Innovation Management Strategies for Hospital Leaders

Introduction

This report is distributed to managers and leaders of University Hospital for the express purpose of establishing a foundation for the development of a strategic plan that will weave innovation into the fabric of the hospital workplace.

University Hospital is not an entrepreneurial think tank or a business incubator. The work it does is serious and life-changing. Yet the work of a hospital — practiced to perfection — is not immune to the need for innovation. An important distinction exists between innovation in the fabric of the workplace and innovation that is the lifeblood of research and development.

University Hospital has existed since the time of the missionaries, and a residual of that era is present in the traditions — and even some of the practices — of the hospital. The mission and values have not changed greatly since the missionaries established their agency of care for the poor and disenfranchised islanders who came to them for medical treatment. It is essential to the long-term stability of University Hospital, and even more important to the patients it serves, that innovation becomes a real-time value penetrating both practice and the structural organization inherent to implementation.

The principles of management are theoretically distilled into four essential functions: (a) planning, (b) organizing, (c) leading, and (d) controlling. This report focuses specifically on the planning and leading functions. Planning is the management function that consists of setting goals and deciding how to achieve them. Leading is the function that permits someone to tap sources of influence that inspire others to take action. Organizing involves establishing an organizational structure and allocating human resources to achieve objectives. Controlling ensures that results and performance do not stray far from requisite standards.

Managing toward innovation requires an organization to practice idea parenting — ideas are first conceived, then nurtured, then shown to others, and finally brought carefully and lovingly to maturity. Experts in innovation management believe that certain trends are, in effect, establishing new rules for managing innovation. Four such trends are reviewed in the main body of this report, and recommendations specific to the hospital environment are provided alongside each trend discussion.

The four trends described by Maddock and Viton (2009) that are changing the rules for managing toward innovation are: (a) silos are falling, but not necessarily in expected or anticipated ways; (b) outside-in thinking; (c) social media; and (d) war games. Maddock Douglas is an innovation consultancy that works with clients to invent, brand, and launch new business models, products, and services. Raphael Louis Viton is the President of Maddock Douglas, and G. Michael Maddock is the CEO.