Health Tech: Douglas Green On How Servicon’s Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our Overall Wellness
An Interview With Dave Philistin
You must know your people and understand them. In our line of business labor is the number one element that makes up our job, we want to empower our front-line workforce and let them know we have their backs.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Douglas Green.
Douglas Green is a flexible, energetic, science-minded, people person. As the head of innovation at Servicon, he must use all those skills to motivate other employees about the company’s mission while generating new ideas. The technologies Green and his team come up with radically impact the cleanliness of not just your home, but where you work and the hospital you or your loved one receives medical treatment.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
Well, let’s start with a “G’Day!” Yes, I’m from the land down under, specifically the North Shore of Sydney. It was a fantastic area to grow up, consistently listed as one of the safest suburbs with convenient city access and there were lots of families and parks nearby. That always meant a mix of work — helping mum and dad clean the house — and play — at the beach! Besides traditional sports like tennis and basketball, I learned how to surf at an early age. And while that might fit a stereotype, I often burst the bubble of my American friends when I let them know that no, there are not kangaroos bouncing around everywhere and no, we don’t put another shrimp on the barbie because our name for a shrimp is prawns!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
It’s the most interesting, likely because it’s the most scandalous! But it’s also where I learned several lessons about the risks of working for a start-up while also meeting great people, like Tom Schurman, who I currently work for at Servicon. So, the story goes like this: A start-up (that will remain unnamed) was looking to bring elements of Star Trek’s tricorder to life as a portable X-Ray technology. Investors raised millions in venture funding believing the device the size of an iPhone would transform health care. It never happened. The company went bust. We all lost our jobs and the CEO was accused of pocketing a lot of cash. Always trust your gut. Even if you believe in the technology, you have to remember to ask yourself if you can trust the people involved.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Well, of course and after that last story, this one is more uplifting! Professor Ian Clarke at Loma Linda University School of Medicine has had the greatest impact on my career and life because he gave me my first job opportunity in the United States. I may never have stayed in SoCal if he hadn’t opened the door in Tribology. Which is the study of wear and tear/friction and design bearings. We specifically studied joints when it came to hip and knee replacement. While that sounds technical and maybe a little too “science-y,” we had groundbreaking research on biomaterials, while also having a few laughs (when we could understand each other’s accents!) Clarke is Scottish, and we’ve already established I’m Australian, and both of us had an affinity for surfing, so we knew our research may directly help us one day as well as the rest of humanity! Win-win!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Just one!? Because you know we Aussies are known for our funny sayings…or so I’m told. I always relay to my 7.5-year-old son, Archie, that it’s most important in life to be a good human. It’s not about what you do, it’s about who you are as a person and how you treat other people. That’s the nice way of saying Australian comedian Jim Jeffries famous line, that I cannot repeat here. If you know it…. I hope you’re getting a good giggle.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I think you always need to keep a good sense of humor — including about yourself! Things are not going to go your way all the time, but if you’re a good person, no one can take that away from you. In terms of business, I think it’s helped me network and bounce back very quickly from any perceived failures I’ve had in my life.
Empathy, grace, and humility are key to achieving Servicon’s purpose: to elevate our industry and provide healthy environments for people to thrive.
I have to always remember that the products we develop at Servicon can have an immediate impact on domestic care workers — who are the backbone of our society. I want to know how the materials or products will impact them when they do the work of cleaning, and how it can also impact people who live in the cleaned space — like a hospital. Talk about the importance of providing healthy environments for people!
You must have empathy, compassion and emotional intelligence to look at all of those things. I also was able to witness how quickly work-life balance eroded when first my son and then I came down with covid. As a single dad, I balance the best I can and I know so many of our employees are, too, I can always put myself in their shoes, which I think leads to greater understanding and belonging in the workplace.
Along with that idea, I have learned the ability to give myself grace, which means, I must give it to others, too when mistakes are made. And since we’re human, we are all going to make mistakes! Even though I speak English, my Australian slang can get me into trouble or be misunderstood, so I ask you bear with me and give me some grace when I misspell a word or two in document or text!
As an innovation manager, I have to motivate employees to share ideas and work harder. I have always found that the humble managers were more approachable, able to forgive and more willing to acknowledge the work of others. This is a trait I have gotten more comfortable in as I’ve gotten a little older…and maybe wiser. I don’t have to take credit for everything. If my team and the partnerships developed are strong, that will always be better overall for the company.
