Structured Chaos in a Messy System | John Yip
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A little playbook, a little Picasso.
Healthcare is often treated as a hospital story, until you need care at home.
In this episode of Messy, I am joined by John Yip, President & CEO of SE Health, to talk about leading at the intersection of health systems, digital transformation, workforce innovation, and social purpose.
John shares how his early work in the digital economy still echoes today, why home and community care is both essential and misunderstood, and what it takes to build alignment across a complex, distributed organisation operating in Canada’s fragmented provincial landscape. The conversation goes deep on COVID-era leadership: uncertainty, moral pressure, scarcity, and the real-world improvisation required when there is no playbook.
We also explore what “digital transformation” should mean now and how to ensure technology serves care (not the other way around), why safe experimentation matters, and the potential of healthcare data to improve aging and wellbeing. John offers a powerful metaphor from his personal endurance project: “running every street” as a practice of curiosity, resilience, and rewiring your perspective.
Key themes:
• Sensemaking across long arcs of change
• Healthcare as a complex, fragmented ecosystem
• Leadership in distributed, mission-driven systems
• Frontline intimacy and relational care
• Crisis leadership requires improvisation
• Resilience through exploration and “structured chaos”
If leadership sometimes feels like chopping wood, this episode is a reminder: the grind is part of the work and purpose is what helps you stay even-keeled through the mess.
If you like this episode, write a review and share. Leading through the mess is easier with friends and colleagues.
Healthcare is often treated as a hospital story, until you need care at home.
In this episode of Messy, I am joined by John Yip, President & CEO of SE Health, to talk about leading at the intersection of health systems, digital transformation, workforce innovation, and social purpose.
John shares how his early work in the digital economy still echoes today, why home and community care is both essential and misunderstood, and what it takes to build alignment across a complex, distributed organisation operating in Canada’s fragmented provincial landscape. The conversation goes deep on COVID-era leadership: uncertainty, moral pressure, scarcity, and the real-world improvisation required when there is no playbook.
We also explore what “digital transformation” should mean now and how to ensure technology serves care (not the other way around), why safe experimentation matters, and the potential of healthcare data to improve aging and wellbeing. John offers a powerful metaphor from his personal endurance project: “running every street” as a practice of curiosity, resilience, and rewiring your perspective.
Key themes:
• Sensemaking across long arcs of change
• Healthcare as a complex, fragmented ecosystem
• Leadership in distributed, mission-driven systems
• Frontline intimacy and relational care
• Crisis leadership requires improvisation
• Resilience through exploration and “structured chaos”
If leadership sometimes feels like chopping wood, this episode is a reminder: the grind is part of the work and purpose is what helps you stay even-keeled through the mess.
If you like this episode, write a review and share. Leading through the mess is easier with friends and colleagues.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction and background
- 06:20 Career journey from Marine Biology to Healthcare Leadership
- 09:50 Understanding home and community care vs hospital-centric thinking
- 16:37 SE Health's scope and national impact
- 19:15 Managing geographic distribution and building national cohesion
- 23:37 COVID-19 crisi leadership and unconventional solutions
- 31:32 Lessons from the pandemic and societal memory
- 34:13 Digital transformation mistakes and AI innovation
- 39:35 Frontline caregivers' leadership lessons
- 44:40 Running every street: personal discovery and leadership parallels
- 51:45 Advice to past self and leadership philosophy
- 54:14 Final thoughts on messy leadership
