Rigid healthcare hierarchy persists, dividing innovators from leaders
Rigid healthcare hierarchies can be a significant barrier to innovation. In many organizations, innovators are separated from the leaders, making it challenging to gain support for new ideas. This separation can be particularly challenging in healthcare, where innovation can have a significant impact on patient care.
Siloing and hierarchy can be barriers to healthcare innovation in the same way they are in every other industry. Keeping the innovators of an organization away from the leaders of the company can interfere with the people who sign the checks buying in (literally) on something that could be revolutionary.
To avoid this barrier, innovators need to make a concerted effort to bring leaders together with innovators. This collaboration can help ensure that ideas are aligned with business goals and are sustainable in the long term. Making a concerted effort to bring the leaders together with the innovators is the only way to turn the idea into a reality. An innovation may work wonders for patients, but if it doesn’t square with the business side it won’t be sustainable. Finding the right balance can help ensure that ideas are given the necessary time and resources to develop into something worthwhile.
Then there’s the “innovator’s paradox.” Bring in the business too early, and ideas can get shot down before they have an opportunity to develop into something spectacular. In the early stages, you need a certain amount of cover to burn through your bad ideas and find the ones that are worthwhile. That’s understandable, but it’s up to you to provide the necessary realism before you bring it to leadership. Just like business leaders shouldn’t be making decisions without patients in mind, innovators shouldn’t be making monumental decisions without the business in mind.
The innovator's paradox is a common challenge that many entrepreneurs and innovators face when trying to bring new ideas to fruition. Innovators need to be both visionary and pragmatic. They must have a strong sense of purpose and a passion for creating something new and meaningful, but they must also be grounded in reality and able to translate their ideas into practical solutions that can deliver value to the business and its customers.
Ultimately, the key to overcoming the innovator's paradox is to cultivate a culture of innovation that values experimentation, risk-taking, and learning from failures, while also promoting collaboration, communication, and alignment with the business's strategic objectives. By working closely with business leaders, innovators can ensure that their ideas are aligned with the company's vision and goals, and that they have the necessary support and resources to turn their ideas into reality.