In the complex business of healthcare, it's easy to overlook the direct link between customer experience and strategic success due to the indirect nature of payment responsibilities.
However, firsthand stories from patients in our client’s emergency department (ED) challenge this notion.
When senior leadership from a prominent academic medical center engaged JW Collaborative to work with an emergency department facing significant, complex challenges, it became clear early on that what was initially presented as a strategic and operational challenge was actually a cultural, experiential, and, ultimately, a people problem.
Read MoreThis solo yet collaborative venture has given me the opportunity to do what I love in the service of others looking to make a difference in their corner of their world, and I hope I’ll get to keep doing just that for years to come.
Read MoreIf you want your team or partners more invested in achieving those objectives, more invested in each other, and more invested in themselves, then engage with them as co-design conspirators rather than box-checked invitees.
Read MoreI don’t think LinkedIn’s green label serves me since I’m not looking for formal employment. I highly value my autonomy, flexibility, and collaborative potential to help so many more when not tethered to one organization.
Read MoreTransformation isn't solely measured by metrics but by purpose-driven action, joy in the journey, consistent effort, and unwavering determination.
Read MoreAs someone who helps human health care organizations think about how to connect their strategies to what people really need (care, attention, empathy, connection, kindness, etc.), I couldn’t help but think that I’ll soon be asking my clients to consider, “How might you deliver customer value the way that Chewy does?”
Read MoreTo bridge the gap between strategy, culture, and execution, here’s a strategic framework I’ve assembled over the years, in collaborative iteration, rooted in systems thinking and human-centered design that is effective at both the organizational and sub-system levels.
Read MoreWhen those closest to the problems feel (and actually are) heard, respected, appreciated, and supported, the groundwork for a mutually-beneficial strategic partnership is laid. In such a partnership, both parties are deeply invested in collaboratively solving problems, creating a more effective, empowered, and sustainable healthcare ecosystem.
Read MoreAt JW Collaborative, we leverage our deep experience with health care systems, perspectives from diverse sectors, and strategic design methods to facilitate creative collaboration and the adoption of innovative ideas. Our mission is to align health care strategy with real human needs – enhancing health access, experience, and outcomes through collaborative, creative, and capacity-building approaches.
Read MoreWhat if healthcare delivery was more than a specialized service model that insisted “patients” come to it on its terms? What if it became a holistic, people-centered collaboration model that transcended traditional boundaries and met people where they were?
Read MoreSome people jump; I was pushed…and I leaned into it.
There are four key things I’ve learned about myself and being a solopreneur since then, which, if you’re considering or facing a bold move, I hope might help you.
Read MoreThe paradox of “best practices” occurs where something that was the right answer before becomes an orthodoxy, or an ossified best practice, that no longer applies or doesn’t help us consider blind spots beyond our known reality or future possible scenarios that bust historic assumptions.
Read MoreI have some great news about something my phenomenal wife has accomplished! But bear with me for a second because news like this doesn’t happen easily nor without sacrifices. And, as a human-centered designer highly focused on impacting systemic and structural change in health care (and beyond) through holistic and honest conversations, I want to point out a few things first.
Read MoreOur mindsets set the tone for how we create value for and with clients and partners. It’s not just about a hand-off of expertise codified in a deliverable but a transference of new ways of working, transformative mindsets, and design methods that can lead to more sustainable change for those ultimately responsible for it. We share eight mindsets that drive us and create value with collaborators.
Read MoreWe deploy human-centered systems design - an approach that uses deep inquiry, empathy, collaboration, iteration, systems thinking, and holistic execution planning - to elevate intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial leaders in health, civic, and social good service organizations who aspire to drive real change for their unique customers and constituents.
Read MoreWith prototyped thinking about my service offering already in hand, I iterated, prioritized high value activities, and have been getting my message out into the world as quickly as possible in order to foster new connections and get feedback that I’ve used to tweak and improve each new communiqué. With that in mind, here are the top four insights (so far) I’ve discovered in building my own independent consulting business that I think can inform if not inspire others considering a similar leap…
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