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Leadership in the Mirror
Innovating at pace during crisis—military lessons for the COVID environment
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  1. Brigadier Tim Hodgetts
  1. Army Medical Services, British Army, Andover, UK
  1. Correspondence to Brigadier Tim Hodgetts, Head Army Medical Services, Army Headquarters, Andover SP11 8HT, UK; timothy.hodgetts793{at}mod.gov.uk

Abstract

The challenges of innovating at pace in recent conflicts has encouraged military medical lessons to be codified into an integrated model of innovation, with generic application for the wider healthcare sector and the COVID environment specifically. This ‘Toolset for innovation and change’ emphasises the need to first understand and frame the problem using external (STEEPLE) and internal (TEPID COIL) factor analysis. The conditions that support exemplar innovation adoption by an organisation are described (ADOPTER—Agile, Decisive, Outcome focused, Politically aware, Tolerant of Risk, Empowered and Rewarded) as are the conditions that are necessary for successful innovation translation to another organisation (TRANSL8—Transformational leadership, Relevance, Adaptability/Acceptability, Networks, Simplicity, Life enhancing change, 8-steps of complex change). The obstructions to innovation, or ‘innovation constipation’, are highlighted and remembered as B-OWELS. The toolset was first developed by the author in 2015 from sustained experience of innovation at pace and has been successfully applied to messy problems requiring complex change in both the military and civilian healthcare sectors.

  • clinical leadership
  • continuous improvement
  • health system
  • organisational effectiveness
  • senior medical leader

This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2020-000267

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Footnotes

  • Contributors TH is the sole author of this work and the novel innovation concepts within it.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent for publication Not required.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.