Week Three - A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

- George Bernard Shaw

Week three has literally flown by; prepping for a hurricane that never came (thank goodness) and off on vacation in Key West for the first time in years. This week was an interesting variety; a great deal of focus on culture and the impacts of OD’s ability to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, and motivational climate (Brown, 2011, p. 69). We also uncovered how adaptability, the capacity to properly interpret the functional relevance for the organization, as well as the “…sense of identity and vision…” about organizational goals (Brown, 2011, p. 69) can serve as health benchmarks to test the organizations viability towards change capacity. It comes down to balance, and doing the right thing for our people...we usually have very few chances at getting something right with our teams...when we do not recognize how hard they work and why they put their whole hearts into it, we show our lack of empathy and appreciation for what they do to help us accomplish our goals. Why would anyone NOT want to work for a team and leadership that literally has dedicated an entire workforce towards getting it right and saying THANK YOU for all you do???

Additionally, our video this week regarding Southwest Airlines ability in effectively establishing cultural norms and making them a priority was eye-opening to say the least. With all of the nickel-and-diming going on in the airline industry, I thought it was fantastic that they have a dedicated Culture Committee team to consistently reinforce the importance of finding ways to thank their employees, promote positive regard for others by dedicating their time to make someone’s job easier, and build their employee-centric purpose surrounding a warrior spirit, a servant’s heart, and a “fun-LUVing” attitude (Southwest Airlines, 2015). We could all take a lesson or two from them, as what they do matters and has such a HUGE impact to those on the receiving end. You cannot measure the ROI or your P&L for that!

I think for my organization, we would need to have a dedicated HR force, and I do mean force, in which had a specific budget and team to work towards re-establishing an employee centered focus to bring about higher morale, less turnover, along with finding meaning in what we do. Currently, because healthcare is a very labor-intensive market, and reimbursement for services becomes less and less as time goes on, it leaves little profit for investing in its workforce while trying to obtain capital funding to stay on top of ever-changing technologies to deliver quality healthcare for our patients. We would need to ensure that we have leadership support at the highest level while instilling the importance of fun and recognition with middle management engagement while conducting daily operations. This would prove to be challenging; much of healthcare operates as separate clinical entities within the hospital. Meaning that each department is its own unique boutique business unit. And although these units operate independently, they remain an integral part of the open business unit that forms the entire facility and operations of patient focused healthcare.

Additionally, another forsaken challenge is the amount of legislature, compliance requirements, unionized labor laws, as well as the lacking motivational climate that often times becomes riddled with red-tape and it feels like a monumental task just to try to organize a holiday luncheon for our employees. We have over 700 employees working at our facility; the little things our HR teams do mean so very much to all of us…if only our administration wasn’t burdened with managing reports, numbers, and deadlines that measure nothing of what we do on a daily basis towards our operational goals. Those outside our facility have been away from healthcare for so long, that their upper-crust status and titles have blinded them to what goes into a single day of dealing with patients. Because of their detachment to reality as it relates to facility operations, they continue to plague us with unrealistic budgets, useless report requirements, and action plan requirements that have ZERO viability of taking place because we simply do not have the resources it takes to produce what they demand.

I think Southwest found the right balance; take care of the people who take care of the business. As our chapter points out this week, it takes three tools for change which include “…information, support, and resources” (Brown, 2011, p. 73)…all of which we have ZERO ability to contribute towards and make a difference with. I can attempt every day to arm my department with what information they need, support them in unique ways to help them blossom and accomplish their goals, as well as fight for any resources I can, even if nobody else will help me do it.




Until we blog again!

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development, Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Southwest Airlines. (2015). Culture. Retrieved August 30, 2015, from southwest.com: https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/careers/culture.html

Week Two - 21st Century Enlightenment

We are now concluding week two and these are my all-time favorite type of videos; I love to watch the story unfold as the narrator sheds light along the path in which he wishes us to follow. We were exposed to the upside and the challenges faced when trying to lead and operate under chaotic and fast-paced changing times. For example, in our discussion this week, we analyzed the ability and likelihood of Google being able to continue to operate successfully under constant chaos.

