CVS Health

Career path

I started as a contractor in an individual contributor role. I later became a CVSHealth employee as a design lead and then as a design manger. I was one of the 6 team members to lead a skunwork effort that eventually lead to over 30 team members who worked on deep business integration & continuity of care for our customers. I lead design & research efforts early and lead design sprints/workshops.

The problem

One of the reasons I was hired was to tackle projects that would benefit from out-of-box thinking. These projects included “Simple dose” (compete against Amazon Pill Pack ), CVSCare (Healthcare records, care navigation & deep business integration), skunwork adherence prototype project lead by Aetna Pharmacist, and CVSHealth medication reminders. The problem was a need to deeply know & serve our customers while working within the strong regulation guidelines and help teams innovate (in some cases leading to new business opportunities)

The approach

My approach focused on the 5 principles of design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype & test and implement). I would lean heavy on collaboration with cross functional departments & customers through design sprints. There was a strong focus on prioritizing the “empathize” part of the 4 principles. Without a deep collective understanding of our customers & their problems we run the risk of building something no one wants or losing sight of what we are doing and why it matters.

The learnings & outcome

Being an individual contributor brought me joy & excitement as I would collaborate with others to solve large problems. The biggest learning I saw was in the impact one can have in leadership role. Later as a design manager, I saw how important it was to develop, encourage, inspire and challenge teams who, collectively, make more lasting impact in the lives of customers and business outcomes then one person can. Visions, priorities, objectives, missions statements, ect, don’t go really far if your people can see what you see and come along side you in those efforts.