In many sporting events today, there is always a winner and a loser, never a tie. You either totally succeed or totally fail. In this episode, Clint discusses how this concept is not really appropriate in healthcare. In team dynamics, it is critical that the load of the effort come from the entire team, not one or two standouts. Each member must contribute to the overall effort. As such, it is then perfectly okay for one member to be scaled back in their efforts while another takes the lead. Tog...
Mar 05, 2010•8 min
In football, you get 4 downs to advance the ball 10 yards to get a new first down. If after three downs, you are short of the mark, you have a choice of either trying to go for it (knowing you might not make it) or to punt, thus giving the ball back to the other team, but at least doing so at a disadvantage to them. This second choice is often a good option because it gives the team a chance to regroup, take a breather and re-attack the problem anew from a fresh perspective later. It is no diffe...
Mar 04, 2010•8 min
There are a myriad of ways to capture great ideas - on paper, sticky notes, digital storage, audio recording, you name it. Everyone has their own preferred preference. The important aspect is that it gets captured. Acquisition, however, is not enough. We need mechanisms to share and act on these ideas, otherwise, they sit hollow and unfulfilled. Clint challenges listeners today to pay specific attention to being sure we are always ready to capture great ideas whenever they may come along, and mo...
Mar 03, 2010•8 min
Have you seen this behavior before? A problem arises and someone just has to put in his/her two cents purely to state an obvious conclusion or to propose a solution which, while it may be simple and obvious, is not ultimately viable. Healthcare is a difficult enough profession already without having to deal with these non-solutions. Was it desperately needed are honest, well-explored possible solutions to choose a path from to hopefully affect positive outcomes. Some solutions may wind up actual...
Mar 02, 2010•8 min
Your opinion matters! That being said, how you get that opinion out so others can consider it can be a delicate matter. There are several key elements required to enable you to be able to put forth your thoughts on a subject in a manner that will determine whether you are successful in sharing those ideas or if you will be met by defensiveness or disregard. Check out Clint’s hints to bring forth what’s on your mind in an effective and powerful way!
Mar 01, 2010•8 min
In today’s episode, Clint converses with Paul Collins (founder and managing partner of Equiteq LLP, a UK based business advisory firm) regarding his background and expertise in building and improving healthcare service excellence, cost reduction and process improvement, both in the UK and abroad. Listen in!
Feb 26, 2010•8 min
Today, Clint wants us to take a moment to reflect on those moments that take your breath away, when healthcare professionals are able to go above and beyond to create events whereby we can all get a re-affirmation of why we are in the people business in the first place. These moments occur everyday in many places across the land and it is vital that we are able to take time now and then to absorb, reflect on and celebrate these little victories.
Feb 25, 2010•8 min
The concept of ‘normal’ is not a normal occurrence in the people business of healthcare. While there can be expectations of some normalcy in regards to things like standard routines/procedures/etc, when humans enter into the equation, it is instead highly helpful to be prepared for the abnormal occurrences which will inevitably happen sooner or later. While, obviously, all possible various events of abnormalities cannot be accurately predicted, we can however use past experiences and predictive ...
Feb 24, 2010•8 min
It is a fundamental basis of social interaction - your word. Our daily dealings with others hinge on our abilities to gain and hold the trust associated with giving our word to others so they can be assured things will be addressed as promised. That being said, it is not without question that impediments occasionally arise that cause us to overcommit in things we promise, which is fine as long as we go the extra distance to re-close the loop with others to update them on the change in status so ...
Feb 23, 2010•8 min
At times in life, it is not uncommon to get ‘stuck in a rut’ where things may not necessarily be going bad, but progress is at a standstill nonetheless (often thought of as ‘in the groove’). As such, ruts can still cause great harm to an organization, if not directly, then indirectly through lost opportunities and unrealized potentials. What’s the best way to deal with ruts? Avoid them in the first place! If you still manage to get into one, then it is critical to know that; a) you’re in one b) ...
