Healthcare Design - April 2016 - 23

C THE CENTER | 04.16
Where inspiration blooms
With spring comes an instinctive drive for new life, especially in the realm of
professional inspiration. Here are some ideas worth pursuing to help get the
creative juices flowing again By Debra Levin
It's April and with that comes spring, traditionally associated with new beginnings. In spring, plants begin
their cycle of growth after a winter of dormancy and
animals end their months-long hibernation.
With everyone doing more with fewer resources
these days, it's not likely that your workload experienced that same winter lull. But spring also brings
the opportunity to find new, innovative solutions
and resources to help you churn through it all and,
hopefully, provide some sense of renewal as you
do so.
Below are some ideas you might want to explore
to get your brain synapsing in new and different
ways.
* Plan a visit to one of the many healthcare, technology, or building innovation centers that continue to pop up in our industry. They're sprinkled
throughout the country and focus on finding and
testing innovative new solutions and improved
outcomes. I've had the opportunity to visit a few
over the years and always walked away not only
with new ideas but with new questions to ask
myself that challenge my perceived views. From
Kaiser Permanente's Garfield Innovation Center
in Oakland, Calif., to the new WELL Living Lab
in Rochester, Minn., the result of a collaboration
between Delos and the Mayo Clinic Center for
Innovation, you're sure to find one in your section
of the world.
* Can't easily jump on a plane or in a car for a
multi-hour trip? Look no further than the TED app
on your smart device or the TED channels on
YouTube. TED Talks run the gamut from high-level
concepts to in-the-trenches innovative solutions.
Topics focus on technology, entertainment, and
design (TED); so many of the presentations are
directly translatable and almost all are thoughtprovoking and entertaining. Many of our own
industry experts have taken to the TED and TEDMED stages, so don't be surprised to find some
familiar names in the mix.
* Crowdsourcing has continued to grow in
popularity in more and more aspects of our
lives. Harnessing the power of many helps to
bring together a variety of skill sets and thought
processes in hopes that many bits of disparate
information will be shared in new ways for quicker
and fresher solutions. One site to look at for

inspiration in this area is OpenIDEO, a global
community working together to design solutions
for the world's biggest challenges. Anyone can
sign up or join a meet-up in their area with other
like-minded individuals. Or check out Quirky, a
site geared to all aspects of invention. Whether
you have an idea rumbling around in your head
for a new healthcare design product or want
to lend your design talents to someone else's
ideas, with more than 1 million members, this
site brings together a wide variety of talents.

There are a large number of free Web tools
available to help you get ready for that new
burst of inspiration sure to come.
* There are a large number of free tools and
inspiration available on the Web to help you get
organized and ready for that new burst of inspiration sure to come. At The Center, we've been
enjoying Asana, a project management tool that
helps track projects, create to-do lists, and connect on the project with others inside or outside
your company. There are others, too, from the
complex organizational system Nirvana to the
simple, interactive to-do list maker Remember
the Milk.
* Last of all, if you're looking for some new sources of inspiration, don't forget your colleagues.
Look for new ways to engage them. One idea
I read about recently describes micro groups
of friends or colleagues who get together on a
regular basis to have discussions about singular
questions. Participants find it's a great way to
quickly get past the surface "weather" talk and
dive into meaty topics that help get creative
juices flowing. Read about one person's experience at http://tinyurl.com/j8fsvhv.
Whatever route you choose, I welcome hearing
about your go-to places for innovation and inspiration and the great ideas that come from them. HCD
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at dlevin@
healthdesign.org.

Debra Levin
HCDmagazine.com 04.16

http://www.tinyurl.com/j8fsvhv http://www.HCDmagazine.com

Healthcare Design - April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - April 2016