Innovation Catalyst Program
November 2016
Innovation Catalyst Program
I. INNOVATION CATALYSTS TRANSFORM THE SYSTEM—FROM WITHIN
II. INNOVATION CATALYSTS BUILD THE CAPABILITIES TO WORK DIFFERENTLY
III. APPLY TO BE AN INNOVATION CATALYST AT YOUR ORGANIZATION
IMPORTANT DATES
Informational Webinar:
November 17, 2016, 12 PM
Application Deadline:
December 6, 2016, 5 PM
Eligibility: page 6
Application: page 8-9
Applicant follow-up calls
(if need be):
December 15 to 21, 2016
Cohort Announcement:
Friday, January 13, 2017
Program Kick-Off Call
Monday, January 23, 2017
12 PM – 1:30 PM
Training #1 (1.5 Days)
February 7-8, 2017, Bay Area
Feb 7: 9 am – 4 pm
Feb 8: 9 am – 1 pm
Training #2 (1 or 1.5 Days)
April 11-12, 2017, location TBD
Training #3 (1 or 1.5 Days)
June 27-28, 2017 location TBD
Core Program End Date:
June 30, 2017
Contact
Laura Blumenthal
Program Manager, Innovation
(415) 233-7382
[email protected]
INNOVATION CATALYSTS TRANSFORM THE SYSTEM—
FROM WITHIN
What is an Innovation Catalyst?
Innovation Catalysts join a growing community of healthcare innovators who apply
human-centered innovation and design skills to spark change efforts within their
organizations. Catalysts develop the mindsets and skills to lead and participate in
collaborative activities, requiring new approaches with new methods to solve
challenges of all sizes and scopes. They combine creative and analytic methods to help
push projects beyond conventional thinking and incremental change to transformative
possibilities.
Over the course of the program, Catalysts work on a project that deeply explores a
challenge within their organization. In addition to trainings, Catalysts access and
leverage the expertise of coaches, alumni and subject matter experts to gain insights,
apply methods, and seek out advice and inspiration through virtual learning exchanges
and an online community at www.wearecatalysts.org.
Since the human-centered innovation methodology is new to most health care
organizations and requires a different way of working, two to three Innovation Catalysts
will be selected from each organization to maximize support and impact on the
organization. We believe that Catalysts will be more successful if they work as a team
to co-lead innovation activities and help apply these skills throughout their
organizations. Catalysts are supported by their direct managers and organizational
leaders to apply these skills to a critical and strategic opportunity area within their
organization, and are provided with the latitude to take risks and the needed staff time
to facilitate change.
With funding from Blue Shield of California Foundation, the Center for Care
Innovations (CCI) launches its fourth cohort of the Innovation Catalyst Program. The
program was initially developed in partnership with gravitytank, an innovation and
design firm, and the Innovation Consultancy at Kaiser Permanente. Building on the
experience and successes of the program’s first three years, CCI is growing a network
of trained innovators in the safety net who can lead strategic efforts to transform care.
As skilled innovation champions, Catalysts will be a key resource to help other safety
net organizations apply human-centered innovation and design skills, and discover
new ways to advance their work.
The Innovation Catalyst model is based on a program developed by Intuit in 2009.
Intuit recognized that innovative ideas could be generated throughout a company if
the frontline staff were empowered to develop their own suggestions. The Catalyst
program helped train over 200 design thinking coaches – “Innovation Catalysts” –
across Intuit to help managers and teams work on innovation initiatives. For more
information, see Harvard Business Review article, The Innovation Catalysts, June 2011
http://bit.ly/15B6fP0.
For a general program overview, please visit our website:
www.careinnovations.org/programs-grants/catalyst
Innovation Catalyst Program Application – November 2016
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Why become an Innovation Catalyst?
Market forces are accelerating change in our healthcare system at a magnitude felt by all of us. With shifts
in payment and changes following the Affordable Care Act, we are all seeking to build systems of care that
add value for patients and respond better to their needs. This includes not only improving current systems
of care but also looking upstream to start addressing the social determinants of health. Organizations
must continue to adapt to meet new challenges in caring for vulnerable populations, and seize
opportunities to transform care.
