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Dissemination of "Process Thinking"

"Creating Creativity in Patient Flow"

The "dissemination" of "process thinking" throughout a given organization has proven effective in enhancing overall performance improvement efforts. From advancement of creativity to the development and testing of new concepts and ideas, "process thinking" allows an organization to do more and advance further with less effort and time.

Simply put, the more staff and managers "think process," the more likely and willing they are to understand and accept change, look for opportunities, and confidently assist with implementation efforts.

Unfortunately, the more complex the system, the more difficult this kind of thinking becomes. Healthcare has long suffered from a dearth of "process thinking" beyond management and performance improvement staffs. And where dissemination of "process thinking" has been slow or difficult, the wheels of change have typically turned more slowly.

However, Jumbee’s new technology, training, and methodologies now enable placing simple and easy-to-use tools into the hands of staff at all levels of an organization, enabling the true "dissemination" of "process thinking" throughout a hospital. This, in turn, will enable the release of tremendous creativity, improvement advancements, and cooperation towards common goals at all levels of the organization.

"Process Thinking". Most staff do not think of work as process, much less as a complex, interdependent, highly variable process. For example, variability is often seen simply as day to day randomness, without cause or pattern. However, to truly affect an entire system, everyone must begin to realize the critical nature of process in work, and the key drivers that impact it, from variability to interdependencies to resource and systemic constraints. Therefore, though critical to improvement, grasping key improvement concepts and affecting change without tools to adequately and efficiently account for these key drivers can be difficult if not impossible.

By putting systems, tools, and training in place, Jumbee helps your staff and managers help themselves to become more efficient, organized, and effective.

Systems Learning. One important ancillary effect of "process thinking" is "Systems Learning". Knowing how a system will react to external and internal changes can be difficult to ascertain, particularly in the "heat of battle" and in the midst of a constantly changing system. This is why the US and British Militaries regularly uses battlefield simulations and other analytical tools to enable leaders to make better decisions, better analysis, and increase effectiveness.

Similarly via "what if" scenarios and "Serious Play"*, Jumbee’s unique toolsets allows hospital line managers and staff to learn their systems better. External and internal impact factors can include changes to acuity, volume, staffing, and available resources (e.g. staff, beds, and equipment), as well as new or expanded space, ancillary services issues, etc. Through a better understanding of the impacts of these forces, staff and managers can better understand how to best manage their systems "on the fly", thus enabling lower cost, better performance, and higher achievement. Furthermore, managers can foresee the "breaking points" of their systems…that point at which the system begins to break down and new measures must be put into place.

By learning how a system reacts to change, line managers can better manage "on the fly", understand "breaking points" in the systems that require action, thus enabling true proactive management.

Creating creativity. Research* has shows that "prototypes" (whether they be clay models or simulations) help drive the creative process, rather than the other way around. In other words, by offering a venue for creative thought that is free of consequence and risk, "prototypes" offer a way for staff to test ideas and challenge the status quo. This furthers the creative process and allows for the development of unique solutions to problems that might have been seen as insurmountable in the past. By expanding the creative process, and involving staff in the development of solutions, change management is easier to attain and more likely to be successful.

For healthcare performance and quality improvements, this entails the use of process analysis "prototypes" to enable the creative resolution of complex problems. Without these tools, particularly in light of the complexity of the systems to be changed, the creative process in hindered, and thus solutions are derived more slowly, if at all. By bringing the process "prototype" concept to life, one can create a venue in which to test, experiment, and "play", with no risk or fear of failure. This, according the Schrage, will enable all participants in a given organization with the power to drive the creative process, and develop new solutions to old and new problems.

(* For more information on this concept, read Serious Play, Michael Schrage, Harvard Press, 2000. Available at bn.com)