A642.2.3.RB_DellElceCamila

A642.2.3.RB – Organizing for Innovation

            When I first started to think about how innovation was organized or even handled in my organization, I had a hard time figuring out if we were even innovative at all. “The first challenge is to encourage creative behavior that leads to successful innovation. The second challenge is to develop a tradition of creative behavior that keeps leading to more and more successful innovation. Both of these challenges are about the climate and conditions that encourage – or discourage – the effective use of new ideas. They are both about cultural change” (McKeown, 2015). Typically in the medical field world, organizations are more reactive than proactive. Many times laws or regulations are enacted after someone did something wrong. That being said, we do our best to stay ahead of the curve. While we try to remain ahead of the curve, the rules that are implemented on a daily basis are met through careful consideration and constant learning.

            I was surprised to see all of this unfold when I first entered the field. However, in my short time I began to understand the dynamics of our organization as a whole. We have all thought of a way to include everyone through the decision-making processes. Wallin and Von Krogh in Organizing for Open Innovation suggested that open innovation involves everyone in the innovation process. We recently decided to use open innovation to ensure that all parties involved in our organization feel as if their voices are heard. While we may not use their idea, we are giving them an outlet to express their concerns. Nevertheless, this has also allowed us to see any holes in our thinking. Having medical assistants, front office staff, and also some anonymous patient’s feedback has helped influencing our decision making process to create a better environment for everyone involved.

            The medical office I work for is in constant turnover and having new staff is always part of the challenge. Though, having new comers and younger staff, provides the opportunity for fresh innovation that can potentially lead to proposed new ideas. While the safety regulations are constantly changing in the medical industry, the owner and doctor at our office, strives to keep us ahead of any possible problems. Having a close eye on the numerous changes that are made throughout time, we are able to see any unnecessary processes and where certain aspects are lacking. This does not mean that ideas we propose are accepted with open arms.

            In my organization, innovation is met with recoil. This is because there are individuals in the organization who have been there for too many years. Instead of seeing innovation as necessary development, they see it as unnecessary change. In their minds, if it is not broken then why fix it? This forces us to spend time convincing them why a change is necessary. In order to get these individuals to buy in, we need to show the usefulness of the new idea. If we can sell this idea to them; then they will see the importance of innovation and possibly be more welcoming to change in the future. However this is a long process.

            One question that always arises is, how useful this new process would be. When the organization first encountered this question, we were not sure how to react. Yet, this is an extremely important question. If we are creating new ideas for the sake of being innovative, we are wasting our time. Instead, we need to assess how useful it will be on our daily activities. On a day-to-day basis, been that we are a full paperless transitioned medical facility, we are in constant need of our computers. Unfortunately, we use windows computers that after six months loose their battery life and forces medical assistants to be plugged in, while disabling us to move around the office and work faster. Now, I have recommended the organization to acquire apple devices but to our disadvantage, very few medical software have been developed to work on apple computers or tablets. Although, the company continues to strive for better technological equipment, it will take a significant amount of time, before these changes are visible. In the mean time, we continue to use ten-pound old laptop versions.

            In examples of innovation that have not worked, the major factor was the lack of usefulness of the new idea. I still consider myself as new to the organization, because, although I have been working for them for two years, this have been my first two years working as a medical assistant, so I do not have any previous experiences where new ideas have not worked. Instead, I will direct my attention on how to transform resistance to change into something positive. Experiencing skeptical thoughts, allows us to ensure we have all the proper research done before presenting an idea. Therefore, we are more prepared and can essentially weed out ideas that would definitely not work. Through this time we can give our idea a little test run and if it does not work, we will not bring it to anyone’s attention. I look forward to learning more from those within my organization and developing innovative ideas alongside.

            What we need to do in my organization is build a bigger, more collective brain. As Max McKeown mentions in The Innovation Book, “no individual can have all the answer” (p. 43, 2014). That being said we need to welcome any and all ideas we can get. While not all ideas will lead to changes, you never know unless you fully research those ideas. Instead of relying on one individual, we all need to work together to create a more innovative organization. Since not one person has all the answers; the need to listen to other would bring a balanced mix of cultures. In other words, enables the organization to look at the bigger picture and to build meaning relationships with each team member.

            While all of these ideas are great, my organization will take some time in regards to innovation. As we continue to expand and seek new ideas, we will continue to innovate. The medical world is known for drastically undergoing changes everyday but the implication of such changes runs a long side of insecurity when placed in organizations. What we have found gives us leverage is proposing an idea to the owner directly.  Providing the opportunity to express our concerns as well as show any pertinent data to support our theories. Having someone who is welcoming to change and open to innovation is great. No longer will we be afraid to change. Instead, we will embrace the opportunity and take pride in developing new ideas for our organization.

References

Mckeown, M. (2014). The innovation book: How to manage ideas and execution for outstanding results (1^st Ed.). FT Press.

Wallin, M., & Van Krogh, G. (2010). Organizing for Open Innovation:: Focus on the Integration of Knowledge. Designing Organizations for the 21st-Century Global Economy Special Issue, 39(2), 145-154.