Julie Williamson: Focus on 'edge of disruption,' the intersection of innovation and core strengths

Julie Williamson, PhD., advising HFMA attendees to find their own "edge of disruption".

LAS VEGAS--Julie Williamson, PhD, kicked off HFMA ANI 2016 Sunday night urging those in healthcare to find that sweet spot where they are actively embracing their organization's core competencies but at the same time incorporating what is changing the market, and the world, around them.

"I believe when you find your own edge of disruption you can truly thrive there."

But before she told ANI 2016 attendees how to find that edge, she explained three everyday business challenges that can form a wall, keeping healthcare organizations from getting there.

First, Williamson said competing priorities from different departments can sap energy and obstruct goals. Even if all departments are striving toward an overall common goal, if they are each incentivised based on different individual objectives the departments can find themselves at odds, and the overall goal will remain elusive.

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Second, she described the negative impact assumptions can have. Making generalizations about your organization's abilities, versatility or reach can stifle disruption and keep your organization mired in its everyday tasks and core competencies.

Finally, a third negative force that hinders disruption is working out of habit and not intention. That is, at work we fall into habits: answer questions in same way; respond to customers or patients in the same way as always etc. This static state of operations blocks innovation and limits growth.

"It kills the ability to see other ways of doing things," Williamson said.

Williamson used the fall of Blockbuster an example. For years the company had thrived, hinging their business model on the "in-store" experience of coming in, pacing the aisles and eventually selecting a movie or two, and perhaps on the way to the register, some movie snacks. They felt this experience was the bedrock of their success, and though the company was growing its footprint, it wasn't growing it's repertoire of services.

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She then went on to describe the fateful blockbuster experience of the then-unknown Reed Hastings, who one day returned several late dvd's to Blockbuster and got socked with $40 in late fees. The dissatisfied customer saw the opportunity for a different model, and seriously disrupted the industry when he went on to found Netflix, which started out renting dvd's to customers via mail for as long as they wanted to keep them. The company's model has expanded by leaps and bounds since then, continually disrupting the industry with streaming and of course original content.

Blockbuster caught up in the three wall-forming behaviors, Williamson explained, and in the end it spelled their demise. The company was eventually liquidated.

It's a tale that describes healthcare organizations as well. Some stay too far in their core competencies. They get too comfortable there. Other companies stay too far to the right, and deep in disruption, Williamson said.

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"How do you become a company like netflix not blockbuster," Williamson asked the attendees Sunday night. "By finding the intersection of what you do best and what's happening around you. That intersection is where you can grow value."

Williamson said 3 behaviors are most important in healthcare when it comes to finding your organization's "edge of disruption".

The first she described as seeing the whole board. That is "the ability to pick your head up and look around and know what's going on more globally."

"Those are the sorts of problems that are so critical for companies to try to embrace. Not just the ones that are in their tunnel, not just the ones that are right in front of them but what's impacting the broader market, the value chain. What's impacting your suppliers, your distributors your customers across the board?", Williamson said.

The second is a genuine desire to co-create solutions, an area where she said healthcare is out in front in terms of need.

She cited the paper company Domtar as an example, who back in 2006 were very publicly protested by an ENGO at one of their biggest mills in Canada. 

"They had a decision to make then and there. They could do what the industry had historically done which was call police, have the protesters removed, spin up the marketing machine and deal with the crisis in that way. Instead the leadership at domtar in 2006 made a different decision. They decided it was time to create that sustainable future. They invited the people that were mad at them and brought them to the table to co-create a solution."

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She reminded her audience that Domtar today is the creator of earthchoice paper- the only paper product of its kind certified by multiple internationally recognized third-party organizations. to be sustainably produced.

That never would have happened if they had not opened up their doors not only to ENGO's but to some of their competitors, their suppliers and their distributors like Best Buy and Office Max that had to be brought on to be convinced that they could sell such a product, Williamson explained.

"Co-creation is something you already know how to do in healthcare. It's a matter of making it a discipline," Williamson said.

Finally, Williamson urged her audience to simply choose optimism. In daily operations, to brainstorming sessions about bigger issues,  there are opportunities where staff and leadership can ask questions differently, making them more positive than negative. Instead of asking how to beat your competitor, ask how your organization can do better.

"If you're not fundamentally optimistic about what you're doing, it becomes difficult to get people to come and co-create with you. Ask the optimistic question, not the pessimistic one."

Twitter: @BethJSanborn