The baffling failure of organisations to look outside the narrow confines of their own sector, or their current portfolio of products and services, or their specific business units inhibits their ability to innovate successfully

1. CONTEXT CONSULTING - BLOG 1 (05/06/2013)
INNOVATION: THE VALUE OF STEALING WITH PRIDE
Context have recently been working with a Scandinavian IT company who are
leaders in the provision of ‘Integrated Healthcare Solutions’.
The project was an interesting one for a variety of reasons. Most of these
were good and a couple - such as meeting rooms with en suite saunas - were
rather surprising. However, one in particular caused me to pummel my head
in exasperation.
To be absolutely upfront, this exasperation was not the fault of the client or
any other Scandinavian, but the realisation that, however dysfunctional one
already thinks that the UK’s Health and Social Care systems are, they can still
disappoint further.
Though differing on many fronts, the Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes
have all embraced a concept called ‘Nordic Well-Being’ where they believe
that health and social care outcomes are interdependent and that social care
factors influence the total care experience.
Whilst not entirely groundbreaking – most professionals involved in the UK’s
Health and Social Care sectors will tell you that they believe in this idea too –
the Scandinavian countries actually manage to deliver a joined up system and
have done so for decades.
Underpinning their success are IT platforms that cover both health and social
care that take advantage of local know-how and provide a local service
presence. The third generation of these systems is just now hitting the market
with even more joined up, usable and sophisticated functionality.
These same systems are also being adopted by other European countries
such as Germany and Spain. Fundamentally, they enable improved efficiency
through better coordination of care and better communication between the
patient and all health and social care providers. The right information gets to
the right place and the right time for the best possible care.
This description may cause you to think back to 2011 when the UK
government took the decision to scrap a £12bn NHS IT project that was being
built from the ground up to provide much the same functionality – albeit on a
larger scale. Even amongst a depressing litany of failed public sector IT
projects, this one was a biggie.
Why does the UK insist on building bespoke solutions to problems that have
already been solved either in other countries or other sectors? It really does
seem that we have an extraordinarily bad case of ‘Not Invented Here.’ I
wonder if Finns or Swedes have a cure?

2. This finally brings me to the subject of innovation, or rather its failure. The
reasons why innovation falls over are legion and I’m absolutely not going to
attempt to cover them all here. However, the unwillingness of organisations to
look outside the narrow confines of their own sector, or their current portfolio
of products and services, or even worse, their specific business units, is
baffling.
Perhaps it’s because we’re brought up to believe that theft is bad? Well, I
propose that we should all do a little more stealing and be proud of it too. I’m
not saying that we should ramp up our industrial espionage activities to Red
Army levels (allegedly!) or become embroiled in Apple vs. Samsung type
disputes but I am saying that we should all spend rather more time looking
outwards to see who might have faced our problems before, or how existing
solutions might be repurposed.
Some organisations are fantastic at this. Famously, Apple drew its inspiration
for the Mouse and Graphic User Interface (GUI) directly from Xerox and the
Seattle Coffee Company saw what Starbucks were doing in the US and lifted
it wholesale to the UK. Other organisations are superb at disseminating
innovations internally within their wider business; 3M built an empire by doing
just this. Why reinvent the wheel when it’s sitting there in front of you?
Returning to our Nordic neighbours and ‘Integrated Healthcare Solutions’, it is
at this point I must reveal my own, not entirely guilt-free hand. Over the last
couple of years I have been heavily involved in the acquisition and merger of
the UK’s two largest providers of Social Care. Between them they are
responsible for delivering forty million hours of care per year to people in their
own homes.
Each company was wrestling with a different but equally two-bit operating
system and each was getting the run around from the couple of very poor UK
IT vendors that dominate and control the domestic market. At no point did
anyone think – myself shamefully included – to look beyond our shores.
It was only when working with our Scandinavian client that I realised the
poverty of our decision making and was reminded that it’s all too easy to
believe that you’re the first organisation ever to have been confronted with a
specific situation.
So, go out and break the eighth commandment (or seventh if you’re an
Augustine or Lutheran) and do it with pride!
Huw Watkins
huw@context-consulting.co.uk
huw@katalysate.com