The industry sharpened its focus on core capabilities, and outsourcing labor-intensive, non-core, administrative and support functions. As AT&T’s Vice President of Global Service Assurance, with responsibility for operations in more than 65 countries, I was front and center for this change as well, helping the industry maintain its core principles of operational excellence while building flexibility and agility to support a range of global customers.

At Abbott, I have seen the healthcare industry benefit from the same channel diversity and operational efficiency enhancements seen in other industries. In addition, information availability has had a unique benefit to all of us as consumers of healthcare.

The broad availability of scientific information has encouraged research and development in a number of small, entrepreneurial organizations. Twenty years ago, information was less broadly available. Scientific exploration was less dispersed; it was more concentrated in pockets and more dependent upon scale. The broad availability of information, and its rapid dissemination, has improved our ability to quickly link discoveries on a global basis, and to have many people in parallel working on how those discoveries can benefit mankind.

Not only does the availability of scientific information speed up the process of turning discoveries into beneficial products, it also allows core knowledge to be used in parallel across multiple environments. Scientific information can be translated in parallel to diagnostic tests and supporting pharmaceutical remedies; medical nutrition can be tailored to complement a particular treatment regimen, enhancing patient recovery.

Q: What advice do you give to those in the audience right now that are experiencing a great deal of change?

Ms. Lillo: Given the realities of the world around us, we’re all leading change – whether that change is a technology migration or whether that change is figuring out how to drive the kids to school and still make a 7:30 meeting. My advice is as follows:

• There are a wealth of resources around you and within you.
• You may need to address your current challenges in new ways, and build or rebuild skills that now lie dormant.
• Everything that is familiar to you today was once new to you. Have courage, creativity and confidence as you face changes, and you will emerge with new insights and capabilities.

Q: Describe a time when your organization went through tremendous change and how you handled it.

Ms. Lillo: Those of you involved in telecommunications will recall the tremendous challenges the industry faced in the wake of the MCI Worldcom fraud. Infrastructure investments had been made at a rate greater than they could be used. Established companies and start ups were affected as business failures caused network links to suddenly go dark.