I have been writing blogs about what liberal arts institutions have failed to do in the new 21^st century environment. My focus has been trying to find direct links between job placement, earnings and lifetime learning skills. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of those!

Should there be? Perhaps…but let’s discuss the indirect links. And if you believe in indirect links, shouldn’t liberal arts institutions be thinking about this linkage themselves, both formally and informally? Let me give you an example. While I am not always a current reader, I came across the August edition of CB Insights and was particularly struck by the article entitled, “The Future of Dining: 99 Startups Reinventing The Restaurant In One Infographic.”

What is interesting about this article is that it is all about the Internet of Things…which is alive and well and growing. For example, in the restaurant business, some restaurants “are nearly fully automated and require minimal, if any, interaction between employees and customers.” So, what has this got to do with colleges? 

Well, if your higher ed institution is not thinking about this, it should be. And if it is thinking about it, it should be doing something because the IofT will be affecting every college and university’s student population shortly.

At Simon Associates Management Consultants (SAMC), we have recently been working with clients who are struggling with an abundance of competition in their "red oceans." As you may know, we are Blue Ocean Strategy® professionals and corporate anthropologists. And, we are big believers that people cannot see what is often before their eyes. 

Red oceans are a metaphor for a highly competitive market space where businesses follow a traditional methodology promoted for years by Michael Porter and others. The thinking goes like this: carve out your market, differentiate your product and service offerings, and find your market space at the right price point to generate a good margin. The only problem is that today, there is too much supply and competition and too little demand for products, services and solutions.

In a business slump? Maybe you need to go exploring!

The best way to do that is to "hang out" and watch your customers—and non-customers—get their jobs done.

At SAMC, that's what we specialize in: helping clients realize the great potential of finding their "blue oceans" where they make the competition irrelevant, capture and create new demand, go after unmet needs, and value-innovate (not value-incrementalize) their offerings. As John Seely Brown, visiting scholar at USC and the independent co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, famously said, "The way forward is all around you." You just have to see it.

Today, I want to show you how to go visually exploring. This is a key part of how you can begin to see how your clients are really struggling to solve their problems, often with your own products. And what does that struggle represent? Opportunity!

Have you noticed the huge change taking place in the way healthcare is delivered today? At Simon Associates Management Consultants, we have. It's something we've been watching for some time because it's a reflection of the massive shift in the values, beliefs and behaviors of consumers and clinical practitioners at all stages and levels of the care delivery system.

Gone are the days when you went to the doctor and waited in the reception area (often for a long time) to get seen for 10-15 minutes and then were prescribed something by a physician or physician assistant. Now, patients want 24/7 accessibility to someone, but not necessarily in-person or in an office. Furthermore, they want caregivers who can help them stay in their homes, remain active and involved, and help them manage their aging in a positive environment.

At the same time, healthcare payers, from CMS to insurance companies, are pressing hospitals to move their patients into lower cost, better care settings—those very homes where patients are needing new care solutions.

Wow, talk about changing times!

The result? A wave of opportunities for new business models and innovative solutions—an emerging trend which I detail in a recent article I wrote for Hospital Impact. 

Connecting those who have a need with those who have solutions

Following the very successful models of Airbnb and Uber, several companies are now offering platforms to connect those who need care with those who are best trained and suited to provide it. As I explain in my article, this innovative use of technology is opening up new, broader and faster solutions that are more in keeping with the accelerating pace of this potentially huge demand.

Is this what an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) looks like?

Wow, what a tough time to be a doctor. For many of them, they must soon decide whether to join an ACO (Accountable Care Organization), a move that will probably require them to significantly change the way they practice medicine and coordinate their patients’ care. But how do they decide which one to join? And what separates one ACO from another, anyway—especially in the mind of the consumer?

The answer to both questions? Branding. 

Today's healthcare consumers have changed, dramatically.

More and more these days, people go online to search for the best solutions to their healthcare needs. As a result, ACOs must now adjust their branding and marketing to capture them, something I talk about in detail in my recent article for Strategic Health Care Marketing.