Professional Publications
Innovation Leader: Pointers Magazine (2023)
“AI and the Age of Decision Factories”
Most organizations are structured around jobs and functions, but the real output of knowledge workers is decisions. Executives, marketers, strategists, product managers, and analysts are all producing decisions about what to build, where to invest, how to sell, and what opportunities to pursue. AI's strategic value will not come from automating current functions and cutting headcount (the new competitive floor, since every competitor has the same tools) but from reallocating white-collar capacity around the concept of "decision factories." Read more »
Innovation Leader: Pointers Magazine (2022) co-authored with George White
“The Stakes For Innovation Portfolio Management Just Got Higher”
The Pandemic drove the acceleration of timelines that may have previously been measured in years, whittling them down to months or weeks. Manufacturers who might have been hesitant to embrace next-generation automation quickly moved to introduce robotics into factory environments. Retailers experimented with all manners of digital channels, like augmented reality, so they could continue to serve customers. Schools and universities moved to online learning almost overnight. As the pandemic is slowly contained, business leaders need to reevaluate their priorities and determine whether they are continuing to balance their innovation portfolios effectively, not because the crisis is ending—because, to some extent, innovation will be the only way to respond to future change and avoid being caught flat-footed. Read more »
Service Design Network: Touchpoint Vol. 9 No. 2 (2017) co-authored with Guy Felder
“Service Design from Discovery to Governance”
All organizations exist in tension between efficiency and innovation. Both are essential for their long-term vitality. And each would consume the other. To deliver the benefits of change, we must manage this tension. Because while efficiency allows organizations to achieve impressive results, it also requires stasis, preventing or slowing responses to disruption. Organizations are in many respects designed to reject the unknown. The challenge, then, is to ensure innovation takes root by crossing into the efficient operation of the organization. Read more »
Healthcare IT Leaders and News: Interview (2016)
“A Follow-Up Conversation with Shaun Gummere”
The prior conversation generated a lot of interest, so we returned to the topic of human-centered design in healthcare. specifically why it’s so difficult to integrate when the benefits are so obvious.
Healthcare IT Leaders and News (2015)
“Healthcare that works: How human-centered design aligns people, processes and technology”
An interview by Healthcare IT Leaders and News where I discussed legally mandated healthcare IT adoption, including patient portals and electronic health records. I critiqued the policy sequencing: technology adoption was measured first as a compliance bar, and patient and provider experience was planned only later through satisfaction scoring. I predicted that the technology-first, experience-second framing would produce poor experiences for patients and providers, and that, over time, those experience failures would translate into harm at the level of care outcomes.
EHR Intelligence (2015)
“Can Human-Centered HIT Design Improve Patient Engagement?”
Patient engagement is a hot topic in the healthcare industry today and the federal government is pushing forward patient-centered care through meaningful use regulations. However, the question remains: how do providers engage their patients more in their physical health? Are basic patient portals enough?