Five Points of the Innovation "S.T.A.R"

Posted by Joe Antle on January 24, 2021 12:35 PM EST

Over the years, through reading and hands-on observation, it has become clear to me that being an "Innovation STAR" requires balancing....

....five questions that determine how well and how significantly an innovation can be put into action.  I think this is particularly true for the CareTrek concept, whether CareTrek is being applied to enhance leading employers' employee assistance programs, or as a way to improve community-wide substance abuse addiction recovery treatment services (ARTS) access.  Defining expecations around results, costs, convenience, reliability and sustaning quality or as a platform for sustained recovery for people who want to avoid relapse are key aspects of applying an innovation such as CareTrek such that it gains traction and momentum.

In this substance abuse recovery treatment services context it is helpful to think of Innovation "STAR" as an acronym and in the effort to build success at scale, sustainably and reliably.  The application of innovation to such a challenging socio-economic issue as substance abuse recovery treatment services improvements requires a "STAR" approach.

S.T.A.R (acronym) = Strategy, Tactics, Activities and Results

Five Key "Hurdles" for innovators in the substance abuse addiction recovery treatment services context, and with CareTrek is the "platform" or model for applying innovation to such a daunting and growing socio-economic problem in our country and within specific geographically and demographically defined communities:

1. Do I (we) see the innovation opportunity that CareTrek presents?

2. Does the innovation opportunity that CareTrek presents seem plausible, even possible?

3. Do I (we) understand CareTrek and the innovation opportunity and does it fit me (us) in terms of what we (I) can do well and at proper scale?

4. Can I (we) succeed in developing, implementing and managing the CareTrek innovation opportunity quickly, effectively and properously?

5. Is the CareTrek innovation opportunity one that I (we) can sustain and defend over a long period of time?

The research also tells us that good management processes which have a bias to eliminating risk of failure, capital loss, image deterioration, strategic resource depletion or legal and ethical constraints require that each of these questions or "hurdles" are satisfied before taking action.  Often times when the action is finally taken, the innovation's impact is reduced due to the need to eliminate the risks mentioned so that in the end the innovation often never reaches the fullness of its potential even when being implemented.

So, in conclusion, developing a S.T.A.R approach for applying CareTrek as an innovation is a process of defining clear strategies, tactics, actions and defining results that enable the innovator to overcome the five hurdles that often get in the way ot adopting a new innovation to an old and growing socio-economic model.

Stay tuned...