How to tackle depression in Japan?
The health care sector is at an important crossroads. With new diseases emerging and endemic diseases becoming more widespread, the industry is having to explore new ways to face such challenges. One key concern is depression, which impacts the lives of tens of millions of people worldwide and costs society hundreds of billions of dollars annually. It was this challenge that recently brought together MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI) and pharmaceutical company Takeda, headquartered in Japan, to explore new ways to approach complex problems. Takeda’s Center for Scientific Leadership and Innovation (CSLI) identified a specific and particularly difficult health care challenge — depression in Japan — to test-drive new ways of improving health care and of building capabilities in its leadership ranks. The collaboration between Takeda and CCI, which included over 30 Takeda executives from throughout the world and the company, centered around a process of ideation called “supermind design.” This...