Feb 22, 2010•8 min
Previous Clintcast episodes have discussed the critical importance of making the most of the incoming customer experience. Today, Clint discusses taking this process even further with what he calls customized concierge service. In many cases, when a new customer arrives, not only should we be meeting that new customer with all our great welcome procedures in place, but we should also be gaining information (ahead of time if possible) to predictively anticipate issues or concerns that will be spe...
Feb 19, 2010•8 min
We are constantly among people in our lives who are particularly good at the art of persuasion (some positive, some not so positive). Politicians, civic leaders, teachers, sales personnel, etc are some typical examples. One misconception that is prevalent is that these people are usually limited to the top ranks of their area. In fact, people of all walks and organizational levels can have excellent persuasion skills. In fact, when faced with instituting change policies within an organization, i...
Feb 18, 2010•8 min
Some folks out there are what we lovingly call ‘firefighters’ - ones who are constantly in the process of putting out ‘fires’. You’ve likely seen them before (or may even be one)... they are continually in a state of fixing things, coming to the rescue of an overwhelmingly large pile of tasks that no one else seems qualified to be able to handle. While the person’s intentions may be good, this can be a very difficult and debilitating situation for an organization to deal with and things tend to ...
Feb 17, 2010•8 min
While practice does indeed help one to become closer to perfection, it does not necessarily make ‘perfect’. In the end though, ‘perfection’ should not always be the end goal. The reason is with perfection often comes inflexibility. While one can train and train to nail a particular process without any errors, the fact is that life rarely stays the same such that the process is written in stone. Instead, practicing enough for excellence while still maintaining the option to be flexible and adapta...
Feb 16, 2010•8 min
Perhaps in healthcare, more-so than anywhere else, honesty is an aspect that is highly sought after. That being said though, there is still the possibility that honesty can be delivered in a manner that is harmful. How can you be more effective at delivering honest information in a way that also garners tact and style points? Tune in today as Clint passes on some suggestions, such as using ‘I feel’ statements instead of blanket blame statements, such as ‘you never’. I little forethought goes a l...
Feb 15, 2010•8 min
Laugh[ing] Out Loud, or LOL as it is known in Internet lingo, is a vital part of our daily lives, even in our teams! Teaming makes it easier - especially when we can share a group moment of humor, which can also have an uncanny power to reinforce bonds of camaraderie as we work on the various tasks of healthcare... even the serious ones! It is important to distinguish that we do not want to laugh AT people or other inappropriate situations. More often than not, the source of the humor can be our...
Feb 12, 2010•8 min
The process of people exhibiting attention seeking behaviors (young or old) is well known and thoroughly documented. These are folks who, most typically, are seeking attention through bad behaviors, if for no other reason than acting out gets them some sort of attention, whether positive or negative (sounds a bit like a troll?) to feed their attention needs. This is probably because these attention needs are not being met elsewhere. Learn how these situations occur and techniques on how to handl...
Feb 11, 2010•8 min
The healthcare career is, by a great many measures, a special path. Not everyone is cut out to be a part of this calling. That being said however, occasionally healthcare professionals do choose to try out or migrate to other professional directions. In today’s episode, Clint elaborates on a discussion he has had with others lately regarding these migrations and how they tend to work out for those people. He contends, as do many others, that while these new professions may indeed be fulfilling, ...
Feb 10, 2010•8 min
Pretty much everyone has encountered it at one time or another - the second wind. It is that point when we have been going hard for a good while, perhaps reached plateau for a while, and then found a new burst of energy to finish the task at hand. This concept can occur with teams too as we go about tackling tasks in a group-driven environment. Today, Clint discusses these second wind efforts and how they commonly take place within a team’s 12-week cycle, as well as between cycles. Knowing these...
Feb 09, 2010•8 min
Today, per a listener request, Clint ponders the key facets of the ‘vacation’. We all have different ideas on what types of activities/lengths of time/etc constitute a vacation. Some prefer longer, more infrequent breaks, others frequent short bursts of long weekends. Whatever the preference, the key takeaway must be a period of recharging whereby the vacationee gets a boost of renewal and fresh energy. If the vacation period is spent doing energy draining activities, then little, if any, is gai...
