How Agility and Innovation Define Healthcare Success
When healthcare organizations embrace a change orientation, they consider the tough calls that lead to innovation part of the way they do business, not a process or project they engage in for a given period. People innovate when they see a benefit—when they perceive that the change will improve their condition, not when someone else wants it. The following questions will help determine your results-orientation:
- Do we make decisions we can implement immediately?
Or do we “vet” decisions to every conceivable stake holder, suggesting we seek their “buy in,” when we want their approval? Every year one of my clients loses a sterling opportunity because of delayed decision-making—artificially created setbacks that cost mightily. Most recently, a hospital president missed an opportunity to hire an industry star because he wanted others to meet the candidate. Travel schedules interfered with progress; speed did not seem of the essence. While the client wasted precious time, a competitor made an offer, and the candidate accepted. Now this star shines in another galaxy—that of the competition. - To what extent will employees accept leader-only or expert-only decisions?
While often desirable, consensus simply takes too long, and it ignores or negates a leader’s often more trustworthy intuition. Successful organizations realize they must outrun the competition, but they have to do more. They must also exceed their patients’ expectations. These kinds of tough calls require both speed and agility. An aircraft carrier will never be able to turn with the nimbleness of a speedboat; therefore, visionary leaders delegate important decisions to the most qualified person on the team, or they make them themselves. I’ve never been a fan of consensus, and each passing year and missed opportunity confirms my distaste for it. Today’s changing economy simply won’t allow companies to take the time to involve everyone in everything. - How adeptly do we evaluate risk?
Smart risk-takers define the playing field for everyone else. We won’t soon forget the greatness of Steve Jobs. He anticipated and imagined the next big thing and then provided it. He didn’t ask consumers what we wanted; he just invented what he knew we needed. Do you have thinkers in your organization who can take your company to the edge of the cliff without letting it tumble over? Or do your risk managers assume the role of business-prevention managers? - How comfortable would we feel about giving up the status quo?
What parts would we miss? What can’t we live without? So-called comfort food makes us fat, and parts of the status quo make us lazy. We become ego-involved in the way we’ve always done things—imagining our entire world will fall off its axis if we admit to learning and leading a better way. - How have and how will healthcare industry changes demand that we change?
Sometimes external factors decide for us. September 11th forever changed the way we travel, and no one expected or anticipated these changes. Yet, our economy demanded that we figure it out and get planes and passengers back in the air. Again, sometimes change comes more from imposition than invitation, but an agile culture can position an organization to respond well either way. - How well does the speed we prefer match the pace the healthcare industry demands?
To remain competitive and exceptional, a culture must foster and embrace incentives, agility, rewards, experimentation, and high-risk tolerance, not quick victories. Many organizations demanding more “innovation” simply want faster problem-solving, which will only return things to the status quo but not actually force leaders to make the tough calls that would change anything important.
Psychological research tells us that people who overcome adversity build confidence and self-esteem that tells them they can do it again. When we repeatedly play the cards we’re dealt, overcome obstacles, and emerge unscathed, or at least still in one piece, the experience tells us we can do it again. Leaders who help others make tough calls get better results more often.
