Run faster to run faster

To run faster you have to run faster. This training instruction kept going through my head this morning as I was pounding out the 4 mile run with my running partner Carolyn. I have been a pretty steady 10 minute mile pace runner for a very long time, except 4 years ago when my pace was closer to 8 minute miles. During that time period 4 years ago I was running faster to run faster, and it worked. This seems so relevant to what is happening now in health care; we have to run faster.

Health care doesn’t have a lot of experience in making fast changes. A longitudinal study of hospitals by Marlin, Hounker, and Hasbrouck (2004) showed that health care organizations with strategic initiatives are different than companies in other industries. While other industries will try to differentiate themselves from competitors, health care organizations copy each other. How is that running faster? To run faster we have to do change it up; short bursts of higher intensity to feel the burn. As health care organizations we have to implement pilot studies and try new ideas. We have to get them off the design table and into operations quickly. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, move on to something else.

So this morning I put a sprint into the last quarter mile, pushing as hard as I could knowing the end was literally in sight. I may not make it back to the 8 minute miles, and really I don’t care about the time because I am not competing with anyone. However, a few sprints in the day will enhance my effect. I think the same is true for our organizations.

Marlin, D., Huonker, J. W., & Hasbrouck, R. B. (2004). Navigating turbulent times:
Strategic groups and performance in the hospital industry, 1983 to 1993.
Organizational Analysis, 12(2), 91-107.