New Book: The DAISY Foundation and our Growth-Impact Strategy Model

Giving the first copy of the new book to DAISY Cofounders

Mark and Bonnie Barnes at the AONL 2023 Conference

This week we are at the 2023 conference of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership in Anaheim (if you’re here please stop by and see me at booth #464 in the exhibit hall).

Among other things, I’ll be premiering the new book How The DAISY Foundation has Influenced the Global Healthcare Landscape (available in softcover and Kindle on Amazon). The book is beautifully illustrated in full color.

Working with a team of graduate students from University of Iowa College of Public Health (where I’m on the adjunct faculty) we analyzed The DAISY Foundation using my Growth-Impact Model. This tiny but mighty nonprofit organization has achieved both growth and impact at a level that would be the envy of any Silicon Valley startup.

DAISY now has nearly 6,000 partner organizations in 37 countries. More than 2.5 million nurses have been nominated for DAISY Awards.

A survey we conducted for the project showed that over 90% of DAISY Honorees consider the Award to be one of the highlights of their career, and over 90% say that DAISY has had a very positive impact on the culture of their organizations.

Using this model we help healthcare organizations define strategies for Growth along the dimensions of Scale and Scope and for Impact along the dimensions of Reach and Depth – specific strategies are included in the book.

We also help define Key Business Practices (KBP) needed to successfully pursue those strategies. For The DAISY Foundation we identified these 20 KBPs:

KBP #1: Tell your foundation story and reinforce it with building block stories

KBP #2: Start with your own culture

KBP #3: Run the organization like a business

KBP #4: Use rituals to influence culture

KBP #5: Use symbols and posted cues to influence behavior

KBP #6: Use visual reminders

KBP #7: Promote belonging and pride by building a sense of community

KBP #8: Foster relationships and build partnerships

KBP #9: Simultaneous loose-tight properties

KBP #10: Borrow liberally from your partners

KBP #11: Promote executive ownership of the program

KBP #12: Promote a “Proceed Until Apprehended” mindset

KBP #13: Celebrate and promote joy

KBP #14: Prove it with evidence-based documentation

KBP #15: Be relentlessness and be resilient

KBP #16: Differentiate values, behaviors, and outcomes

KBP #17: Make it a movement, not just a product or a program

KBP #18: Show up

KBP #19: Spark and fan an extravagant hope

KBP #20: Sustain the legacy

The DAISY Foundation

Learn more about The DAISY Foundation at their website.