Medicine That Matters

When my left kidney exploded due to a stone- see "The Pain Crucible", 4/23/10- I desperately needed the highest level of technical expertise in diagnosis and treatment that modern medicine has to offer. How nice that I also received simple human connection.

As Ricky Ricardo used to say to Lucy, "Let me 'splain".  Have a look at this picture of Our Phair City:

When most people look this photo, they see the architecture and the beauty of a downtown and all that, and so do I.  Yet I also see thousands upon thousands of people in all those buildings in a state of high uncertainty.  Even fear.  Because the deal was, you come work for "the man", for corporations, and you keep your head down, follow the manual, go by the rules, do what you're told, perhaps give up your creativity and your art and even in some cases (sweatshops?) your humanity and in return you get certainty, the security of having a "safe" job.  One that's "secure".  And- the hidden part of the deal that people don't want to admit- you don't have to make the hard decisions.

 

Of course what has happened is that so many of these companies have dropped their part of the deal.  There is no certainty anymore.  Can you say "Layoffs"?  "Downsizing"?  "Merge and Purge"?  "Outsourcing"?

 

Seth Godin expounds on this theme beautifully in his new book Linchpin.  I attended the book launch, I've heard him speak- and I believe that he's right on the mark about all this.

 

From the book:

 

First, understand that your competition has been building a faceless machine exactly like yours. And when customers have the choice between faceless options, they pick the cheapest, fastest, more direct option. If you want customers to flock to you, it’s tempting to race to the bottom of the price chart. There’s not a lot of room for profit there, though. You can’t out-Amazon Amazon, can you? In a world that relentlessly races to the bottom, you lose if you also race to the bottom. The only way to win is to race to the top. When your organization becomes more human, more remarkable, faster on its feet, and more likely to connect directly with customers, it becomes indispensable. The very thing that made your employee a linchpin makes YOU a linchpin. An organization of indispensable people doing important work is remarkable, profitable, and indispensable in and of itself.

 

Second, the people who work for you, the ones you freed to be artists, will rise to a level you can’t even imagine. When people realize that they are not a cog in a machine, an easily replaceable commodity, they take the challenge and grow. They produce more than you pay them to, because you are paying them with something worth more than money. They do more than they’re paid to, on their own, because they value quality for its own sake, and they want to do good work. They need to do good work. Anything less feels intellectually dishonest, and like a waste of time. In exchange, you’re giving them freedom, responsibility, and respect, which are priceless. As a result of these priceless gifts, expect that the linchpins on your staff won’t abuse their power. In fact, they’ll work harder, stay longer, and produce more than you pay them to. Because everyone is a person, and people crave connection and respect.

 

What Seth says in Linchpin and I agree is that what's left is human connection, and your Art and creativity, and providing Certainty for your patients/customers/clients.  That's where success lies now.  Now that so much has changed in our world. 

 

Consider the poor quality of some medical experiences these days in the corporate machine that is health care.  See "The Technical Part Certainly Isn't All That Matters", 12/26/09.  Recall your last few experiences in medical offices.  I'd guess that about 2/3 of the time you were treated like an interchangeable cog in a machine.  If I had to guess, that's the ratio between faceless corporate experiences and visceral, human ones in the U.S. medical field today.

 

Simple, meaningful human connection.  The opposite of cog-in-a-machine.  This is what the urology docs and the nurses at Hahnemann gave to me the whole way through my treatment.  Plus extreme technical expertise!  I was/am very lucky.

 

Their website is http://urologicconsultsepa.com

 

Dionne Williams is, without doubt, one of the finest nurses in Philadelphia.  She puts patients at ease with her humor and kindness.  Dionne could host her own TV show and we'd all watch it!  Yet she has all the technical skill in the world to back that up.

 

Dr. Justin Harmon treated my complex situation with consummate skill and explained what was happening every step of the way- thus removing the fear that is inevitably caused by the unknown in medical situations.  I truly felt that he was on my side during the entire 7-week long treatment process.

 

Here is a link to Dr. Harmon's online CV- credit where credit is due:

 

http://www.urologicconsultsepa.com/images/uploaded/ucsepa/CV-Harmon.pdf

 

We should recognize our excellent medical experiences, and also speak to our peers about the ones that don't measure up.  That's how change occurs in this age of marvelous transparency.

 

Comments

[Tom Bentley]

Rick, I have an osteopath who is my must trusted medical man, because of his unerring discernment in diagnosing and treating, but just as much so for his listening abilities. He is very attuned to the whole of a patient, the things unspoken, the meta-language, as well as the specific pathologies. And he's a bit of a Renaissance man as well, with broad interests and curiosities. Very unlike many physicians I've experienced, and one of the reasons I've seen him for my various aliments over many years.

Human connection (and giant aspirins, when needed) indeed...

[Angela Lussier]

Rick, I love that you brought this topic up in such a poetic way - thanking the people who get the importance of human connection, while reminding people that this isn't happening everywhere. I hear what you're saying, and I'm trying to create a corporate program that I can use to bring back the human connection, the need for people to be human at work and bring their essence to what they do, not trap it in a box all day and have their soul sucked out of them from 9-5! Onward!

[Rick Wilson DMD]

Angela, that particular project is important work indeed. Please continue with it! Ship!