In this episode of the LTC Heroes podcast, Steve Lindsey, CEO of Garden Spot Village, joins us to discuss how to approach innovation in the LTC industry.
Building a Culture of Innovation
To start the show, Steve describes innovation simply as “Applying resources and finding new ways to solve real problems.” He says people often overcomplicate innovation by confusing it with creativity, leading them to develop solutions for things that aren’t truly problems.
Steve highlights the importance of developing a culture of innovation where everyone at your facility thinks through challenges and focuses on addressing them in a new way. Innovation often comes about by looking forward, anticipating changes, and implementing novel solutions that can handle the change.
Self-Actualization for Seniors
One of the key LTC innovations Steve is an advocate of is encouraging more self-actualization for our seniors. He says we need to look beyond the “institutional” qualities of LTC in order to bring fulfillment to all areas of our seniors’ daily lives.
Steve talks about the importance of being comfortable with failing in concerns with innovation. At some point, our innovative ideas will fall short, but the key is to fail forward and learn from the experience. He also addresses the need to embrace certain constraints while innovating, so as to produce something that is realistic and actionable.
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Rapid Fire Q/A
What actionable advice do you think we’ll talk about on today’s podcast?
I think it has to do with innovation and I think sometimes we get a little apprehensive about that. And so I just want to encourage people to recognize and realize that we all can be innovators and that we all can find a new pathway forward in our work and in the communities that we serve.
What lesser-known resource would you recommend we turn to, to understand your approach to LTC?
There’s a great book that came out a couple of years ago called “The Mind of a Leader.” It just really helps to hone in on some of those soft skills that we all need to have in whatever leadership role we have at the time.
Who is a Mentor that has had an impact on how you approach care?
When I came to Garden Spot Village, the chairman of the board and founder of the organization was a fella named Dale Weaver. Dale was a very successful business person in his own right, but was very thoughtful and challenged me in a number of ways, and encouraged me incredibly. He was very much a peacemaker and was always encouraging us to think about how we can provide a culture of peace and reconciliation all around us in the community that we serve, with the people that we work with and work alongside, and the people that we work for.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would say it’s all about that idea of failing forward and being willing to take more chances, to take more risks, and know that failure is not the end of the story. In fact, it’s often the first step towards success.