I think that controlled chaos is entirely underestimated in what it can contribute towards company strategies and ongoing commitment, success, and empowerment for our organizations. There simply is no limit to what our teams can accomplish when you “hire as many talented…” people “…as possible, and give them freedom” (Lahoutifard, 2014) to explore and fail at what our next big idea should be. Teams that are orchestrated, such as found within Google, can be seen as a liability to most traditional managerial hierarchies; if a portion of your team’s time is dedicated to side projects, you most likely would assume that you are diluting their capabilities towards achieving whatever strategies and goals are already on the books.

Additionally, our video this week was simply…fantastic! Because we need to find a new way to live in the 21st century; we need to find balance in our chaos; and for us to learn to live differently, we must be able to “think differently” (Taylor, 2010). I think that is because new perspectives often are only brought about when change and alternative perspectives are considered, leading to an alternative way of evaluating the myriad of ways to achieve the same goals. This path allows for ingenuity, creativity, and social interactions which lead to an overall ethical evaluation of the changes we should institute and the impact it may have on others. Taylor (2010) encourages us to evaluate and reflect upon the highly complex and interconnected system that allows for us to recognize the need for change (Taylor, 2010).

Additionally, Taylor (2010) calls for us to change our attitude in order “…to see past simplistic and inadequate ideas of freedom, justice and progress” (Taylor, 2010), and rightfully so. We cannot and should not continue to operate under the assumption that because this is what has worked, it will always work, nor should we assume that because someone hasn’t brought about a better idea, that a brighter tomorrow simply isn’t possible or worth trying for.

I also agree that there is no simple start and no simple finish in which we will find ourselves migrating towards; change is inevitable and possibly the only constant leaders can now count upon. As Taylor mentions, there is also no simple way to identify and implement universal values, norms and lifestyles in which everyone will embrace, respond, or react to in the same manner that will be able to formidably “…shape our collective consciousness of modern people” (Taylor, 2010). This reminds me of what our text demonstrated this week regarding contingency approach. Contingency approach basically states “…that there is no one best way of managing in all situations” (Brown, 2011, p. 41).

I also LOVED how he mentions to have a happier life, have a variety of happier friends. I believe this wholeheartedly; I have recently created space with those that I work with who have highly myopic perspectives of their professional and personal lives which have brought about a great deal of negativity in my life. I was always hearing and focusing on all of the things going wrong and how things weren’t working out and the great deal of stress we are all under. Where in contrast, those that I go to CrossFit with on a regular basis were always focused on self-improvement, working hard, encouraging each other and having a great deal of fun together. I absolutely found that once I changed my friends somewhat, I was able to change my focus and approach towards daily challenges in my life. Honestly, instead of sitting around and bitching all the time, I find I am sitting around the beach more now! Lesson learned and owned! I agree to the highest level with Taylor that our future should “…champion a more self-aware, socially embedded model of autonomy” (Taylor, 2010) because it is only upon self-reflection and self-realization can we identify what our unique contributions and responsibilities to ever situation are comprised of. How else would we be able to figure out our strength and weakness and then formulate goals and plans towards a better future?

We need to bridge the gap from who we think we are as human beings across the idea of who we think we need to be versus who we would like to aspire to become. It is the “…hubris of individualism…” (Taylor, 2010) that can be our downfall which why as emerging leaders we must consistently embrace the value of diversification in our lives, our contributions, our leadership styles and our teams. Embrace the strange more and mediocrity less. This is something I encounter on a regular basis; during times of implementing change, we always seem to have more challenges with our directors that have been with us for many years, versus those that are newer to our organization. When doing workflow analysis, we tend to hear the answer that “this is always how it has been done” but they can never seem to articulate the real “why” we do it. I think that is why it is important, as Taylor (2010) mentions, that we widen our ability to empathize; this allows for our perspectives to allow for alternate ideas that can contribute towards positive and impactful change. It also allows for others to participate in navigating the change we are working to bring about.