To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
You might think my answer is a little funny but stick with me. Right now, we are witnessing the great resignation happening across the United States. Mainly, because the pandemic exposed so many issues in what employees want from their employer and how families need to keep themselves safe. Did you know 6 in 10 caregivers are employed, including nearly half that work full-time? That means we have workers we depend on at Servicon who are not only cleaning hospitals and businesses, but then they’re turning around and going home to take care of a parent, a child or a disabled family member. We want to make sure we are developing products that make people’s lives easier, can get the work done faster and keep people healthy. The key detail for this to happen is by lifting our industry up and placing a new spotlight on it, this in turn means we create clean environments for people to work in so they can thrive.
How do you think your technology can address this?
Cleaning involves a lot of chemical use and some of those chemicals in their concentrated form can pose a serious risk to our people’s safety and long-term health. At Servicon we not only use the most appropriate chemical for the pathogen we are tackling but also the saftest. So, identifying chemistries that fulfill those criteria is a must and we have introduced chemistries that do away with bleach based and quaternary ammonium chloride compounds (QUATS). Keeping in the same tone of safety, the old mop and bucket has served our industry for generations, but this methodology is antiquated and can cause many on the job ailments through repetitious movements. We have introduced a technology across all our verticals that we service to minimize the use of the mop and bucket. This not only helps our workers in preserving their bodies, but it makes their job quicker and dare I say it a little more fun to do. And lastly, we may all remember seeing the school janitor using a device to buff and polish the corridors that looks like a giant disks sander that the janitor was trying to grapple with, we call this a side by side in our industry. These are dangerous if the person isn’t successfully trained on its use and can damage walls and baseboards. So, we introduced a technology analogous to an orbital sander that can be simply pushed and pulled along a flooring to do that same job as the side by side and the other benefit of this technology is that is can be used solely with plain tap water to replace the use of floor stripper (a toxic chemical) to remove wax from flooring. Here the technology has a twofold benefit, stopping the use of a toxic chemical formulation and utilizing technology to replace a side by side that can cause harm to the operator and to the environment its being used in.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
My mum is a cancer survivor who is currently in the middle of battle again. She always worked and kept an impeccable home. She also cared for my sister and me and somehow made everything run smoothly and beautifully. My love for her and seeing all she has gone through and continues to go through keeps me motivated. I think about how many moms…and dads could have more fulfilling or happier times, if they had products that were safe and more efficient, so they could get back to family time.
How do you think this might change the world?
If people can spend more time at home, mental health overall will improve, and we can be a happier universe. I know that sounds like a hippie idea, but we’ve gotten so out of control as a society and so divided, that if people can have more time to soothe and play, I think we would all be better off.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
In the back of my mind, I’m always thinking about how antibiotics, while wonderful and needed, became overused and then some serious conditions were resistant to the drugs. That’s why when we develop new products or technologies, they have to have balance. I also say we don’t do tests; we do studies. It is critical to look at how these products can impact people over time.
can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
- You must know your people and understand them. In our line of business labor is the number one element that makes up our job, we want to empower our front-line workforce and let them know we have their backs
- Training, training, and more training — you can think you have the next best technology but without serious implementation and training behind that technology you just have another widget gathering dust in the corner and as a cleaning company we don’t like dust
- Bringing in new technology means you’re trying to solve a problem and in order for that technology to do so you must have a solid grasp on what the problem is firsthand
- Integrity from the CEO down to our front-line workers, having your north star outshine all that you do makes a huge impact and to think we have people that have been with Servicon for 25–30 years speaks to this sentiment
- The ability to listen. Not just listening at the onset but listening through the whole process of bringing in new technology and after you have deployed it. You may have thought you solved the problem but be mindful of feedback you receive from the field and listen with intention and adapt if you need to with what you have listened too
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
We need one another, and we need a planet in order to have one another. We all want to belong and be understood as does our planet. Let’s start working together on all of it. My girlfriend always says: the world isn’t black and white, it’s a beautiful shade of grey. Let’s stop fighting and live there so we can have a planet and society we’re proud of and is thriving.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them
Well, if that’s the case, Patrick Rafter! (points if you know who that is) In terms of work and in all seriousness, Elon Musk would be fascinating to talk to, we both have science backgrounds, and I could pick his brain on our products and services while also hearing about sending those Starling satellites to Ukraine.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I love networking, but I haven’t gotten too keen on social media. I realize we live in a world that needs both, so you can find me on LinkedIn at Douglas D. Green.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