The Innovation Catalyst program supports leaders who want to go deeper to build human-centered
innovation and design skills, and apply them to initiatives in their own organizations. The Innovation
Catalyst program builds a foundational skill set and approach for organizations interested in truly
transforming their care models and culture to develop and spread innovative solutions. The capabilities
developed in the Innovation Catalyst program also provide a powerful complement to expertise in quality
improvement, LEAN/SixSigma, adaptive leadership, and change management.
What is the program objective?
The 2017 Innovation Catalyst Program includes two components that will support the development and
testing of innovative concepts that transform the health care safety net. First, CCI will expand our network
of trained innovators who can apply innovation and design methods to projects across their organization
and help the safety net as a system to start thinking and working in different ways.
We also aim to support fresh and compelling ideas developed within the new Catalyst cohort that have
the potential to create new value within the care delivery system. Catalysts are required to identify an
“opportunity area” (see page 7 for details) to work on when they apply for the program. By the end of the
five-month core program, teams are expected to apply their learning to both meet the program milestones
and develop a “tested solution” that the teams will pitch to their organization sponsors and other health
system leadership via an in-person showcase in late June.
What is the “tested solution” we expect teams to deliver?
In addition to Catalysts acquiring new mindsets and methods, we expect all teams to develop a tested
solution by the end of the core program in late June. The program’s human-centered innovation
curriculum and coaching supports teams in achieving this result. Below is what we mean by a tested
solution:
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•
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•
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Your team generated a range of ideas—not variations on a single idea—that map back to your
unmet needs and opportunity area.
Your team translated those ideas into potential solutions that were prototyped, experimented
with, and tested by a range of end users in their real environment.
Based on what you learned from end users, you narrowed down the potential solutions to a final
solution, or solution set, that will add new value for end users and/or other stakeholders.
Your team then iteratively prototyped and tested variations of the solution, and defined and
tracked the solution’s early impact to assess which iteration yielded the best experience or result.
For example, a health center testing a new role iteratively prototyped what the role should be
called (waiting room “concierge” versus “host”) and what the role responsibilities were.
Based on the preliminary impact of your solution, your team documented, synthesized and drew
conclusions on how to refine it. You then used these learnings to determine whether the tested
solution should be piloted in your organization. In some cases, you might recommend that your
organization not pursue the tested solution based on your findings—this is also a mindset and
skill that Catalysts practice.
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Teams are not expected to draft processes and protocols for running a pilot by the end of the five-month
core program. Teams interested in taking their projects to the pilot and implementation phase may
choose to apply for additional funding in June as an extended program offering.
What resources are provided?
Up to 14 Innovation Catalyst teams of two or three individuals per organization will develop mindsets and
apply methods in human-centered innovation over five months via in-depth training, ongoing coaching,
and a virtual learning community. Key resources include:
• Training: Catalysts will participate in three, in-person trainings in February, April and June,
during which they will be brought through the program curriculum and actively practice
human-centered innovation methods and mindsets. The June convening provides a venue for
Catalysts to showcase their work to their organization sponsors.
• Coaching: Teams will have access to hands-on coaching support from a practitioner of humancentered innovation for up to four hours per month. Through onsite and remote support,
coaches help teams model and reinforce the methods and mindsets they learn in trainings.
• Learning Community: Teams can communicate with each other and the broader Innovation
Catalyst network of 100+ alumni through the www.wearecatalysts.org portal. Catalysts can also
participate in periodic virtual learning sessions.
• Financial: Because we want to attract multidisciplinary teams that can commit to attending
three in-person convenings and take advantage of the coaching resource on a monthly basis,
each organization receives a $15,000 grant to offset staff time, travel, and other costs related
to program participation.
At the completion of the five-month core program, Catalyst teams will be eligible to apply for an additional
grant of up to $10,000 to plan and pilot their solution, with the hope of implementing it within their
organization. If a team is selected, the extended program will take place over the course of four months
(July-October 2017), during which teams will receive additional programmatic support.
INNOVATION CATALYSTS BUILD THE CAPABILITIES TO WORK
DIFFERENTLY
What skills does an Innovation Catalyst learn?
The human-centered innovation methodology, behaviors, and mindsets Catalysts learn equip them to
make an impact within their own organizations. Integrated throughout the curriculum is the behavior of
“co-design,” wherein patients, frontline clinical and ancillary staff, and other stakeholders actively
participate as longitudinal partners in the work the Catalyst team leads. Co-design is a core tenant of our
innovation methodology and will be reinforced throughout the program.
