While ethics guidelines are abstract, people must apply them to concrete, pressing dilemmas. This requires skill, not just good intentions. How can people learn to wisely put a company ethics guidelines into action? Using real-world lessons from health care leaders, this article outlines three practices that can help decision makers handle tough ethics scenarios. The authors also share four ways leaders can cultivate employees ethical expertise.

In the midst of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding, OpenIDEO - an online open innovation platform focused on design-driven solutions to social issues - rapidly launched a new challenge to improve access to health information, empower communities to stay safe during the COVID-19 crisis, and inspire global leaders to communicate effectively. OpenIDEO was particularly suited to challenges which required cross-system or sector-wide collaboration due to its focus on social impact and ecosystem design, but its leadership pondered how they could continue to improve virtual collaboration and to share their insights from nearly a decade of running online challenges. Conceived as an exercise of disruptive digital innovation, OpenIDEO successfully created a strong open innovation community, but how could they sustain - or even improve - their support to community members and increase the social impact of their online challenges in the coming years?