I want to use more of my brain

Over the weekend a neighbor hosted a party where they put up an inflatable movie screen and we watched a movie in their backyard. This has become an annual event, one that I look forward to attending. I enjoy it for the social aspect; neighbors and new people to meet. Another part I enjoy is watching a movie that I might not have chosen. This weekend the movie was Limitless (2012), an interesting look into the idea that we don’t use all of the capacity of our cognitive abilities and what it might look like if a drug could change that fact. At the same time I am reading the book Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey, providing evidence on how and why we are so often stuck in what we think and do. These two ideas seem to be colliding in my thoughts.

In health care are we caught fighting change because we don’t see everything we have in front of us? In the movie Limitless the main character, through a drug enhanced state, takes in subtleties of the environment and is able to connect data to create new understandings faster and more accurately than others. Through the work of Kegan and Lahey these authors are attempting to do the same, but without the drugs. If we understand when we are up against an adaptive challenge and we back up to see how past behavior will not support finding a new solution, our eyes will be opened to new possibilities. But it isn’t easy and we have to face some difficult ideas about ourselves and the industry. What are we missing in our limited view of health care? How can we better take the individual views of our team members to build a more comprehensive picture? How do we establish trust and improve communication so everyone sees their role as part of the change?

I am not done reading Immunity to Change, and the authors hint that there are tools in the book to help individuals and groups identify and overcome barriers to change. For now I am focusing on what fears I have that prevent me from doing what needs to be done and how this knowledge will benefit my work projects and the industry. These thoughts will just have to collide in my brain for a little while, with the hope of future clarity and a higher use of my resources.

Look to the future of health care

Recently I attended a presentation by a health care leader who talked to a large audience about the key aspects of leadership, in particular women in leadership. She mentioned having a vision for the future, building relationships, and creating balance in your life. She received a lot of nods and smiles as she spoke. I can’t disagree with her, the points she made are repeated in the literature and by consultants. However the nagging thought that crossed my mind is, this is too safe. How are we going to make the drastic changes needed in the health care industry if we play it safe. I don’t think we really know what the future holds, as described by Ronald Heifetz health care is in an adaptive challenge. We are now bringing smart phones into the health care monitoring world, and soon into diagnostics. What does this mean for the doctor working in a clinic? Does he or she have any idea what the future looks like? I doubt it.

Perhaps relationships need to be broken. Not all of them, just those that don’t serve the needs of patients and their families. In some ways it has already started. Pharmaceutical companies are self-regulating to break past relationships with doctors, those that were detrimental to patient care. I don’t think it will end here. At the same time new relationships will occur. Through technology doctors are able to serve the needs in geographic areas previously untouched. This is the beginning of new delivery of care models where patients “see” doctors who are far away, building lasting relationships to improve health.

Lastly she talked about creating balance. I don’t think we need balance; we need resiliency. Coming out of the work of many researchers, and popular in The Blue Zones, we need to fully engage with our passions. This isn’t about doing equal amounts of work and play. It is about building a structure within ourselves that can handle the bumps and challenges of what drives us.

As health care leaders we have to bring forward the latest and best research. We can’t just repeat what was said 25 years ago. It is a new world and we need the drive and passion to do the work differently and risk failure. Inspiring conversations will lead to revision of failures into new ideas and innovations. I look forward to being part of this revolution.