The Innovation Catalyst curriculum is built on six principles of working differently: (1) See & Experience,
(2) Dimension & Diagram, (3) Question & Reframe, (4) Imagine & Model, (5) Test & Shape, (6) Pitch &
Commit.
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What mindsets & behaviors does an Innovation Catalyst practice?
Innovation Catalysts learn to practice a different way of thinking, behaving and working that fosters
expansive thinking, optimism, collaboration with new stakeholders, and a safe environment for risktaking.
Right-sizing for success
• Developing clarity of purpose that can inspire people.
• Breaking the problem down into testable traits (form factor, info relayed, emotional experience,
time needed, etc.).
• Creating ways to learn by trying traits in bite-sized, rapid ways.
• Letting go of ideas or solutions that just don't work and moving on to the next thing to test.
Re-centering the work
• Creating ways to learn "in the wild," versus in a conference room in a meeting.
• Finding and sharing the voice of all end users to compel change.
• Using "scaffolding" of partially developed ideas to collaborate with teams (as opposed to making
assumptions and talking past one another).
Engaging others around us
• Identifying approaches to engage sponsors and create empowerment through trust.
• Utilizing physical space to visually share working approach and project work with others.
• Creating emotional and physical environments for teams that are fun and social.
• Creating environments that bring out the whole person on teams, not just interactions based on
skills, roles or functions.
Embracing the unfinished
• Being skilled at providing and receiving critique on ideas.
• Being comfortable showing "unpolished" ideas to managers and peers for real-time input.
• Creating ways to share "unpolished" ideas with users/stakeholders to gather feedback.
How does an Innovation Catalyst build these mindsets, behaviors
and methods?
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The Innovation Catalyst program is curriculum based. The core program offers a sequence of touch points
through which Catalysts actively learn and hone their ability to apply the human-centered innovation
methodology to their work. There are three in-person sessions which bring together the whole cohort.
These capability-building sessions cover content that is critical to achieving the program milestones. In
addition to structured training sessions, teams have ongoing access to coaching resources from
practitioners of human-centered innovation (in the safety net and the commercial sector). CCI offers
virtual learning and community-building activities to serve as a bridge between in-person meetings and
keep the cohort connected.
Program milestones
Given the rapid pace of the program, we’ve learned that providing structure to the program will ensure
the teams stay on track and achieve their milestones. Catalysts will learn through intervals of in-depth
training bolstered by coaching to reinforce and apply new methods at their sites.
Milestone 1: Introduce the context, purpose and process for partnering with end users (patients, frontline
providers and staff, and other stakeholders) throughout the Catalyst work. Identify and spend time with
your end users to build empathy; hear their perspectives; and understand their needs, wants, ideas and
values using observation, shadowing, humble inquiry and journey mapping. Sort and analyze the
information you gather, and synthesize your learnings into user insights that will inform how you frame
and refine your opportunity area from the end user’s perspective. Prepare for co-design activities (i.e.
sampling frame, recruitment, consent, etiquette, compensation) and invite a small sample of end users
to be partners in your work going forward.
Milestone 2: Plan and conduct co-design sessions, inviting your selected partners to participate in the
idea generation process regarding how to approach the opportunity area you have been refining. Generate
many ideas together and collectively prioritize which ones you will prototype and test. Develop low-fidelity
prototypes for the ideas you will test; track their value, success and failures with input from end users.
Milestone 3: Through iterative prototyping, testing, and rapid experiments, increase the fidelity of your
prototypes over time. Use this process to determine and define which tested solutions you recommend.
Package your tested solution and using storytelling methods to describe and define your team’s solution,
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and pitch your recommendation to your peer Catalysts, team sponsors, and other leaders and
organizations.
Sponsor commitment is key to an Innovation Catalysts’ success
We’ve learned that for Catalysts to be successful at applying and driving innovation in their organizations,
they need sustained commitment and support from their direct supervisors and an alignment with
organizational priorities. An essential benefit of the program is for sponsors to leverage Catalysts to lead
strategic projects and bring new thinking into solving critical challenges. In addition, sponsors will engage
in periodic check-ins with their Catalysts and coaches to provide additional support and guidance to
ensure Catalysts have opportunities to apply their skills to strategic projects, and start building a culture
of innovation within their organization.
