4 ways leaders of mature companies can keep it visionary

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The Founder’s Mindset

<p>When a visionary founder of an organization moves on, it can inevitably cause trepidation for those left behind. Recently, a frog client shared an anxiety that many mature companies face in the wake of their founder’s departure. They are an extraordinarily successful multi-billion-dollar company that has enjoyed years of profitable growth. However, there have recently been opportunities in their market—big opportunities—that they missed, and they can’t afford to miss more.</p>
<p>Successful founders often leave to the organizations that survive them a strong and vital cultural legacy. As organizations mature, so do cultures. The “we have nothing to lose” thrill of innovation and Goliath-slaying disruption is eventually supplanted by a “we have everything to lose” mentality as a growing number of investors and stakeholders leads to an increased demand for stability and steady returns.</p>
<p>The incentives for consistently delivering on returns are strong—so strong that it creates its own mindset that, by definition, approaches the world differently from others. We can call this mindset the “operator’s mindset.” In this particular client’s case, their competition are startups who clearly saw how much opportunity our client was leaving on the table. As a result, our client has not only failed to capture value in emerging market opportunities, but they have also disappointed the very investors they aimed to please in the first place, who have reassessed the value of their holdings considering where they see the growth potential.</p>
<p>Yesterday’s missed opportunities become fertile ground for today’s crises of confidence. These crises in turn bring about necessary questions:</p>
<p><em>Are these missed opportunities the beginning of a larger trend?</em></p>
<p><em>Have we lost our magic touch?</em></p>
<p>And most importantly: <em>What should we do differently so we do not miss the next one?</em></p>
<p>This anxiety is common. Reminiscing on their own scrappy origins, our client has come to realize that their maturity—and more specifically, the supplanting of the founder’s mindset in favor of the operator’s mindset—is the root cause of their concerns.</p>


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<h4>What is the founder’s mindset?</h4>
<p>At frog, we have worked with founders since our own founding over fifty years ago. Most famously, we have worked with Sony founder Akio Morita and Apple founder Steve Jobs, among dozens of other visionaries. Founders had become such a large customer segment for us that we created our own <a href="https://www.frog.co/services/venture-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Venture Design</a> practice with an approach, process and revenue model tailored to the needs of founders.</p>
<p>Understanding this customer segment has been essential to the growth of our Venture Design practice. It has been essential to the growth of our business as we help mature organizations of all kinds <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/the-key-to-innovation-challenging-the-status-quo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">challenge the status quo</a> by recapturing and rekindling the founder’s mindset—as they seek to thrive beyond the exit of their founder.</p>
<p>Through the years, we have observed in successful founders four key attributes that define the founder’s mindset.</p>
<p>They unpack into a complex set of skills and capabilities that collectively help them succeed where many have failed.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Vision: The ability to see opportunity where others cannot and to envision a future where opportunity becomes reality in the form of a new product or service</li>
<li>Storytelling: The ability to clearly articulate and communicate the vision and build belief among people so they invest themselves (either through capital or as employees) in the effort</li>
<li>Resilience: The ability to relentlessly pursue the realization of their vision in the face of obstacles and setbacks</li>
<li>Judgment: The ability to know one’s strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to listen to and take advantage of objective feedback</li>
</ul>
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<h4>How can I embrace the founder’s mindset?</h4>
<p>We have seen organizations address the loss of the founder&#8217;s mindset, and the need to balance it with the operator’s mindset, by creating a special team, such as a <a href="https://go.frog.co/en/accelerate-organizational-impact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center of Excellence (CoE)</a>. A CoE operates quasi-independently of the core business and represents the founder’s mindset within the organization. Some organizations have seen success with this approach, but many have found it exceedingly difficult to see the future and incubate the next big thing beyond the core this way.</p>
<p>There are many reasons for this. However, one of the consistent themes we have observed in these scenarios is that the primary mechanism of change becomes negotiation between the core business and the teams, CoEs and initiatives looking beyond the horizon. Negotiation is an activity that compromises the needs of both parties, requires time most businesses just do not have and disrupts team harmony and corporate unity.</p>


Of course, good and bad tensions exist. We believe a better way to balance these tensions is to empower all leaders with both the operator and founder mindset. This type of organizational transformation isn’t easy. And it doesn’t happen overnight. But, there are specific habits and practices that are simple to grasp and apply straight away. We have outlined four such practices that we believe offer a good place to start.

