It doesn’t work for new ideas to always be produced in a healthcare organization (or any organization) by a sole inventor. The idea may be implemented if this sole inventor has power (as head of the organization or as someone with strong relational power), but it is unlikely to last long or to be wholeheartedly implemented by those who were witnesses to the creative process but not a partner in this process. The competencies identified by McKenna and Pugno provide guidance regarding ways to build commitment.
There is an additional factor that McKenna and Pugno bring to the consideration of innovation and collaboration. This factor is cohesion. This list is heavily saturated with appreciation (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005; Bergquist, 2003; Bergquist and Mura, 2011) We build cohesion by acknowledging the valuable contributions made by other people (e.g. thank others and acknowledge their contributions) and by building on a foundation of widely shared values (e.g. identify common ground and shared values).
It is important to keep in mind that creativity is not always engaged in a comfortable or comforting manner. One of McKenna and Pugno (2006, p. 155) physician leaders put it this way: “some doctors think they’re the smartest person in the world. Good leaders realize they’re not smart enough to know everything. They seek insight from others.” This physician (Monte Anderson, MD, Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, May Clinical Scottsdale) comes from a highly prestigious healthcare system, so it is probably easy to find knowledgeable colleagues with whom to collaborate.
The challenge is to discover and appreciate the strengths (knowledge, skills, diverse perspectives) to be found among medical colleagues in a less prestigious and often resource-thin setting. Mark Belfer, DO, FAAFP (Family Physician, Residency Director, Akron General Medical Center/NEOUCOM), who is another of McKenna and Pugno’s (2006, p. 180) physician leaders, offers a very positive (even poetic) perspective regarding the “glowing” impact of this appreciative perspective:
Leadership involves surrounding yourself with individuals smarter than you and after observing them, putting them into positions where their talents will shine . . . when they all shine together, the whole organization will take on a tremendous glow.
There is one other cautionary note to be made regarding collaboration and innovation. When members of an organization are being “creative” they are often suggesting that changes must be made regarding ways in which their organization is structured or operated. Creativity “stirs the pot” and often produces fractures in the organization. Some support the new, creative idea, and some will oppose it. Given this potential for schisms in an organization, the emphasis placed by McKenna and Pugno on cohesion is critical if an organization is to successfully innovate.
For instance, those resistant to the change might be given a seat (and voice) at the table, for they offer important cautionary insights. Furthermore, these “recalcitrant” members of the organization are often those who offered innovative ideas and championed change at an earlier point in their career. Their own efforts failed, and they now face the troubling prospect of someone else now succeeding. They can be “won over” if the insights they gained from their earlier failure can be incorporated in the strategies used to successfully engage the new perspective, practice, or program (Weitz and Bergquist, 2024).
