Life Cycles: Sutter Health Chief Innovation Officer Chris Waugh on Curiosity as the Cornerstone of Design Thinking
Whether innovating healthcare systems, challenging personal habits, or competing in an uphill cycling race in freezing weather, Chris Waugh often returns to the core principle of a “beginner’s mind.” How would we approach this if it was our first experience?
LISTEN NOW: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Stitcher
Human-centered design informed years at IDEO, One Medical Group, and now at Sutter Health, as first Chief Innovation Officer. In this interview, we talk about how curiosity and creativity can reframe our approach to human health.
Chris Waugh is a powerhouse in the world of health care innovation; he applies extensive experience in human-centered design to guide Sutter Health’s integrated network’s innovation strategy. This work is driven by the idea that healthcare should fit into the patient’s life, and not the other way around.
He is also passionate about taking on mental health issues and driving simpler, easier to navigate and more resonate healthcare for all patients. Before joining Sutter Health, Waugh held entrepreneurial leadership roles at the design and innovation juggernaut IDEO, and was vice president of design at One Medical Group in San Francisco where he helped create a culture of innovation. A graduate of Fort Lewis College in Colorado, Chris is an affiliated member of both Rock Health and Innovation 50.
LISTEN NOW: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Stitcher
He shares anecdotes about marginal gains, cellular health, systems thinking, and the many ways cycling has been a vector for personal and professional exploration and growth.
This episode is part of Life Cycles, a series of episodes about how bikes change people and the world. Different people find different ways to seek and create change within themselves, their community and the world; for me, it has been cycling. The power of hearing these stories inspires people to reach beyond what is possible in life.
If you enjoy this episode, please give it a five-star rating on Spotify or Apple podcasts, subscribe and forward it to a friend who likes doing hard things, and sign up for the newsletter.
Email choosethehardway@gmail.com or DM @hardwaypod on Twitter or Instagram to suggest a guest or be in touch.
Choose the Hard Way is the podcast where guests share stories about how doing hard things build stronger, more resilient humans, learn more at www.choosethehardway.com.
In This Episode:
Chris Waugh LinkedIn
- - - - - - - - - -
Andrew Vontz LinkedIn
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher
Choose The Hard Way is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production