Discussion Questions

1. What is original about the Center for Innovation? What is the significance of establishing an in-house innovation lab versus hiring outside consultants?

2. What are the special risks and benefits of experimenting with service innovations in the health care environment?

3. How does Mayo's physician-led structure affect the focus and results of the CFI? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this structure?

4. What is the role of designers at the CFI? How do they facilitate innovation in health care delivery? How might their contributions compare to those of a management consultant, an industrial designer, an organizational psychologist, or a poet?

5. What is the rationale behind the five platforms? What are the advantages and disadvantages of organizing innovation experiments around these categories? Are there other ways to structure innovations in health care delivery?

6. What conflicts, if any, are there between the goal of "small changes for big impact" and the goal of "transforming the way health care is delivered and experienced?" Do these two kinds of innovation need to be balanced? How does the CFI's organization affect the types of innovation that they develop?

7. How would you recommend that the CFI measure its results? How should they present their work to physicians, to patients, and to outside supporters?