E-Learning Item 4: Innovation Starts with the Heart, Not the Head

The article “Innovation Starts with the Heart, Not the Head” on Harvard Business Review by Gary Hamel discussed about the importance of compassion in innovation by sharing a story about Lakeland Health where compassion is found in their working style. The article showed the story of Dr. Loren Hamel, the CEO of Lakeland Health which faced the problem of having poor patient satisfaction scores despite the above average care treatment provided and the changes Dr. Hamel implemented. I agree with the article that innovation starts with the heart instead of the head. I think that Dr. Hamel’s innovative ways to improve Lakeland really shows the importance of empathy and compassion in innovation.

In the article, Dr. Hamel’s idea of improving the patient satisfaction scores Lakeland received was by encouraging his staff to bring their hearts to work by saying simple words of care and concern to the patients to help the patients forget their worries and feel cared for. Dr. Hamel also did some research to understand the emotions and feelings of patients admitted to the hospital so that the staff of Lakeland could more effectively connect with their patients so that they will feel cared for. Dr. Hamel also went further by doing rounds to learn about the progress of his staff on making heartfelt connections and also helping them learn how to do it even going further by commending each effort of every staff in making a heartfelt connection by rewarding the staff with a heart to pin on his or her badge (Hamel, 2015).

I feel that Dr. Hamel was very innovative and resourceful in his ways to improve the patient satisfaction scores by firstly understanding them before having his staff to make heartfelt connections to each patient so that each patient will feel cared for. Through the acts of heartfelt connections of Lakeland staff with patients, the patient satisfaction scores of Lakeland soared which shows the effectiveness of Dr. Hamel in having empathy in his innovative ways to improve the satisfaction of each patient. One of the stories of Lakeland included the meltdown of a husband whose wife was dying. One of the employees of Lakeland showed a simple gesture of offering a hug to the devastated husband to help him recompose himself which helped in keeping the situation under control (Hamel, 2015).

In conclusion, it is important to have compassion and kindness in innovation as it is only through empathy where the needs of others can be addressed successfully which is shown in the article where patient satisfaction scores improved. If Dr. Hamel only improved the care provided to patients, the needs of patients might still not be addressed which results in a waste of effort and resources. As Dr. Hamel was empathetic, he was able to find a new and innovative way of improving satisfaction scores by showing patients how much the staff cared about them instead of just improving healthcare like other hospitals which further supports the point that innovation comes from the heart.

Reference Articles

Hamel, G. (2015, June). Innovation Starts with the Heart, Not the Head. Harvard Business

Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/06/you-innovate-with-your-heart-not-your-head 

E-Learning Item 2: The Heart of 'Bao'

The article “‘Bao’ seller touched by flood of offers to help” on Channel NewsAsia by Kane Cunico shows what Mdm Sarah Tan has done in the spirit of social entrepreneurship and her acts of kindness to help many people such as needy children, the homeless and unwed mothers. I think that what Mdm Tan has done is a good example of social entrepreneurship as she has hired unwed mothers to work at her stores which not only provides them with a job but also with more opportunities to spend time with their children due to the flexible working hours.

Cunico (2016) explained how Mdm Tan first started out by volunteering at a women’s shelter before going on to hire single mothers to work at her ‘Bao’ store to provide them with a source of income. Mdm Tan also went further by extending a helping hand to many other people in need such as foreign workers, homeless children and teenage mothers by giving them a place to stay in her house. However, over the years, Mdm Tan’s many ‘Bao’ stores has closed down due to various reasons but that does not stop Mdm Tan from helping others as she still perseveres to continue to help others in need despite her worsening financial situation.

I feel that what Mdm Tan has done shows how much more society can do to help those in need and that we can learn from her acts of kindness and compassion. Mdm Tan went the extra mile to help others in need by allowing people such as foreign workers, teenage mums with their babies and homeless children to stay at her house while treating them as family instead of just ignoring these people, showing an example of what society can do. Mdm Tan also shows a good example of social entrepreneurship as she has hired single mothers to work for her as a social cause which helps the mothers solve the problem of having to find a job while also taking care of their children as the workers have flexible working hours and a stable income. When monetary help was extended to her, Mdm Tan declined the offer as she prefers support in her business (Cunico, 2016) instead of acts of charity which shows her want for her business to be sustainable in order to help those that stays in her house in the long run.

In conclusion, I feel that there is a lot that we can learn from Mdm Tan such as her spirit of social entrepreneurship and more importantly her acts of compassion and kindness which are lacking in our society. If everyone could do more by showing more compassion to those in need in our own ways of extending a helping hand, more help will be able to reach those who need it.

Reference Articles

Cunico, K. (2016, May 27). ‘Bao’ seller touched by flood of offers to help. Channel NewsAsia.

Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/bao-seller-touched-by/2822598.html?cid=FBins

Aspects of a Social Enterprise

One of the most important aspects about a social enterprise is that a social enterprise must be profit-orientated and have the intention to be sustainable as it is a business. However, most social enterprises lack a unique selling point to allow them to compete against other businesses in the same industry. This is also emphasized in an interview with Mr Benny Se Teo, the founder of Eighteen Chefs which is a social enterprise that aims to help ex-convicts and troubled youths to reintegrate back into society. Mr Se Teo explained in an interview that “A social enterprise is not a charity. You have to produce a good product to sell. The social aspect is important but it should not be the marketing point.” (Jagdish, 2015). It was also stated in the Eighteen Chefs website that they aim to serve affordable good quality food (Eighteen Chefs, n.d.). This mission in turn helps Eighteen Chefs to compete against higher end restaurants as the food served in Eighteen Chefs is more affordable and also of a good quality hence more customers would choose Eighteen Chefs over its competitors allowing Eighteen Chefs to have its success today. 

The success of Eighteen Chefs is however not achieved by some social enterprises. An example is Best of Asia’s Kampung@Simpang Bedok. Best of Asia’s Kampung@Simpang Bedok aimed to provide job opportunities in the hawker centre and also further support the tenants financially by providing rent subsidies until the tenants can afford them. Unfortunately, the social enterprise closed down in November 2013 as they could not compete against other nearby eateries who offered better quality food. The poor location of the social enterprise which was not very accessible further discouraged patrons from coming (Siau & Lee, 2013). With the lack of an unique selling point, other eateries such as nearby hawker centres and food courts were preferred over the social enterprise resulting in the closure of the social enterprise due to a lack of customers.

As seen from the two social enterprises, a social enterprise has to have a unique selling point to compete against other businesses in the same industry in order to attract customers to enable the business to be sustainable and earn profit. However, the unique selling point should not be the social mission of a social enterprise as this would result in customers only supporting the social enterprise in an act of charity which is most often one-off and hence does not help the social enterprise to be sustainable in the long run.

Reference Articles

Jagdish, B. (2015, October 17). The Govt should start hiring ex-offenders themselves: Benny Se Teo. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/the-govt-should-start/2199122.html

Eighteen Chefs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eighteenchefs.com/v2/index.php/about/eighteenchefs/

Siau, M. E. & Lee, A. (2013, November 14). First hawker centre managed by social enterprise shuts doors. Today. Retrieved from http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/first-hawker-centre-managed-social-enterprise-shuts-doors