Adapt to Evolving Healthcare Needs
Intellectually, healthcare executives understand they must champion change to keep pace with and outrun their competition. Yet, people often feel trapped by their own ideology, acting as though an oppressive regime or organizational structure has been forced on them by an unknown agent. They see themselves as victims. Usually, they have created their own traps and tyranny by making the status quo resistant to change. Imprisoned by their own behavior, they avoid conversations that would help them discover the gaps between their intention to change and their decisions to change.
Where does the balance between honoring the hospital’s history and embracing the future occur? When does a stake in the ground serve as a sign of commitment, and when does it tether the warrior to his grave? We need to understand the advantages of change and the pitfalls of getting it wrong. Only then can we address the tough calls healthcare executives must make to serve as agents for and champions of change while preserving the best of what should never change. Here are five ways to do that:
- Make things flexible and easy to change.
- React immediately to competitors’ changes and other changes in healthcare.
- Also, proactively embrace change.
- Break down silos.
- Reward innovative thinking.
John Steinbeck said, “Change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass.” Change may come to authors like that, but in most hospitals, the change is more like a tornado than a gentle wind. Demands of the marketplace, the accelerating pace of globalization, innovative technology, and new alliances—all have created needs for leaders to help their people respond quickly and repeatedly to change.
Some people thrive on change; they have trouble when things become too predictable or mundane. Those individuals will need your ideas for developing and challenging their talent. However, this chapter addresses the change-averse or change-challenged. This not-so-silent majority would prefer a root canal to any change in their software. To help them, therefore, you’ll need to understand how to manage change and its impact on people—some of the most fundamental aspects of leadership.
