How can I make it so everyone on our team works towards a common goal? How do I deal with agendas, politics, poor communication, clashes in value systems, etc.? Every practice manager is faced with these types of questions and challenges. This is not specific to a health care practice, but is present in all business groups regardless of size or scope. Patrick Lencioni is one of the most prolific and acclaimed writers on this subject. His basic book, “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” is written in allegory, narrative style. It’s quite easy to read through and digest, and has become … [Read more...] about The Healthy Company
Personnel
The Sea of Entitlement
The current dominant theme you will face as both an employer and health care provider is one of entrenched, unconscious entitlement. Entitlements have been a part of our social and legal landscape for a long time, but this feature has grown and become progressively more crippling and destructive to the normal course of business. Entitlement means a legal claim to receive or to do something, many times relating to money. It’s not the same thing as a right, such as those outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, or in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United … [Read more...] about The Sea of Entitlement
A Culture of Accountability
The dominant culture of America was a direct product of accountability in the post WWII years. President Truman’s famous dictum was “The buck stops here.” This means, in essence, “I am responsible for the decisions I make, my personal conduct and the results of my decisions.” There is no blaming, no finger-pointing and no externalizing of causes in this statement. Think of how rare this has become in current culture, three generations later. Assigning and spreading blame is a national pastime. End results are now thought to be a product of conditions, rather than personal or group actions … [Read more...] about A Culture of Accountability