PhD scholarship top-up for Natalie Smith: Digital health board and executive capability development

Start Date

17 January 2020

End Date

30 June 2021

Project Participants

Department of Health Queensland, University of Queensland

Status: Completed

Tags: capability uplift, clinical governance, digital transformation, health services, health system, healthcare governance, hospitals, leadership, workforce development

Opportunity 

Digital health transformation requires substantial investment, yet technology and conventional project management approaches alone do not guarantee successful change.  

This project supported the completion of a PhD program aiming to better understand the organisational leadership capabilities that are needed to lead and govern digital health transformations to improve outcomes, particularly within complex healthcare environments. 

Project Objectives  

The research sought to understand what organisational leaders do to help transformational projects achieve their intended outcomes.  

The long-term objective is to improve the outcomes of digital health investments by developing the capability of boards and executives to lead and govern transformational change effectively. 

Natalie Smith’s research developed the Theory of Transformation Friction, which identifies an active leadership ecosystem with four reinforcing practices: inducing pride, aligning leadership, navigating transformation tensions, and adaptive monitoring. 

The research provides boards, executives and clinical leaders with a practical way to understand why transformations encounter resistance and how leadership can actively reduce that friction. For digital health, it points to stronger integration of clinical leadership, governance and transformation delivery, with potential to help organisations realise greater value from major digital investments. 

The research insights are currently being translated in practice, including within industry-research collaborations, supporting the leadership and governance of a community care transformation program; and capability development programs for University of Sydney and University of Queensland. 

Read more about Natalie Smith’s work on transformation friction and why digital projects continue to fall short. 

Integrity, Excellence,
Teamwork and Authenticity

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