APPLY TO BE AN INNOVATION CATALYST AT YOUR ORGANIZATION
Who is eligible to apply?
Teams of two to three individuals from clinic corporations, ambulatory care clinics at public hospitals,
and other California-based nonprofit health centers that provide comprehensive primary care services to
underserved populations are eligible to apply. Regional clinic consortia are also eligible to apply.
Organizations must be nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Service Code (IRC) or a governmental, tribal, or public entity. Examples of eligible organizations that
comprise the safety net include:
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Free-standing community clinics and health centers
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Ambulatory care clinics which are part of public hospital systems either located in the public
hospital or out in the community
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Primary care health centers (including those sponsored by Public Health departments)
•
American Indian Health Centers
•
Regional clinic consortia
What if I do not meet the eligibility requirements?
We have a limited number of slots available on a fee schedule for organizations not employed by a safety
net organization in California. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in learning
more about this option.
What makes a strong Innovation Catalyst team?
We are looking for safety net organizations to nominate leaders and passionate “do-ers” to apply as teams
of two to three team members to the Innovation Catalyst program. These individuals should be
recommended by their manager or senior leader and identified as individuals who are positioned to drive
change within their organization. They must be able to dedicate approximately 15-20% of their time to
Catalyst activities over five months. This time commitment includes attending training, working with your
team coach, and advancing the work outlined by the program milestones. Importantly, Catalysts must
have direct support from their manager and sponsor to apply the human-centered innovation approach
to organizational priority areas. We very much welcome cross-disciplinary teams.
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Ideal candidates will be passionate, interested in human-centered innovation and design, and have a
predisposition toward action. They should want to not only develop their own design and leadership skills,
but also to help others improve their work using a human-centered innovation methodology. Catalysts
will have strong people skills and outgoing personalities. They will be inquisitive, resourceful and not
afraid to ask hard questions. They will be willing to “agitate” the system to make positive change.
What makes an innovative “opportunity area”?
As part of the Innovation Catalyst application process, your team will be asked to propose an opportunity
area to focus your work on throughout the program duration.
What IS an innovative opportunity area?
Before innovators identify, prototype, and test solutions, they need to know whether the problem they are
trying to solve is it the right one. An opportunity area is a defined challenge (real or perceived) or issue of
strategic interest to your organization. It may be an emerging, thorny, complex issue; or a recurring,
fundamental one that has yet to be resolved. If an opportunity area is truly innovative, it will require more
than an improvement or a tweak to respond to it.
For the Innovation Catalyst program, your opportunity area will be framed as an experience, practice,
process or role, through which your team aims to create new value for patients, frontline staff or other
stakeholders. Your team will be coached throughout the program to reflect on and refine the opportunity
area you are working on. We ask that you work closely with your sponsor and leadership to ensure the
problem you are working on is strategically relevant to your organization and is reasonably scoped for the
program.
What ISN’T an innovative opportunity area?
An opportunity area is NOT an idea or a solution that you hope to test to resolve a problem your
organization is grappling with. You will instead generate many concepts to prototype and test, and apply
what you learn to select your strongest solution during the program.
What makes for an innovative opportunity area?
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Aligned with organization’s strategic priorities: Area is connected to an existing strategic
initiative and important to the organization.
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Unresolved/Unsolved: Solution set is open—the organization has not already decided to pursue a
certain solution or approach to address the opportunity.
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Enthusiastic sponsor: Sponsor and/or leadership is on board and excited by the prospect of
applying a different approach to address the opportunity.
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Committed resources: Team of program applicants has protected time confirmed by the team
sponsor to dedicate to working on the opportunity.
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Access to patients, frontline staff, other stakeholders: Team has ability to partner and co-design
with patients, frontline care teams, and other partners.
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Small to medium in scope: Since the program is only five months long, we do not expect an endto-end delivery model innovation. Instead we encourage you to consider tackling an element of a care
delivery model or experience.
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How does a team apply?
Step 1 | Attend an informational webinar (optional)
Interested applicants are encouraged to participate in a webinar on Thursday, November 17, 2016 from
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM.
