Ideagen Intersection
George Sifakis:
At Ideagen, we look at and focus on cross-sector collaboration and innovation, which you just mentioned. Why is it that cross-sector collaboration and innovation are so vital to helping to solve many of the world's most vexing issues including, of course, the disruption of aging? Perhaps to go further, how can we infuse collaboration into our daily mission to successfully achieve these goals?
Jo Ann Jenkins:
I think it's so important because I think if we don't do it, we're going to be on the verge of collapse. Just think about it, 10 years ago, the idea that we would get into a car with somebody who we didn't know and they would already have our credit card number and we would ride around from place to place like an Uber or Lyft or that we would physically go and stay at somebody else's house that we didn't know and had prearranged that as we do with Airbnb, we wouldn't have thought about 10, 15 years ago of putting up all of our kids' or grandkids' pictures on the web. Technology is changing so fast that it's difficult for us to imagine what we are going to have be able to do as individuals and as businesses in the future to keep pace with the way we are aging and the way society is changing.
Jo Ann Jenkins:
The fastest growing age group in this country is people over the age of 85 and the second fastest is people over the age of 100. We're not talking about something that's going to happen in the future. We're talking about something that's happening now and we need to prepare for how that's going to allow us to live differently into the future.
Jo Ann Jenkins:
One of the things that we've been focused on at AARP is making sure that every one of our employees and partners know that they have a responsibility to be an everyday innovator in aging, that we need to constantly reiterate and reexamine not only the information, but services we offer out to our members and nonmembers across the country. Over the course of the last couple years, we've been intensely focused on this whole idea of innovation.
Jo Ann Jenkins:
Working with our board two years ago, we launched the AARP Innovation Fund where we're investing in new startups who believe that they have a new technology particularly focused in the healthcare area that will allow people to live and age better. That innovation at the core of what it is we're doing to position AARP and to better service our members, we also opened our own innovation lab, which we call the Hatchery that's in our headquarters building where we are creating new products and services around medication management, around dementia solutions, around mobility issues. We're inviting startups to come into our lab where we can co-create solutions together, using our members who come in to test some of the products and then, we're outright investing in new startups who are really focused in these areas around health, wealth and self as well.
Jo Ann Jenkins:
Creating themindset within the AARP enterprise that it's our responsibility to plan for the future to make sure that we're an organization that's meeting the needs of our customers not just today, but well into their future and also looking at not only our members, but their families and the kinds of issues that their families are going to be concerned about. I think that's what's important to us. I would also say that I think that any organization whether it's for profit or not for profit that’s out there and isn't thinking about what customers’ needs are going to be 10, 20, 30 years from now is missing the mark.. That’s probably a long answer to your short question, but...
George Sifakis:
An absolutely profound answer to a short question and very, very important to note that all of the work that's being done at AARP is truly changing the world as we discussed. On that note, there's a question we ask in every Global Podcast at Ideagen and that is Jo Ann, what are the three key lessons you have learned that have the potential to change the world?
Jo Ann Jenkins:
Wow, that's a deep question. I think that what I would say is that we really need to think outside of ourselves.
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Interview with Jo Ann Jenkins, cont.