Overview

2) NOW! Projects at Memorial Hospital and Health System

Profits were eroding at Memorial Hospital and Health System of South Bend, Indiana. Niche competitors were cherry picking profitable services, hindering the hospital’s ability to provide ones that are necessary but less lucrative. Other services were becoming commodities, and the organization found itself being squeezed by the government, insurance companies, drug makers, and technology providers.

The Memorial team studied successful businesses and the work of consultants, including Jane, and identified innovation as the solution to the organization’s predicament. They wanted to transform their culture so that every associate could express and implement ideas and unleash his or her creativity. Everyone would have to understand the issues and the imperative for change, and they would have to share a common perspective and language. They would all have to be steeped in the culture of innovation.

The team chose Company to implement the NOW! Projects methodology to get everyone in the organization immersed in innovation and aware of the challenges, objectives, and goals. Our consultants first ensured that the leadership team understood and supported the initiative. They met with the leaders to further define and map out a strategy using NOW! Projects. They gave the executives a ‘taste of NOW!’ by holding a pilot NOW! Workshop for the 250 top managers, so that they would understand the process. With guidance from our consultants, Memorial subsequently rolled out NOW! Projects in a big way. One of our consultants trained and certified their employees to lead NOW! Workshops, in which other employees learned to work on NOW! Projects; members of the leadership team sponsored and supported projects. In several week-long concurrent sessions, more than 200 people were immersed in the process.

More than 700 employees have attended this NOW! Wizard School, and they have taken ownership of more than 150 projects. Management says that employees “think differently, move faster, and show more passion.” There are more leaders and more people tackling projects who would not have imagined themselves capable of doing so.

Memorial also became the first hospital to set up an R&D unit and to implement a Board-approved R&D policy. It has improved patient satisfaction scores and reduced employee turnover. It has created strategic alliances with companies like Du Pont, Baxter, Steelcase, and Lands End—alliances that have resulted in donations and exchanges of products and services, access to business skills, and additional revenues. Subsequently, Memorial was selected as a test site for an international safety project, and NOW! Projects was the framework it chose to get everyone focused on that activity.

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