This piece is part of a Wall Street Journal series in which an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders engage in in-depth online discussions of topics raised in this month’s WSJ Technology Report and all future Reports.
What technological innovation would you most like to see for the office?
Rosanne:
When I was young, I hoped that Rosie the Robot from “The Jetsons” would be doing everything for us by now, but in our office, that is not the reality. In the absence of Rosie, we’ve seen the need for new ways to use and visualize the rich data that we collect in our work. It would be useful to have a 3-D data map with the capability to map which agencies the individuals we work with are receiving services from. This would add greater efficiency to the process of helping communities better align their resources to improve the health and housing of vulnerable people, using their existing resources.
Do you think companies spend too much time searching for groundbreaking innovations at the expense of incremental advances?
Rosanne:
Our team at Community Solutions operates with the belief that groundbreaking innovations happen while we are doing our day-to-day work; we see problem solving and innovation as an integral part of our daily routine. Rigorous reflection on our day-to-day work drives the feedback cycle that has led to our major innovations. We have also found that it is necessary to set challenging, time-bound goals in parallel with this commitment to steady iteration, so we’re learning with a sense of urgency and building toward groundbreaking innovations.
