Could you redesign a $300,000 house and build it for, say, 20 percent less? Probably. Easy, actually. Just downsize some square footage, cheapen the finishes, toss overboard the granite and the tray ceilings and you're there.
What if I asked you for well-designed, safe, affordable shelter for the world's poor? Oh yeah, shelter costing $300 to build? That's right, $300. Not $300,000. Not $30,000. Not $3,000. Three measly hundred dollars.
Could you do THAT? This team did. And created a movement along the way, with a growing list of advisors, a website and corporate sponsors.
No incrementalism here. No "we'll start with the status quo and make it a little better."
We all know 'stuff' that's useful when the pace of change is comfortable and incremental. Unfortunately, that 'stuff' becomes blinders to be unlearned and forgotten when change of the $300 House magnitude is necessary. Unlearning and a willingness to stand apart from the comfortable herd spouting 'We're no worse than anybody else.'
What would you have to unlearn to deliver an episode of care for, say, fifty percent less than today? You better figure it out before the marketplace does, or you'll be living in one of those $300 houses. Actually, it may not be that bad.
[Read the Harvard Business Review article...]
What if I asked you for well-designed, safe, affordable shelter for the world's poor? Oh yeah, shelter costing $300 to build? That's right, $300. Not $300,000. Not $30,000. Not $3,000. Three measly hundred dollars.
Could you do THAT? This team did. And created a movement along the way, with a growing list of advisors, a website and corporate sponsors.
No incrementalism here. No "we'll start with the status quo and make it a little better."
We all know 'stuff' that's useful when the pace of change is comfortable and incremental. Unfortunately, that 'stuff' becomes blinders to be unlearned and forgotten when change of the $300 House magnitude is necessary. Unlearning and a willingness to stand apart from the comfortable herd spouting 'We're no worse than anybody else.'
What would you have to unlearn to deliver an episode of care for, say, fifty percent less than today? You better figure it out before the marketplace does, or you'll be living in one of those $300 houses. Actually, it may not be that bad.
[Read the Harvard Business Review article...]
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