<p>If you have studied innovation or improv, you’ll have heard of the <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/design-mind-frogcast-ep-17-the-magic-of-storytelling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">power of “yes, and&#8230;” thinking</a>. Unfortunately, today, operational excellence often looks like finding ways to say “no, but&#8230;” to ideas that are unproven or unfamiliar. Introducing “yes, and&#8230;” when discussing a new idea not only increases positive energy in a team environment, it encourages others to build on the idea, adding diversity of thought and shared ownership.</p>


Say “Yes, and...”

<p>We are all guilty of believing we know our customer. But our knowledge of our customers is inherently biased because we seek our understanding of them through the lens of our business motivations. So, the next time you are in a discussion about who your customer is or what they want, ask yourself: am I as certain as I can be about this, or should I get some feedback from a real customer? Your customer might be a peer in your department, your admin or the teammate who uses the spreadsheet. <a href="https://www.frog.co/services/customer-experience-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seek customer input early and often</a>—and use that input to inform your perspective.</p>


Ask “What don’t I know about my customer?”

<p>Sometimes a conversation with a few customers is enough to get quality insight. But more often when you have an idea about something novel, you need to prototype the idea so people have a better understanding of what it is and can provide you with meaningful feedback. Experiments can be <a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/hacking-innovation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">small in scale</a> and, if possible, designed to learn one thing at a time. How much should it cost? Run an experiment. What should it weigh? Run an experiment. Should it be round or square? Blue or red? Narrow or wide? You get the point: Keep testing until you see results.</p>


Make to learn.

<p>Remember in “The Karate Kid” when Daniel is practicing his “wax on, wax off” drills? Mr. Miyagi had him repeat the benign motion of waxing the car so that his muscle memory would kick in when the time came for the real fight against Cobra Kai. The same principle applies here. Practice a founder’s mindset when creating a spreadsheet, stocking the kitchen shelves, when making slideware, in business review meetings. If you “save” these behaviors for product and market activities only, you will not have built the proper muscle memory (and yes, unfortunately, that’s when people get injured). The goal here is balance, which means knowing what works and what doesn’t. And the only way to know that is to reflect on your results. You may find there are situations or circumstances where the operator mindset is the best way to look at the issue. And you will likely find that some things are much easier to make than others. But this is the point. Without reflection, you will not be able to achieve balance.</p>


Repetition and Reflection.

4 Ways to Keep It Visionary

<p><strong>So, now what?</strong></p>
<p>The above sampling of skills is part of an offering we call the “Founder’s Workout”—a comprehensive assessment of the mindset and capabilities of your organization’s leadership team and an action plan that puts the skills to use in real time with real business challenges. You can learn more about frog’s Founder’s Workout, as well as how it can bring value to your business by <a href="https://www.frog.co/contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reaching out to us</a>.</p>


Anthony Pannozzo

Linda Quarles

Authors

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Why pharmaceutical companies need to move beyond therapies and embrace total care solutions.

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Getting Digital Therapeutics Right 

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<p>As is the case with many emerging technologies, we’re now in the early stages of defining consensus and understanding around what digital therapeutics (DTx) are and how they work. For Pharmas to realize the full potential digital therapeutics, they need to take a much more comprehensive view of conditions and problems that HCPs and people suffering from disease and chronic conditions face.</p>
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<p><strong>Download the Report to learn more about:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Moving from discrete therapies to holistic care solutions</li>
<li>Identifying and understanding the latest in digital therapies and products</li>
<li>How to utilize human-centered design to find new opportunities in this developing market</li>
</ul>
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<p>Anthony leads a talented team of designers, strategists and data scientists in creating more thoughtful experiences for clients and customers around the world.</p>


Getting older isn’t the problem. Losing Independence is.


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Independence and Aging

<p>The nearly 73 million US Baby Boomers currently exiting the workforce and aging into social security will seek to maximize their retirement experience, opening up the so-called “Longevity Economy.” As this demographic expects to live longer than any previous, the ability to maintain their independence will define the quality of their lives.</p>
<p>We imagine a future where physical and cognitive deterioration no longer means a loss of independence and the dignity that comes with it. We believe this massive demographic shift is a call to action to create new products and services that are designed to help people adapt to changing circumstances in order to maintain independence and continue to contribute meaningfully in their 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.</p>
<p><strong>Download the Report to learn more about:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Creating value within the “longevity economy”</li>
<li>Strategies for maintaining independence with age</li>
<li>Designing for the next generation of independent, tech-savvy seniors</li>
</ul>


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Samara Watkiss

<p>As a Senior Interaction Designer, Samara Watkiss brings strategic and creative problem solving together to achieve business goals, and improve experiences for users and employees. She is engaged in frog’s Healthcare and Org Activation practices and is passionate about designing a future that makes the benefits of technology and innovation accessible to everyone.</p>


By utilizing methods from customer experience design, the healthcare industry is helping patients better engage with their own care.