Please register here in advance to receive dial-in and webpage information:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/70ec571da9c88584dc2040ba88984b7b
Step 2 | Apply online
Applications must be submitted online by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, December 6, 2016.
https://www.tfaforms.com/450054
Applications should include the following:
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Each individual must include separate responses to the application questions
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A resume for each individual applicant
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A letter of support from the team sponsor (organizational leader)
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Budget form for the total $15,000 grant that includes projections for travel expenses for all
Catalyst teammates to attend three in-person convenings – download template here:
http://www.careinnovations.org/uploads/2017_Innovation_Catalyst_Budget_Form.xlsx
Step 3 | Hold these dates on your calendar
Informational Webinar:
November 17, 12 PM – register here
Application Deadline:
December 6, 5 PM
Training #1 (1.5 Days)
February 7-8, 2017, Bay Area
Feb 7: 9 AM – 4 PM
Feb 8: 9 AM – 1 PM
Applicant follow-up calls (if need be):
December 15 to 21
Training #2 (1 or 1.5 Days)
April 11-12, 2017, location TBD
Innovation Catalyst cohort announced:
January 13, 2017
Training #3 (1 or 1.5 Days)
June 27-28, 2017 location TBD
Program Kick-Off Call:
January 23, 2017, 12 PM – 1:30 PM
Core Program End Date:
June 30, 2017
Application Questions
Each individual who applies for the Catalyst program must answer the following questions in four pages
or less, using at least 11-point non-narrow font.
1.
Why are you interested in the Innovation Catalyst Program? Please describe what humancentered innovation means to you.
2.
Please share what experience or familiarity you have with human-centered innovation or design.
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3.
What do you hope to gain from this program? How do you hope it will strengthen your
role/value in your organization?
4.
In what ways have you facilitated or supported others in your organization to build new skills or
succeed in their work? Please provide specific examples of how you have inspired new ways of
“thinking and doing” in your organization.
5.
Opportunity area: Please describe the opportunity area you intend to work on during the
Innovation Catalyst program. Why do you want to work on it? Who are the stakeholders
involved and the key end users impacted by the opportunity area? How does it align with your
organization’s strategic priorities? Who is the sponsor that will sponsor you? See page 7 on
“What makes an innovative opportunity area?” for guidance.
6.
Team roles: What role do you expect to play on the team, in relation to your teammates and
end-user partners (i.e. patients, frontline staff, other stakeholders)? How might you manage the
program if you were to lose a team member?
Sponsor Letter of Support
The letter of support from an organizational leader should include all applicants, and must specify why
the individuals were selected and how they are positioned to succeed in this role. Specifically, the letter
should address the following:
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Acknowledgement and understanding that the Innovation Catalyst program is rooted in
human-centered innovation methodology, mindsets, and methods that are different from, but
complementary to, improvement methodologies practiced more commonly in the healthcare
industry.
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Clear articulation of the opportunity area that the team has identified to work on during the
program. Describe the importance of opportunity area to your organization and how you expect
to leverage the expertise the Innovation Catalysts will acquire.
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How you, as the supervisor or sponsor, will support the development and growth of the
Catalysts to practice and apply human-centered innovation mindsets and methods as part of
their day-to-day role and organizational contribution. For example: protecting team’s time to
lead a project, facilitate discussions/meetings, practice skills; incorporating team members into
the organization’s innovation activities; troubleshooting team barriers; connecting team to key
influencers in the organization, etc.
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Each applicant’s ability to lead change, appetite for innovation and new ideas, and how they are
received within the organization.
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Sponsor’s acknowledgement and commitment to have relevant leadership attend the solution
showcase for an afternoon in late June (June 27 or June 28).
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A joint effort of
Center for Care Innovations (CCI) partners with health care safety net providers to help
them transform care for underserved populations. CCI is a vital source of ideas, best
practices and funding to support the adoption and spread of innovations to improve
health, reduce costs and improve the patient experience of care. By bringing people and
resources together, we accelerate innovations for healthy people and healthy
communities.
www.careinnovations.org
Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) is committed to making health care
effective, safe and accessible for all Californians, particularly underserved people, and
to ending domestic violence. BSCF believes safety and access to health care are
fundamental rights of everyone and that ensuring Californian’s health and safety
requires the involvement of individuals, employers and government agencies.
www.blueshieldcafoundation.org
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