Reimagining the Familiar: Lessons from Singapore's Hospital Transformation

Author

Charlene Li
September 09, 2024

Hospital operations center in Singapore

Innovation often comes from seeing the familiar through a new lens.

On my recent trip to Southeast Asia, I visited Singapore's Ministry of Health. There, I witnessed a perfect example of this principle in action—and it was mind-blowingly good.

The Ministry of Health has revolutionized hospital operations by treating patient flow as a logistics challenge. I observed their hospital operations center, and I was astounded by their innovative approach: They've reimagined the entire process of managing patients—from admission to bed occupancy to discharge—as a complex flow problem to be optimized.

Each patient who comes in gets a little monitor strapped to their belt or wrist, allowing real-time tracking throughout the hospital. When a hospital staff member asks, “Where's John?” another member can say, “Oh, he's in X-ray right now. He's about to exit into Room 4, which was cleaned 15 minutes ago."

Patient tracking monitor

This innovative approach has resulted in an incredible 85-90% occupancy rate with minimal wait times in the waiting room. It's particularly crucial for a system preparing for rapid aging—by 2030, 30% of Singapore's population will be 65 or older.

What Singapore's healthcare leaders have done is lean into what I call "liminal space"—a state of transition where old rules no longer apply, and new ideas can flourish. This liminal space is critical for seamless change and innovation, yet I rarely see organizations intentionally creating it to support disruptive thinking.

In the Ministry of Health's case, their total reimagining of patient care has allowed them to create a system that's both more efficient and more responsive to patient needs. This transformation didn't happen by accident—it required leaders to be willing to suspend traditional healthcare paradigms and explore new possibilities.

But you don't have to overhaul an entire healthcare system to see the familiar through a new lens. Here are some ways you can create liminal space in your own organization:

  1. Change physical perspectives: Rearrange seating in meetings or have walking meetings instead of sit-down ones. A literal change in viewpoint can lead to metaphorical ones.

  1. Use storytelling: Share stories about customers or problems that open up new ways of thinking. Collaborative storytelling creates a shared liminal space where innovative solutions can emerge.

  1. Practice mindfulness: Simple meditation or deep breathing exercises can create mental liminal spaces, allowing for fresh insights and ideas.

Each of these techniques, like the Ministry of Health’s approach to patient flow, involves stepping out of established patterns to see challenges from new angles.

My visit to Singapore sparked fascinating discussions about AI in healthcare, managing disruption, and developing AI regulations in medical settings. These conversations, too, took place in a kind of liminal space—a meeting point between current practices and future possibilities.

I’m not a healthcare expert, but this disruptive lens seems essential to meet future challenges in global health. I found it incredibly valuable to witness this work. 

Disruption can be daunting, sure, but it opens doors to possibilities. The key is to create and embrace these liminal spaces, where we can reimagine our challenges and conceive previously inconceivable solutions.

What disruption in your field excites you about the future? How might you create liminal space to foster that kind of innovative thinking? Hit reply and let me know what you're thinking about!

— Charlene

What I Can’t Stop Talking About: 

My Latest: 

  • Catch up on my webinars! You can still review the slides and recordings of my two new webinars. In “Unlocking The Power of Generative AI,” I explain how to set up a generative AI “playground,” three ways to elevate your leadership with step-by-step instructions, and the broad outlines of creating a strategy. In “Developing a Winning Generative AI Strategy for Competitive Advantage,” I walk through the steps needed to create a cohesive AI strategy. 

  • Get updates on my forthcoming book. If you’re reading this, you are the target audience for my new book, Winning with Generative AI. Sign up for updates and early access and join my exclusive LinkedIn launch community.

  • Building the Pyramid of Trust in AI. Fear of generative AI is understandable, but don't let that get in the way of embracing it as a powerful strategic asset. In Leading Disruption, I introduce the Pyramid of Trust framework, inspired by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Learn how to scaffold trust in AI through five critical levels: safety and security, fairness, quality and accuracy, accountability, and transparency. Discover how companies like HP are implementing these principles, and gain insights on how to build a culture of trust around AI in your organization—from defining biases to creating accountability systems.

  • Tips for strategic planning. As we head into the fall planning for 2025, there are some crucial steps to take to ensure that generative AI is deeply embedded into your strategy. Join me on Tuesday, September 10 at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST for my next livestream, where I'll talk about those best practices. Catch me on LinkedIn and Facebook Live!

My Upcoming Appearances:

If you want me to speak at an upcoming event or conduct a workshop with your executive team, please drop me a note at [email protected]. 

If this information was helpful, there’s plenty more!

Thank you for subscribing to The Big Gulp Newsletter, which goes out to thousands of disruptors every other week to help you on your disruption journey—plus a curated recommendation list of the things I can’t stop talking about. 

Want more? Check out my weekly publication, Leading Disruption, on LinkedIn.

Charlene Li

If you found this note helpful, please forward and share it with someone who needs the inspiration today. If you were forwarded this, please consider subscribing.