delivery and human resource deployment. As healthcare leaders we must employ new approaches for the survival of our mission. High reliability practices must be revised to accommodate the new expectations of patients and caregivers. The risk of error increases as care providers experience burnout and moral injury. Innovation in people-practices is a critical need in healthcare.
Technology innovation must partner with people-practices. When both unite for change the result alleviates pressures on performance and reduces the opportunities for error. Technology can improve efficiency and relieve monotonous and time-consuming tasks, and relieve the distraction and fatigue often associated with error events.
Healthcare leaders must create a culture in which innovation can thrive on behalf of people. Here are 5 tips to creating a culture of innovation:
Acknowledge and reward attempted innovation throughout the organization.
Find ways to partner with organizations outside of healthcare to inject innovation.
Provide training and dedicated time for innovation.
Encourage the open and honest sharing of ideas and assign specific problems to be solved to a diverse group of employees.
Suspend your own assumptions, interpretations, and judgments during the idea-sharing phase. Allow the innovators adequate time to explain their logic and describe their solution. Try to build on their ideas instead of replacing them with your own.
Leader engagement and commitment to change are key to creating a culture open to innovation and creativity. Senior leaders who foster a sense of urgency while creating an openness to change facilitate innovation. Leaders must clearly communicate the reason for change, provide the necessary training and tools, involve a broad selection of participants, point to reminders of progress, protect an innovator’s ability to speak freely, critically examine personal biases as to what is possible, and recognize the innovative efforts that result from an effective culture of innovation.
While most companies desire innovation, they struggle to achieve it. According to Boland Jones, PGi CEO, “Innovation is a double-edged sword. Everyone must be perceived to be constantly innovative to have a chance of standing out from the crowd in today's crowded technology marketplace. But innovation merely for the sake of it is meaningless.” So yes, innovation is elusive, but it is necessary and achievable.
Innovation can be learned and practiced like other competencies. Innovation should be embedded in every employee’s competency metric, rewarded, and regularly practiced such that it becomes a part of the organizational culture, vocabulary, and everyday work experience. While innovation can be a competitive advantage, it should not be viewed as a unique activity, rather view the pursuit of innovation as a process linked to the organization’s purpose and tied to financial, technical, and clinical goals.
Innovation requires balance to function well. Too much innovation is difficult to maintain and can lead to brand fatigue and consumer disillusionment when the next new, “new” thing is not constantly delivered. Too little leaves you behind the competition. Innovation is best engaged and balanced when it is born out of a desire to help someone, solve a problem, or make something better for people; therefore, it should be people-centric.
Despite the intense pressure to become more innovative, many healthcare organizations are sluggish at best in the early stages of their innovation, failing to implement meaningful programs utilizing human and technological resources. The key to moving forward with effective innovation is to focus on the innovators, not the innovation. In other words, first invest in people, then in technology.
We see three major innovation challenges in healthcare: (1) supporting the staff, including physicians, with innovation training and deployment experiences, (2) handling the unique obstacles that plague hierarchical healthcare organizations, and (3) effectively selecting and managing technological developments and disruptions. Clearly, these three items are linked, and if addressed together rather than in isolation, they can be managed efficiently.
Innovation in healthcare workflows is crucial, and the pandemic proved that healthcare organizations can implement them quickly. In addition, pandemic pressures have reset the need for innovation in clinical delivery and human resource deployment. As healthcare leaders we must employ new approaches for the survival of our mission. High reliability practices must be revised to accommodate the new expectations of patients and caregivers. The risk of error increases as care providers experience burnout and moral injury. Innovation in people-practices is a critical need in healthcare.
Technology innovation must partner with people-practices. When both unite for change the result alleviates pressures on performance and reduces the opportunities for error. Technology can improve efficiency and relieve monotonous and time-consuming tasks, and relieve the distraction and fatigue often associated with error events.
Healthcare leaders must create a culture in which innovation can thrive on behalf of people. Here are 5 tips to creating a culture of innovation:
Acknowledge and reward attempted innovation throughout the organization.
Find ways to partner with organizations outside of healthcare to inject innovation.
Provide training and dedicated time for innovation.
Encourage the open and honest sharing of ideas and assign specific problems to be solved to a diverse group of employees.
Suspend your own assumptions, interpretations, and judgments during the idea-sharing phase. Allow the innovators adequate time to explain their logic and describe their solution. Try to build on their ideas instead of replacing them with your own.
Leader engagement and commitment to change are key to creating a culture open to innovation and creativity. Senior leaders who foster a sense of urgency while creating an openness to change facilitate innovation. Leaders must clearly communicate the reason for change, provide the necessary training and tools, involve a broad selection of participants, point to reminders of progress, protect an innovator’s ability to speak freely, critically examine personal biases as to what is possible, and recognize the innovative efforts that result from an effective culture of innovation.