Pay Attention!

Sometimes, we all have problems with paying attention. For a great example of what I mean, check out this video. (It is two minutes long and well worth your time).

At Imagine!, we have worked hard to create a culture where our employees do, in fact, pay attention to what is going on around them.

Why?

Because if we are always on the lookout for good ideas, or always acting as “trend hunters” searching for trends that may have a significant impact on what we do (even if the connection between the trend and Imagine!’s operational model isn’t immediately clear), opportunities may arise that we otherwise wouldn’t recognize.

Recently, we have had a couple of examples of how this culture of paying attention has proven beneficial. Just last week, we saw an opportunity to promote some of our ideas about new approaches to service funding and delivery through a grant and an online survey. We’d been formulating the ideas and testing them for some time, but by paying attention and being prepared we were able to seize an unexpected opportunity – an opportunity that may result in a dramatic shift in the way services are funded and delivered in the future.

And speaking of service delivery and the future, I couldn’t help but notice that National Public Radio is doing a series of reports this week on what it describes as “the quiet revolution that aims to make it easier for seniors to age at home.” Just two weeks ago I made this blog post about providing personal supports to seniors, and how closely matched those supports are to the supports we provide to the populations we serve at Imagine!. And Imagine! is well positioned, via our SmartHomes project, to be at the epicenter of this new way of caring for vulnerable populations.

My goal here is not to brag (at least too much, anyway). Instead, I just want to emphasize the importance of not getting so wrapped up the day to day challenges that all of us in this field face that we don’t pay attention to what is happening around us. Doing so can lead to missed opportunities, and in this environment, we can’t afford to make those kind of mistakes.

Then again, what do I know?