When my son decided that he wanted to move to a pump to manage his diabetes, we researched each of the medical device companies offering this technology and met with many of them.  While they all offered cutting edge devices, one company stood out.  The difference, their representative was able to explain to us that the focus of their Research and Development team was not simply to improve the technology, but to find a way to address Type 1 diabetes.  As he explained it, they were working to develop an artificial pancreas which would allow their technology to deliver insulin to the individual without their having to intervene – the same way our pancreas does it for many of us today.  That conversation happened slightly more than 3 years ago.  And, as you can see in the clip below, the company hopes to have the technology on the market in the next five to ten years.

When you go to this company’s website, you will see the following language, “we’re committed to Innovating for life by pushing the boundaries of medical technology and changing the way the world treats chronic disease.”  What is important is the clarity with which each employee in that company understands that vision, can articulate it, and can translate it into what it means to the work that they are doing.

There is incredible power in alignment.  In the case of this representative, understanding this vision helped him differentiate for us the organizations behind the technology, and this became the decision-maker for us.