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From Ikaria, Greece, to Sardinia, Italy, people who live longer follow a wide variety of diets. What’s the one thing their eating habits all have in common? A “plant slant” — fruits and vegetables are at the center of their diets.

Back in the U.S, some communities are already incorporating the nine healthy principles followed in the world’s longevity hotspots, including “plant slant” (#5). Wellmark has found a way to take advantage of this trend through its Blue Zones sponsorship. We can learn from this sponsorship and see how other industries — from produce to wine — can also benefit from the growing trend. 

In our past few posts, we covered the first five principles: (Move Naturally, Know Your Purpose, Downshift, 80% Rule and Plant Slant.) Learn about the other four at bluezones.com.

Just a reminder: Grandparents’ Day is this Sunday, September 13! Here are simple suggestions communities can use to make this Grandparents’ Day the grandest ever.

1. Bring a smile to a resident’s face, with a “Happy Grandparents’ Day!”

2. Post pictures of residents with their grandchildren on your community Facebook page.

3. Encourage your community book club to read a book that highlights the important role of a grandparent.

4. Feature a special story of a grandparent resident in your community newsletter.

5. Ask grandparents to share photos of their grandchildren at an afternoon coffee or tea.

6. Encourage grandparents to display photos of their grandchildren on the doors of their residences.

Find more grand ways to celebrate here.

Studies show that seniors who read stay mentally sharper and have a lower risk of dementia. But the truth about their reading habits is surprising.

According to a Pew Research study, only 70% of seniors have read a book in the last year, compared to 79% of millennials.

If your community library is appealing and well stocked, it could encourage more residents to read on a regular basis.  Below are some affordable suggestions to help make your library more inviting.

1. Be creative about book donations. Book fairs, garage sales, resident donations, and organizations like Better World Books are all good sources.
2. Recruit volunteers—especially former librarians. They can lead other volunteers and get your library into shape.
3. Build community partnerships. Trading donations and cross-promoting literary events with your local library can be mutually beneficial.
4. Hold a unique fundraising event. One Texas community held a highly successful three-day book festival complete with local authors.
5. Get inspiration. Check Pinterest and other sites to see the innovative ideas other libraries have used.

It’s not an Olympic-size pool or walk-in-closet. It’s something even more appealing: driverless transportation.

Every retiree dreads giving up the keys. Some people even put off getting a checkup out of fear their doctor will tell them they need to stop driving. Moving to a retirement community can be a partial solution, with a shuttle to shopping and errands.  And now, senior living transportation is about to move forward—with the driverless vehicle.

Although Google and others are working to get the driverless car on the road, strict government regulations are putting up roadblocks. Meanwhile, a startup called Auro is moving more quickly, targeting universities and retirement communities on private property, where laws are less strict.  According to Technology Review, Auro is testing a prototype at a retirement community this year.

How residents benefit from the new technology: They have more mobility, since driverless shuttles will be able to make on-demand pickups, not just at scheduled times and on set routes. How communities benefit: lower cost. According to Auro, a self-driving shuttle could reduce transportation costs by 40 to 60% because there’s no driver salary.

So forget building that new pool. Draw residents in with the perk of the future: a self-driving shuttle. It’s available for pre-order now.

As consultants, we spend much of our time asking questions—and listening to the answers. The insights we gain help inspire solutions that lead to success.

We want to enter into a conversation with you about the performance of your business.

In this day of instant information availability, it surprises us how little we really do share our successes, challenges and frustrations.

Our team has crafted a brief survey based upon multiple conversations with business leaders like you, from a variety of publicly traded, privately held and nonprofit entities. The questions that came out of those conversations will help us learn what works and what doesn’t in today’s challenging economic climate. We are asking you to share how you approach a number of key business activities—planning, leading, executing, etc.

As in most surveys, we begin the process with a certain set of preconceived notions.  You will either confirm these notions or provide a different perspective on what people are doing to achieve business success. Regardless, we will share the results with you as you direct.

Please take a few moments to help us understand what successful organizations like yours are doing to exceed their target goals, regardless of the type of business or mission you represent.

Thank you immensely for your contribution to helping us define business success.

If you put a preschool inside a retirement community, what would happen?

Something very unexpected: Both the children and the seniors underwent an amazing transformation.

At Providence Mount St. Vincent, a senior living community in the Seattle area, a preschool is actually housed inside the community’s campus. On a daily basis, the children sing, dance, draw and visit with residents. The interactions bring laughter, companionship, learning and understanding to all of their lives.

Around 500 communities in the U.S. offer similar programs, and filmmaker Evan Briggs would like to see this model implemented on a larger scale.

Briggs is making a documentary about the preschool to raise publicity about the benefits of intergenerational interactions. This video is a trailer she made to raise funds on Kickstarter to finish her documentary. If you’d like to support her efforts, you can do so here.