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Healthcare Needs Better CX Design

<p><strong>Adjusting to an illness</strong> or condition is a complex challenge. Patients first have to deal with getting sick. Then, they have to find ways to engage with the healthcare community, which can be difficult to navigate without the right tools. Treatment also comes at a high cost. In 2015, the US reached 3.2 trillion dollars in healthcare spending. In an attempt to reign in overall costs, healthcare companies are looking for new methods, many of which are focused on patient engagement. Studies have found that TMC (total medical costs) can be reduced by up to 21 percent for patients who are more highly engaged with their care.</p>
<p>But the question remains: How do providers actually get people to partake in their own care? We believe the answer lies in more thoughtfully designed experiences. At frog, we have extensive expertise working within the consumer space to create desire, which has been proven to translate to engagement, growth and long­term value for our clients. So, when it comes to boosting engagement in the healthcare sector, frog is constantly finding new ways to connect patients and providers through customer experience (CX) design. By implementing strategies such as connected care, data products for increased personalization and relevance, new digital processes for improved access and commitment to understanding the patient’s evolving needs, we are able to help organizations engage their patients for better outcomes.</p>


CX and Healthcare

<h6>Better CX means Happier Patients</h6>
<p>Like any good care, customer experience is strongest when it&#8217;s built on the basic concept of empathy. When you provide a great experience to people, you are essentially saying, “I understand how you feel, I understand your wants and needs and I am creating an experience that allows you to achieve that.” For the healthcare sector, this requires striking the right balance between providing patient care and customer service. Yet metrics related to customer satisfaction can be revealing when considered in a healthcare environment. A recent Deloitte study found hospitals with “excellent” patient­reported scores from HCHAPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) had overall higher profitability. This demonstrates a real, long­term value in increasing patient experience.</p>
<p>At frog, we’ve seen the real value-driven results of a customer experience approach. We partnered with the European healthcare company AMICOMED to develop a lifestyle coaching system delivered through a mobile medical app that helps folks manage hypertension. The app leveraged frog’s UX and design expertise to let people get the personalized coaching and data insights needed to really change their habits and lower blood pressure, all without medication. After a three­month long user study, we found there was not only a 70 percent adherence rate, but an overall reduction in blood pressure for participants.</p>


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<h6>The CX Playbook</h6>
<p>We’ve created a framework designed to address customer experience across every aspect of an organization. Keeping in mind that there is no one magic formula, the CX Playbook is a set of adaptable practices that can be employed across organizations to allow for more engaging customer experience results.</p>
<p>How It Works: We start by understanding who we’re serving. In this case, we look at the entire healthcare ecosystem, which is made up of providers, patients, caregivers, institutions and payers, as well as experiences that take place both in and outside the hospital. Through research and analysis, we develop thick descriptions and archetypes of who the patients are, as well as behavior modalities to understand what they do.</p>
<p>From here we are able to create a journey map, which lets us understand the end­to­end path of each of these stakeholders. When done well, a good journey map will reveal both the emotional and functional highs and lows of a given path, allowing us to see the points at which the patient is happy, and where they tend to get anxious or frustrated.</p>
<p>Once we’ve pinpointed the perceived sticking points, we begin to ideate. We start to imagine the areas of opportunity in terms of adding value, fixing problems, or solving for any unmet needs.</p>
<p>We ask ourselves, where can we make patients less anxious? Where can we create a little more joy? What pain points can we eliminate? What does the ideal experience look like? And ultimately, how do we create value? At this point, we are able to build a roadmap that takes the client from current state to future goals, designing products and services that can be feasibly implemented and executed to ensure real value generation for both patients and providers.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the most effective healthcare is going to be the healthcare that patients want to interact with, which means providers must find ways to design customer experience into their care. Human­centered design is the way to get there, as it can both reduce pain and increase joy in real lives. If we employ the framework in frog’s CX Playbook to the healthcare sector, we hope to dramatically improve the healthcare system for patients and providers alike.</p>


<p>Anthony is Executive Creative Director of Experience Strategy &amp; CX at frog, where he leads a talented team of designers, strategists and data scientists in creating more thoughtful experiences for clients and customers around the world.</p>


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