MARIE PICTON
Executive Manager, Spa Services
Elmwood Spa
Toronto, Ontario Canada
For Elmwood Spa Executive Manager, Spa
Services Marie Picton, the article
“Innovation Process: Turning Ideas Into
Reality” published in the January/February
2015 (Shaping the Future: Predict Your
Future by Creating It) stood out from the
rest.
“[In this feature, Ancient Cedars Spa at
the Wickaninnish Inn Spa Manager
Andrea Fisher] said: ‘Innovation happens
when new ideas are researched and
applied into practical use for business
growth,’” Picton recalls. “I found this
quote really interesting because in the spa
industry, we always ask ourselves: ‘How
do we keep innovating?’”
For Picton, a focus on innovation reaffirms Elmwood Spa’s process because she
and her team always look for ways of
doing things better. “When it gets down
to it, we need to ask ourselves if the new
process is actually doable and
effective for everyday use,
and does it tie back in to
our vision in terms of
what we’re trying to
achieve as a company?”
Picton says the
lesson about innovation
learned in Pulse is something
she and her team implement on an
ongoing basis. “We started the technological innovation process with the Elm
Tablet as a communication tool. Due to
multiple floors, and the high volume of
people we have in the spa, this made
sense,” Picton says.
She adds that, as part of their innovation process, she and her team believes in
regularly revisiting how they are doing
things, tweaking what needs to be
tweaked, and most importantly, under-
standing that it’s reasonable to pull back
or stop something that is proven ineffective. “You have to be open to act on all
three,” she says. ■
WHAT’S YOUR favorite business
lesson learned from Pulse? Let’s
continue the conversation on social
media using hashtag #PulseLessons.