Studies have shown that participating in creative activities can help keep our minds sharp as we age. But why stop at woodworking and pottery? Seniors in Lisbon, Portugal, have taken to the streets and are spray painting their graffiti tags across the walls of the city.

A recent study by the Mayo Clinic has found that seniors who engage in artistic activity may have a decreased risk of mild cognitive impairment. And the earlier these creative activities are started, the more they benefit the brain. In fact, the risk of mild cognitive impairment is lowered about 75 percent in people who regularly engage in artistic activities, both in midlife and later in life.

LATA 65, an organization in Lisbon is teaching seniors an unexpected form of art: graffiti. The program was created to introduce graffiti to an older generation of artists and to decorate run-down areas with colorful murals. Sounds a lot more exciting than basket weaving.

Advertising great Bill Bernbach said, “The most powerful element in advertising is the truth.”

If you make a promise about your organization, it should be something that can’t be disputed when people walk through your doors. The promise can be aspirational or even transformational, but you have to live up to what you’re claiming in the marketplace.

For instance, you wouldn’t want to say you sell a safe car if it’s vulnerable in rear-end collisions, like the Ford Pinto was. As Jerry Della Femina said, “There is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all that will do is put you out of business faster.”

When we’re looking for insights about an organization, we start on the inside and work our way out. Our clients are the best ones to tell us about their culture. They can share the truths they’ve learned about their organization, from mission, vision and values to current and future services and goals.

Along with being true, your promise also needs to be unique and compelling. I’ll cover those qualities in future posts.

Managing a successful organization has never been easy, but given today’s rapidly evolving changes, the leadership challenge, at least for most of us, is greater than ever.  Pressures from a variety of stakeholder groups compete for our time, attention and resources. More than ever, distractions seem to intercept our good intentions. Results—favorable ones—don’t occur without a plan. Exceptional results happen only when the plan is well executed. Unfortunately, too many of us invest far more time in developing the plan than in managing or executing the plan.

More Than an Exercise

Strategic planning is a discipline that should be logical, practical and manageable. Many of the plans I review these days seemingly lack depth and evoke far too little action. Now that we have adopted the concept of strategic planning, let’s ensure we introduce plans to our teams that produce the desired results.  Planning should become integrated into our patterns of management at all layers of the organization, not simply an exercise for the board and a few select executives.

Missing Components

Two areas of planning I recommend consistently including in your strategic planning process are innovation and culture. Certainly these areas are difficult to articulate, but they are crucial to your success in driving the desired results. Whether you are competing for residents or employees, your ability to establish objectives for enhancing the culture in which your services are delivered creates a competitive advantage. In great work cultures, great ideas can come from any team member in any department. Setting the tone for culture is the foundation to creating a more innovative environment in which people want to contribute.

Monitoring Success

People want to know how their performance stacks up against expectations. Routine reporting on key accomplishments against the plan is often missing beyond the executive suite. Success happens when the entire organization is aware of the strategic plan as well as how they are doing in completing the objectives driven by that plan. Measuring and communicating success is more than simply crafting an email or printing a newsletter. Engaged teams want a personal account from leadership on how well they are achieving the goals for the organization.

Link to Performance

Is your organization performing at its absolute best? Why or why not? Is your strategic plan a living document embraced by your entire organization, or something that occupies space on your shelf only to be discussed at board meetings? Are you winning the “war for talent”—are the brightest people coming to work at your organization?

It is no longer enough to be good at anything—consumer expectations for your brand are high. If your organization is performing at a level that doesn’t create “wowed” customers, your plan needs work, and your executional tactics need attention. The journey of successful strategic planning and organizational performance must get your attention daily.

Once again, Varsity participated in the LeadingAge PEAK Leadership Summit, which was held this March in Washington, D.C. And, once again, key leaders across the field of aging services gathered for lively discussions and to share ideas about the future of our industry.

We wanted to share a few key themes we heard in our conversations:

Shaping tomorrow’s leaders: Pivoting off the national dialogue around Larry Minnix’s retirement, we all need to nurture the next generation of talent.

Embracing a new model for growth and stability: In the midst of reform, providers need to think beyond traditional approaches and the status quo. The ones who succeed will be strategic and innovative in how they navigate the evolving marketplace.

Identifying nontraditional partnerships: In an age where technology is making partnerships more accessible, and the field of aging services is demanding fresh ways of thinking, providers who seek innovative partnerships will uncover new opportunities for sustained success.

Defining an industry through the NameStorm Project: The 35-year-old term, “CCRC,” has placed the emphasis squarely on “care” and “retirement.” Varsity is proud to be a partner in this LeadingAge/Mather LifeWays initiative to explore a fresh moniker for the field of aging services.

Our team would welcome the opportunity to discuss these insights or to simply begin exploring the right questions that will lead to solid strategies for your community’s continued success.