Home » Ed Marx » Currently Reading:

CIO Unplugged 1/6/16

January 6, 2016 Ed Marx 14 Comments

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine personally and are not necessarily representative of current or former employers.

Course Corrections

The faculty at our Combat Engineer Officer School encouraged us to have leadership fortitude—the courage to make those tough decisions where you admit a mistake, take corrective action, and move forward. Some leaders today are unable to swallow their pride and publically admit an error. Damn if they will acknowledge a failure and make the needed corrections.

Our instructors told us the story of an engineer lieutenant who found himself unable to extract two of his platoons combat vehicles from the mud. He kept adding more dirt to the water. More dirt on water makes more mud. In exasperation, he gave up and just ordered his men to hide his error by burying the vehicles with dirt.

In due time, he was held accountable for the whereabouts of the vehicles and the story went viral. He never made captain.

Halfway in my tenure at a former employer, I was confronted by one of my directors. We had a very successful implementation of an EHR across our continuum that positively impacted business and clinical outcomes. We were getting our feet wet with mobile technologies and innovation was a part of our fabric. From the outside, everything appeared perfect. It wasn’t.

Operationally, we were coming apart. Unplanned downtime skyrocketed. One day, we were picking up an award, and the next, we were on 2:00 a.m. Level One severity calls. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

I was driving down the Interstate headed to an IT quarterly leadership retreat when I answered a call from Michael. “Ed, I don’t see how we can all be meeting for a full day talking strategy when we have had several months of early morning disaster calls. I think it is time to focus on operations.”

Reality! Michael was totally right. Upon arrival, I grabbed my direct reports and we huddled. I shared Michael’s call and that we needed to redirect our attention toward operations. We would need to be creative how to best use our time together that day.

As our leaders settled in and I stood to welcome everyone, I was overcome with emotion and began to tear up and finally started to cry. “I am so embarrassed. I have never been embarrassed like this. We have so much potential. We are gifted and blessed with resources. Yet we are letting our customers down. I have failed you and our organization as a leader.”

There was stunned silence. Then, one by one, the directors chimed in. Though they had remained silent for many months, everyone confided that they had the same thoughts. We had lost our focus, our sharpness. We took our eye off operations, pursued distractions, and relied on past success. As a result, our performance sunk.

We were all ashamed. With the confessions and emotions out of the way, we brainstormed how to get ourselves out of this mess. It was beautiful. The team self-directed, formed into groups, and each tackled the tough issues in a thoughtful manner.

After a couple of hours, each group reported on the results of their efforts. Participants responded and honed the recommendations. In the end, a director from each group took accountability for the initiative.

For the next few months, we focused on these action points. Sure enough, a year later, we were performing at levels commensurate with our potential. We were no longer embarrassed and were once again providing value and helping our health system achieve superior clinical and financial outcomes. Strategy was a natural byproduct.

Course corrections are a sign of strength, not weakness. If we are intellectually honest with ourselves, we know that corrections are required if we hope to continuously improve. This applies equally to work, play, and relationships.

As the New Year begins, take time to reflect on the past and see where you need to make directional changes. In 2015 I made two major corrections, one with work and one with relationships. They were both gut-wrenching, but necessary. As I head into 2016, I find myself in a much better place. At peace. Content. Giddy as a schoolboy.

Never settle for the status quo and flat performance. Humble yourself. Seek input. Change is good. Life is too short for mediocrity.

Ed encourages your interaction by clicking the comments link below. You can also connect with Ed directly on LinkedIn and Facebook and follow him on Twitter.



HIStalk Featured Sponsors

     

Currently there are "14 comments" on this Article:

  1. Don Glover,

    It is sad to see you make such comments. Maybe you should consider utilizing the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything” methodology.

    I would question how well you know Ed, as well as how much you have worked with him, to make such negative statements about another person, particularly in a public forum such as this.

    I personally feel that Ed is a great asset and encourages high performance in the IT leadership role.

  2. Ed – Giddy as a schoolboy with similar maturity – beneath the surface are troubled waters.

    The “gut wrenching events” and your response are classic Narcissism, a personality disorder on display in national and international politics. We see close up here in serial “treacly humblebrag” self-promotional sermonettes to a starry-eyed fan base, while things unravel on professional and personal levels.

    Many are taken in by narcissists, and the cure rate is low but healthcare professionals should see text book symptoms escalating publicly. “Don’t say anything not nice” is well-meaning but bad advice here. Get some help Ed is far kinder.

    DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:
    • Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
    • Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it – exaggerating your achievements and talents
    • Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate – requiring constant admiration
    • Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
    • Being envious of others and believing others envy you

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/symptoms/CON-20025568

  3. Interesting. Yes it is good to make necessary changes, but one thing that you obviously lack is commitment. You left the job and the wife of 30 years!

    Moral of the story-see things thru until it makes it really hard for you…then give it up for something “better.” In the mean time, you bulldoze thru the hearts and minds of those people and companies you ditch.

  4. Hmmm… like most of Ed’s “tall tales”, the meeting he described happened… and there was a major outage the night before. The rest of the tale… the gut -wrenching confessions and emotions described above… pure fantasy. I know. I was there.

    I am surprised that HISTalk continues to promote Ed through these forums. His recent choices have been devastating professionally and personally. Please bring us more of the meaningful commentary from folks like Darren Dworkin.

  5. To those who are offended by the negative comments regarding Ed please keep in mind that when one so publicly displays one’s life and values the public response may not always be adoration. When the events and actions depicted are exaggerated, go against previously stated values and are attempts to self justifying personal train wrecks the public is going to call “a spade a spade”. If the spot light burns then get out of it.

  6. re: Ed’s postings. In public circles you find reality and fiction mixed in posting almost everywhere. The truths get stretched and can make a post both interesting and also sometimes hard to believe. At least you will get some entertainment value, and new knowledge about healthcare here on HIStalk! Keep posting Ed, even if it means we’ll lose some readers.







Text Ads


RECENT COMMENTS

  1. I think Disingenuous is confused (or simply not aware of how it has been architected). How control of Epic is…

  2. It seems that every innovation in the past 50 years has claimed that it would save money and lives. There…

  3. Well, this is predicting the future, and my crystal ball is cloudy and cracked. But my basic thesis about Meditech?…

  4. RE Judy Faulkner's foundation wishes: Different area, but read up on the Barnes Foundation to see how things work out…

  5. Meditech certainly benefited from Cerner and Allscripts stumbles and before that the failures of ECW and Athena’s inpatient expansions. I…

Founding Sponsors


 

Platinum Sponsors


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Sponsors


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RSS Webinars

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.