Optimization has become a defining feature of modern healthcare. We optimize, review, tweak, and measure our systems and ourselves against a super-optimized standard. Better, faster, safer, more productive, efficient and effective. We’re always looking for improvement. And for good reason. 21st century healthcare has worked to prioritize safety and quality ... Continue Reading about Suboptimization as a Healthcare Strategy
The Angry Email
The angry email is a timeless problem among young leaders and managers. Something gets us upset and we impulsively take to the keyboard to try to fix it. What comes out is typically edgy and direct. Usually there’s frustration buried between the lines. I've had the chance to work with several young physician leaders over the past couple of years. I've been able to ... Continue Reading about The Angry Email
Drucker on How to Manage Change
Peter Drucker, the father of modern day management, inspired a generation of leaders with his quote, "One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it." This needs to be reconsidered. Because there's the fantasy of staying ahead of change and then there's the modern reality. Early in this century technological progress exceeded the system’s ability to keep up. ... Continue Reading about Drucker on How to Manage Change
The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
In his book, Leaders Eat Last — Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, Simon Sinek discusses the importance of a safe work environment for innovation, productivity and survival. He calls this leader-driven space the Circle of Safety. It is easy to know when we are in the Circle of Safety because we can feel it. We feel valued by our colleagues and we feel ... Continue Reading about The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
Since the pandemic healthcare has undergone a remarkable transformation. Before COVID dropped in as our latest wicked problem, technology was upending everything we do. I’ve been thinking a lot about the burnout, confusion, uncertainty, and exhaustion that we’re facing. I've been thinking about the conditions that define healthcare. When we talk about these ... Continue Reading about Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
Thought Leaders and Thought Followers
Industry is keen on identifying experts with unique insight and capacity to influence. They write the map for the rest of us to follow. They’re called thought leaders. Alternatively there are thought followers. These are the folks who repeat, regurgitate, reshape and mimic thought leaders. Their association by sharing on the stage of Twitter can make them seem ... Continue Reading about Thought Leaders and Thought Followers