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 Innovation in the Healthcare and Non-Profit
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In the for-profit world, most companies have
recognized that innovation is critical to their success. Now, as health
care and non-profit organizations face an increasingly complex and
competitive environment, it has become more obvious that innovation is
key to our success as well. So, how do we encourage creativity and
innovation in the health care and non-profit sector? How Can We Be Creative When…? I often hear the comment, “how can we be creative when we’re so heavily regulated?” Or, “how can we innovate when we’re struggling to balance the budget?” My answer is that it’s even more important for us to be creative given the number of obstacles we face. The more difficult the task, the farther “outside the box” we may need to go for a solution. To encourage innovation in the health care and nonprofit sector, we must first overcome some common blocks to creativity. Blocks to Creativity Many people say “oh, I’m just not creative.” But, creativity is a skill, not a gift. It’s something we all have. Think about it, all of us were extremely creative when we were children. We had to experiment over and over again just to learn to walk. So, what happened to that creative drive? With experience, we’ve learned to think in patterns instead of always making new connections. It’s more efficient for the brain, but it’s hard to break free from those thought patterns. And, over time, our creativity can be squelched by cultural, perceptual, emotional and intellectual blocks.
2. Perceptual: Perceptual blocks to creativity include obstacles that prevent people from being able to recognize the problem. These include defining the problem too narrowly, inability to view the problem from different perspectives, mistaken assumptions and stereotyping. For example, the dictionary defines “patient” as “able to endure waiting or delay; able to tolerate being hurt without complaint” as well as “somebody being given medical treatment.” In our current environment, patients aren’t patient anymore. How are our perceptions affected by calling our customers “patients”? 3. Emotional: Emotional blocks to creativity are the most prevalent and perhaps the most difficult to overcome. Examples of emotional blocks include: fear of failure, fear of ridicule, negative outlook and low self esteem. People who are afraid to fail do not risk suggesting unusual ideas. Those with negative outlooks will kill new ideas prematurely. Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM once said, “the fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate”. People must feel that it is safe to fail if they are to be truly creative. 4. Intellectual: We use several different “thinking languages” to solve problems. Examples include verbal, mathematical and visual thinking. Generally, we automatically select the mode of thought without considering if there is another way to solve the problem. For example, if you are given a mathematical problem, most people will try to solve it mathematically when using visual thinking may actually work better. In fact, using only “rational thought” can be the biggest block to creativity because intuition and non-linear thought patterns are often the best way to make great leaps in problem solving. The good news is that our creative muscles are still there, they’re just weak from being underutilized. We can strengthen our creativity skills by practicing with tools designed to encourage innovative thinking. Most creative thinking tools work by breaking our normal thought patterns or reducing some of the blocks we just described. Brainstorming, the most commonly used creativity tool, works by removing some emotional and cultural barriers such as fear of failure or ridicule. Done correctly, brainstorming generates a large number of ideas from a group in a short period of time. The key is volume, not quality. That’s why the best brainstorming sessions are playful and encourage “crazy” ideas, high volume, and prohibit judging or editing by others. Beyond Brainstorming There are many useful tools that go far beyond conventional brainstorming to aid groups and individuals to be more creative. Here are a few examples:
To learn more about creativity tools, we
recommend the books listed below.
If you’re interested in learning more
about increasing creativity in the workplace or applying creative
thinking tools to process improvement efforts, contact us at |