Healthcare Design - August 2017 - 58

The

Center

THINKING AHEAD

Success doesn't just come from answering today's
challenges, but from anticipating tomorrow's
opportunities, too
By Debra Levin

RECENTLY WATCHED a presentation by futurist Daniel Burrus
who told the story of an IBM executive who said at one point,
about 40 percent of the technology company's revenue came
from products and services that weren't available just three
years prior. Think about that-if you had to replace 40 percent
of this year's revenue in three years' time, could you survive?
Are you thinking about how to future-proof your organization and yourself so that neither is obsolete down the road?
There's no formula that guarantees success, but there are some things
you can do now to help prepare for what's to come.
Have a clear vision. First, you need a clear focus on why you do what
you do, and how you're working to ensure that vision will still be relevant
well into the future. This is no easy task with so many shifts happening in
the world and in the healthcare industry-what may be useful services
today have the risk of becoming less relevant as needs and expectations
evolve. How are you keeping up?
Keep an eye out for disruptive forces and innovations. What shifts
in the business landscape would make some or all the products and services that you provide irrelevant in a decade or
less? Testing your vision against possible maTESTING YOUR VISION
jor shifts in the industry can help future-proof
your organization, but identifying disruptive
AGAINST POSSIBLE
forces and new innovations early enough so
MAJOR SHIFTS IN THE
you still have time to capitalize on them is not
INDUSTRY CAN HELP
so straightforward. One way to get a preview
of what's to come that's often overlooked is
FUTURE-PROOF YOUR
connecting with the academic world. Think
ORGANIZATION.
about teaching or mentoring students at your
local university and you'll find yourself at the
epicenter of new technologies and nascent solutions. There's also a plethora
of books and articles written on the subject. One book that offers a different perspective on change is "The Black Swan," by Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
which examines the influence of highly improbable and unpredictable
events that have massive impact.
What's your competitive edge? Identifying your sweet spot is key to
understanding what makes you or your organization different from your
competitors. It can also be a roadmap, pointing you to where you might

AUGUST 2017

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

want to invest more resources or time thinking
about how to leverage that uniqueness.
How do you monetize your strengths?
Knowing who you are and how you're different
from others in the industry is only part of the
formula. Many great businesses with clear visions and unique talents still fail. Simply put, if
your expenses are greater than your revenue or
you don't have the resources to deliver on your
promises, you won't be around for very long.
If you can't clearly and succinctly describe the
value of your organization's work, you won't
last, either. You must be able to clearly articulate
your value proposition and develop a process for
delivering that value.
Look for tangential sources of business. A
complete reinvention is a lot to take on; sometimes it's better to look for a small shift in your
products or services that can lead you to a new
marketplace or help you better capitalize on
what you're already doing. Often, solutions from
one industry can be imported to another to provide a radically new way of thinking. In the same
way healthcare has turned to the hospitality and
retail sectors for solutions to some of its problems, there are likely some innovative ideas and
products in healthcare that could greatly benefit
other industries such as education and residential care.
Read, watch, travel, experience, observe.
Some of the most interesting people I know are
"human sponges," seeking out and searching
for knowledge everywhere they go. Be curious.
Watch TED Talks, listen to podcasts, and read
magazines on topics you know absolutely nothing about. Travel as much as possible and, while
away, immerse yourself in how others do things.
At The Center, we have more than 70 archived
webinars on our website on a variety of topics
and by some of the most iconic members of our
industry. You never know when inspiration will
strike, or where you'll find new insights and opportunities.
Continue to challenge yourself and know that
if you don't, you take the chance of making yourself and your business obsolete. In the words of
Albert Einstein, one of my favorites, "We cannot
solve our problems with the same thinking we
used when we created them." 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at D L E V I N @
H E A LT H D E S I G N . O R G .

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Healthcare Design - August 2017

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