𝗢𝗵 𝗻𝗼, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻...

Do you recognize this? A new tool is introduced in your hospital, nursing home, or general practice, yet in practice, it’s barely used. VR headsets for people with dementia remain in storage. Self-management apps for diabetes and COPD are left untouched due to a lack of support. Fall prevention sensors are turned off because of unfamiliarity or resistance. Video consultations are hardly utilized, as both doctors and patients stick to their old habits. 

Many innovations stall at the pilot phase and never reach full-scale implementation—not because they don’t work, but because they aren’t integrated into existing workflows. Often, the professionals who are supposed to use them are not adequately involved. Resistance, lack of training, IT issues, and financial obstacles turn innovation into nothing more than an experiment rather than a lasting improvement. 

From a systemic perspective, innovation is a "foreign body" within the existing organizational system. It makes sense that a system resists change and clings to what is familiar and comfortable. And if we’re honest: how easily do we ourselves adapt to change? A new phone with unfamiliar features, a laptop that works just a little differently, adjusting to a new software like Trello or a new time-tracking system—for me, it always feels like a burden. Why would it be any different for a team in a nursing home that has to adopt a new process? Can we approach this with compassion? 

Matthias Varga von Kibéd highlights the importance of balancing the radical and the sensitive. The radical disrupts patterns and disregards the old. The sensitive, on the other hand, acknowledges what already exists and builds upon it. Innovation requires both renewal and preservation. Existing structures cannot simply be dismantled without recognizing their value. And let’s be honest—not every innovation is an improvement by default. It is completely valid to say that a change is challenging, that its added value is not immediately evident, or that learning it simply takes too much time. The IT department doesn’t need to feel offended when initial reactions to a new workflow are skeptical. The finance department doesn’t need to feel frustrated when there’s resistance to a new time-tracking system. This is human nature. Only when saying "no" is allowed can there be space for "yes." 

Simply stating that innovation is necessary doesn’t help. What does work is an open and honest dialogue. The Implementation Radar facilitates this conversation in a structured way—addressing both surface-level and underlying concerns, the benefits and the challenges. 

Does this sound familiar? I’d love to hear your experiences and insights on this topic.