Innovation for Social Change

Chapter 2Surfacing Unmet Needs

Entrepreneurs see what no one else sees—because they make a systematic effort to ask questions and pay attention. Likewise, nonprofits can too, by assessing what's really in front of them. As surprising as this may sound to us today, tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Jean Case says that when AOL was founded, she often heard, “Why would I ever need email?” or “My business doesn't need a connection to the internet.”¹ How often do we mindlessly accept little annoyances in our lives as a given? Perhaps some creative detective work on our part can help surface hidden opportunities.

The beneficiaries our nonprofits are serving may not know what specific improvements to ask for. But their unrealized needs exist, nonetheless. It is our responsibility to do the detective work to identify hidden needs and produce a better outcome.

At a nonprofit hospital in St. Louis, administrators hoped to renovate a wing of the hospital with a more patient‐centric design. SSM DePaul Health Center hired a team of consultants for guidance. Thinking out of the box, one of the consultants faked an injury. He wore a hidden camera and captured the hospital experience from the perspective of a patient. When the consulting team showed the film footage to the hospital's leadership team, they were shocked. They saw poor communication, long wait times, and stark interiors. They had no idea. The footage provoked robust discussions and ideas for improving the patient experience. ...