Feb 08, 2010•8 min
We are all familiar with the traditional meaning of ‘popping the question’ (aka, ‘will you marry me’) but this common phrase also has an important counterpart in the healthcare profession... ‘will you help me’. These four little words have a similar power to create a strong partnership between two people as they work toward a common goal in delivering service excellence. It infers a 50/50 relationship whereby the pair can mutually benefit for a combined output of more than 100%. When you multipl...
Feb 05, 2010•8 min
For many, the very word is a downer... Monday. However, it doesn’t have to be this way (in fact, it should be just the opposite). If Mondays seem to be a day set aside to triage the remains of what occurred over the weekend, then you have a pretty good indicator that there are systems and policies in need of repair/replacement in your organization. From a sales/marketing/morale perspective, Monday should be the roaring start to a successful week, filled with goal-setting, strategic planning, mor...
Feb 04, 2010•8 min
Intelligence vs. Ignorance of an organization is not a measure (necessarily) of collective IQ. Instead, it has everything to do with the growth of the organization. IQ has little to no impact on the true nature of intelligence - the choice to consciously and relentlessly pursue growth in examining and implementing new/more successful means of carrying on our work (or adding new work avenues to expand our positive reach). Ignorance, conversely ‘is bliss’ as they say, at least internally... conten...
Feb 03, 2010•8 min
There are times for all of us when emotions can become a factor and we have a ‘moment of drama’. That’s okay - it’s human nature to have emotions. However, there are times when, for some, the spotlight becomes a bit addictive and the drama plays on and on. Today, Clint examines how this situation, left out of hand, can become very debilitating for an organization and how to nip it as quickly as possible when it does rear its head. The biggest way to prevent the drama in the first place is to be ...
Feb 02, 2010•8 min
Our brains are our local, mobile computers that we rely upon every minute of every day to support us in our life processes. Furthermore, they are in a life-long, constant state of being ‘programmed’ by external ephemera and inputs beyond ourselves, some positive, some negative. As such, it is critical that we take an active role in the ‘programming’ our brains absorb, being wary of the programming maxim that garbage in = garbage out. Only we can determine for ourselves what to let in, what to le...
Feb 01, 2010•8 min
When the ‘sticky-note’ came into existence, it did not take long for folks to instantly recognize how helpful those little yellow slips of paper could be to our self organization processes. However, one must carefully guard against their use as a serious means of communication within an organization (as well as their virtual counterparts, email and voicemail) as you will eventually (and likely routinely) get burned when something as simple as failing adhesive, for instance, comes into play. Clin...
Jan 29, 2010•8 min
A critical aspect of leadership is the ability to believe in people. This is a fundamental requirement in order to be able to setup an environment of follower-ship whereby team members not only foster trust in each other, but can utilize that trust to build upon each member’s strengths in a synergistic manner to achieve successes unreachable by single members. This too, helps to prevent anyone from feeling overwhelmed under the weight of having to deliver success totally on their own (which lead...
Jan 28, 2010•8 min
A key tactic in the practice of shunning excuse-making in your daily work/life is the avoidance of the use of the word ‘if’, as this word commonly prefaces an excuse or reason as to why something is not successfully occurring. The ideal conditions for success, free of any impediments, rarely occur on their own out of thin air. As such, it is vital to be cognizant of which impediments are holding up progress, how to overcome them in which order, and then to utilize ‘when’ statements instead, show...
Jan 27, 2010•8 min
Strategic planning is a critical component to any organization’s success and great care and diligence should be put into its process. A major sub-component to this process is not only to consider what makes (or will make in the future) your organization a success, but also that of your competitors. Thus Analyzing Competitive Advantage is likewise a key factor to ongoing success and planning. Aspects to examine include entrepreneurial spirit, acceptable calculated risk-taking, integration of grow...
Jan 26, 2010•8 min
The healthcare profession, in comparison to other professions, is obviously one that requires a great deal of attention, energy and continual effort. As such, it becomes a debilitating issue when a team-member is chronically not willing to put forth the necessary requirements/effort to perform the duties as needed. When this happens, it is critical that team members (without necessarily waiting on management action) address the lazy person’s behaviors and get them on board, or in a different lin...
Jan 25, 2010•8 min
