Challenge & Selection    For this assignment, I reflect on healthcare challenges with the coronavirus (COVID 19) using  the Storytelling tool.  After years working as a professional in healthcare my work now focuses  to support clinicians.  The COVID pandemic has caused considerable problems for our  healthcare system including but not limited to shortage of hospital beds, supplies, personal  protective equipment (PPE), and medications.  In the past, I have used Storytelling to motivate  staff and co-workers as special needs arose, e.g., supporting an executive decision, changes in  leadership, or meeting a financial goal.  Many of the stories I used in the past were those of  human interest, historical figures, or events.  These stories helped to encourage change, foster  innovation, and create excitement.  No story however, is so surreal as the current worldwide  COVID 19 pandemic and it’s potentially catastrophic impact to the lives and economy of our  world.

Application     As Andre Martin of Mars mentions in his video, knowing your audience is essential.  In this  case, my audience are fellow clinicians and as such we share a common professional language,  mindset, and emotional concerns.  Everyone is keenly aware of the pandemic (touching much  more than the usual 20%) as information from 24 x 7 news sources constantly repeats the  sequence of events leading to this crisis as well as moment to moment changes in our country.  I leverage this story to create urgency for our team to think creatively to solve the problems we  face to deliver care to patients.  Brainstorming solutions entail using virtual technology, solving  resource shortages such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and medications, and  supporting new facilities that are being created exclusively to cohort COVID 19 patients.     Numerous questions are asked and remain unanswered.  Questions such as mortality of the  virus, social impact (i.e. shaking hands, social distancing, etc.), job loss, work from home,  telemedicine, and the financial impact, cannot completely be answered until the crisis subsides.  We can all agree however that our cultures will be dramatically different in the future.

Insight and Approach      In my years in healthcare, I have never seen people respond to a challenge with so much  enthusiasm and dedication.  Teams discussed process changes to accomodate high patient  volumes and creative staffing solutions, considering especially those with small children or  elderly parents to care for.  It’s apparent this story ​is​ impactful but I’m happy to see we can still  unite for common goals despite our differences.  This story may be somewhat unusual for this  assignment but it’s a real life example of how design thinking tools (Storytelling, Visualization,  etc.) can be valuable to inspire creativity and innovation even during a crisis.  Today, I can't  think of anything I would do differently or think of another story that would have been more  effective.  As we debrief from this crisis in the future, we will innovate and be better prepared to  meet similar issues in the future.


Challenge & Selection For this assignment , I reflect on healthcare challenges with the coronavirus ( COVID 19 ) using the Storytelling tool . After years working as a professional in healthcare my work now focuses to support clinicians . The COVID pandemic has caused considerable problems for our healthcare system including but not limited to shortage of hospital beds , supplies , personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , and medications . In the past , I have used Storytelling to motivate staff and co - workers as special needs arose , e.g. , supporting an executive decision , changes in leadership , or meeting a financial goal . Many of the stories I used in the past were those of human interest , historical figures , or events . These stories helped to encourage change , foster innovation , and create excitement . No story however , is so surreal as the current worldwide COVID 19 pandemic and it ’s potentially catastrophic impact to the lives and economy of our world . Application As Andre Martin of Mars mentions in his video , knowing your audience is essential . In this case , my audience are fellow clinicians and as such we share a common professional language , mindset , and emotional concerns . Everyone is keenly aware of the pandemic ( touching much more than the usual 20 % ) as information from 24 x 7 news sources constantly repeats the sequence of events leading to this crisis as well as moment to moment changes in our country . I leverage this story to create urgency for our team to think creatively to solve the problems we face to deliver care to patients . Brainstorming solutions entail using virtual technology , solving resource shortages such as personal protective equipment ( PPE ) and medications , and supporting new facilities that are being created exclusively to cohort COVID 19 patients . Numerous questions are asked and remain unanswered . Questions such as mortality of the virus , social impact ( i.e. shaking hands , social distancing , etc . ) , job loss , work from home , telemedicine , and the financial impact , can not completely be answered until the crisis subsides . We can all agree however that our cultures will be dramatically different in the future . Insight and Approach In my years in healthcare , I have never seen people respond to a challenge with so much enthusiasm and dedication . Teams discussed process changes to accomodate high patient volumes and creative staffing solutions , considering especially those with small children or elderly parents to care for . It ’s apparent this story ​is​ impactful but I ’m happy to see we can still unite for common goals despite our differences . This story may be somewhat unusual for this assignment but it ’s a real life example of how design thinking tools ( Storytelling , Visualization , etc . ) can be valuable to inspire creativity and innovation even during a crisis . Today , I ca n't think of anything I would do differently or think of another story that would have been more effective . As we debrief from this crisis in the future , we will innovate and be better prepared to meet similar issues in the future .