WHAT MOMS AND BABIES CAN TEACH US ABOUT INNOVATION

Griffin Hospital is a small, 160-bed capacity community hospital. In each direction of the compass, just 12 miles or so, there is a major hospital. A person can easily drive 12 miles and get care at a larger city hospital, but they don’t.

What sets Griffin Hospital apart?
  • They talked to their customers– their patients.
  • The consumer is the inspiration for innovation.
  • They listened to expectant mothers.
  • They understood that mothers didn’t want to be treated as a medical emergency or an illness-care event.
The result? They made major changes that really evolved their patient experience, such as:
  • Building a special entrance just for mother and their families.
  • Changing the maternity ward to look like a home, not a hospital.
  • Gone was the old uptight, formal approach. It was replaced by personalized care based on patient empowerment and family involvement for support.

Griffin Hospital’s maternity business boomed, and they took what they learned to develop a new patient-centered care mission and model for the rest of the hospital.

Innovation is the growth engine for your business. If a business fails to innovate, you can be sure a competitor will jump ahead.

Note: Thomas Edison is credited with 1,093 US patents, including a light bulb. Interesting that Edison, the “innovator”, only worked on what already existed. As a matter of fact, he did not invent the light bulb. It had already been in existence for 50 years prior to his patent. In his own words, “I try to make things better”. 

As you think about your business and innovating new ideas, strive to make things better.

Here’s to innovative leadership!
–Steve

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About the Author

Steve Gutzler is the President of Leadership Quest, a Seattle-based leadership development company. Steve is a dynamic, highly-sought-after speaker who has delivered more than 2,500 presentations to a list of clients including Microsoft, Starbucks, the Seattle Seahawks, Pandora Radio, Boeing, Cisco, Starwood Corporation, the Ritz Carlton group, and the U.S. Social Security Administration. He recently was voted #1 by the readership of Huffington Post as the Most Inspirational Leader on Social Media.

A published author on leadership and emotional intelligence, Steve resides near Seattle with his wife Julie where they enjoy time with their three adult children and six grandchildren.