Translating a digital strategy into its implementation in concrete projects remains a difficult hurdle for healthcare administrators and innovation managers, as previous editions of the SmartHealth Masterclass on eHealth Strategy—which enters its fourth edition in 2019—have shown. Jacques Pijl, owner and director of the consulting firm Turner, concludes in his bestseller *Strategy Execution* that more than half of all strategic decisions fail to produce results.

Organizations are apparently poor at carrying out what they set out to do after retreat sessions and inspiration days. Pijl based his book on his own experiences as a management consultant, extensive research, and dozens of interviews with top executives. *Strategy Execution* strikes a chord with the digital spirit of the times, as Pijl’s book has consistently ranked first on various “top ten” lists of management books.

In the most recent (2018) edition of the Masterclass, Pijl introduced participants to a practical model and Success Factors for getting Innovation off the ground. The key takeaway: CHOOSE 20% of your time for strategy and 80% for execution. Also, recognize that there are different types of change, each requiring its own approach and pace. Projects involving potentially disruptive innovations—like those from Kodak that completely upend a Business Model—have, by definition, an uncertain outcome. Change aimed at optimizing and improving existing processes requires a different, more manageable methodology than “moonshot” projects.

Priorities in Digital Innovation: A Promising Portfolio

In the upcoming edition of the SmartHealth masterclass, Relinde de Koeijer—who works closely with Jacques Pijl as a senior manager in Health at Turner—will focus the concepts of “Strategy Execution” more specifically on the healthcare sector. Relinde previously worked as a program manager at hospitals and, for her doctoral research, studied effective strategy execution and the impact of management methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma and Value-Based Healthcare.

Turner’s model does not render those existing methods obsolete, but rather fits them into a framework that indicates which type of approach, for which type of change, leads to effective project execution. In her lectures, De Koeijer discusses four stages of Strategy Execution: choose, initiate, harvest, and secure. Each of these steps has so-called “hard” and “soft” aspects and makes use of Fact Sheets, checklists, and templates.

In previous editions of the eHealth Strategy masterclass, it became clear that even the process of choosing promising projects posed challenges for many organizations. A frequently cited reason was that the digital strategy (as part of the overall organizational strategy) was not sufficiently detailed to properly prioritize new projects. But even organizations with a more developed digital strategy regularly stumbled over an innovation portfolio bursting at the seams, in which dozens of projects compete for resources and priority. The result: a lack of focus and resources for the projects that truly matter.

How do you organize innovation?

De Koeijer will also discuss in detail the “Two-Track Approach” that organizations must adopt, according to Turner. On the one hand, healthcare providers must continuously improve and innovate their existing models and services. But at the same time, they must also focus on the future—5 to 10 years down the road. Fundamental innovation, in this context, requires a different level of urgency. This raises questions such as: What is the best organizational structure for innovation teams—embedded within the existing organization, a separate innovation department (or even a separate company), or possible hybrid models?

Another important point: Does the organization have the right skills and resources—in other words, Execution Capacity—for Digital Innovations? In the masterclass, we use the Digital Readiness Scan, which has now been proven effective in practice. This aligns well with the assessment methods used by Turner, but with a greater emphasis on digital infrastructure and skills specific to healthcare organizations and their leaders.

Like Jacques Pijl, De Koeijer will use examples and case studies from both within and outside the Healthcare sector to provide a clearer understanding of the key concepts of the Strategy Execution model used by Turner.

“Above all, it’s incredibly hard work”

In the most recent masterclass, Pijl certainly made it clear that the transition from “why” to “how” is a major headache for many organizations. “Some healthcare executives still need to get used to the fact that they have to spend most of their time focusing on the various Success Factors for execution, because otherwise Innovation stops at nice ideas and dots on the horizon. You can’t manage your way out of executing innovation. It’s mainly about working incredibly hard, taking clear Ownership, and working in a process-oriented way.”