After this week, I think that we also need to think more communally, what enhances and what diminishes our ability to be more empathetic and empowered by chance that benefits others and not of ourselves? Is it out of habit? Lack of education or understanding? We need to increase our empathic capacity in order to recognize what exactly is deemed progress (Taylor, 2010). What can we do to maximize human happiness? Who are we to truly define what is success? Is it for advancement in “…science and technological process, the logic of markets, and the logic of bureaucracy…” (Taylor, 2010), or is it more appropriate to refine what individual priorities are and how they fit into the larger picture and impacts of society? Everything has limits; and often our decision-making process is out of habit…it fails to consider the “…ethical dimension…” (Taylor, 2010) of our lives and often distorts our perspectives. We have to maintain balance and focus towards rationally, along with ethical reasoning.

As Taylor (2010) points out this week, by taking the time to look into what develops us to become more empathetically responsible contributors to society requires our ability to become more engaging, deliver more coaching, and by evaluating and guiding ourselves, and our followers, in a movement towards leaders that are “…intolerant in negativity, rigidity in thinking, and self-promotion…” (Taylor, 2010) and keeps our vision towards the horizon of impactful and meaningful change. Small change, by and far, is still change…don’t lose sight of that incremental impact we can make. This is why Taylor (2010) calls for us engage in “collaborative environments” (Taylor, 2010) so we can prepare ourselves from a multifaceted approach to cope and adapt with change.

From a career implementation perspective, we need to think differently of others, ourselves, and our impacts to those around us. We should learn to no longer make decisions in vacuum, conveniently perpetuating what our habitual tendencies are and the impacts they have on others and our organizations. In fact, we should be looking to diversify our intake of information, using alternative approaches and a plethora of sources prior to taking action, and become more dependent upon the importance of interdependency and the laws in which disturb the equilibrium enough to spark dynamic changes in ourselves, in others, and our organizational systems as a whole (Brown, 2011).

What an amazing ride it has been so far in just 14 short days; I cannot wait to see what next week uncovers for us.


Until we blog again!

References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experminetal Approach to Organizational Development, Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.


Lahoutifard, D. (2014, November 30). Why Eric Schmidt doesn’t know how Google works. Retrieved from Venturebeat.com: http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/30/why-eric-schmidt-doesnt-know-how-google-works/


Taylor, M. (2010, August 19). RSA Animate - 21st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be

Week One - Board of Directors

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

John F. Kennedy

Week one and I am already stunned at how much we have been exposed to in a short time. Another semester down and another opportunity has already presented itself to add more insights and suggestions to our leadership suitcases. As we learned in going through our case study this week, change implementation becomes more successful when leadership, management and employees have a connection to all of the impacts and aspects of change …” (Starke, Sharma, Mauws, Dyck, & Dass, 2011). Prior to my last semester in MSLD 511, I previously failed to consider the impact that change has and the time it takes “…for people to embrace a new set of values and meaning for their…work…” (Starke et al., p. 44), and our case with Quantum is no different. The executives there found a formula they feel has shown great rewards with little to no repercussions. However, without considering the entirely plausible implications of their actions, they could put their three years of stupendous growth at risk by not finding alternative ways to build and foster teamwork without the use of alcohol on company property.


This week we also began our exposure to organizational development (OD) and a myriad of ways in which we can use it in order to “…improve organizational effectiveness” (Brown, 2011, p. 17). I think that understanding the organization and its cultural foundation is one of the keys to the success of how OD can help us as leaders identify ways to bring about positive and impactful change. For example, all organizations have to learn to adapt to change, but OD takes this to another level. Organizations can learn new ways to help members collaborate and adapt during times of change by identifying a “new mindset” that allows for and encourages “…flexibility, speed, innovation, and the challenge that evolves from constantly changing conditions” (Brown, 2011, p. 8). Furthermore, OD allows for everyone, including those at the top of the organization, to receive support and stability while constantly working towards a future that embraces a culture in which they can still attain goals and focus concerning “…action plans, strategies, and techniques” (Brown, 2011, p. 16) during challenging times of change and unrest.


We also watched a short video this week demonstrating the importance of our leadership not only having a vision of a future worth working towards, but also having a voice that articulates what is necessary for the entire team to contribute towards achieving the new version of our future. I am incredibly luck to work for a charismatic and visionary CFO; he is loved by everyone, incredibly personable, and is able to consistently able to deliver a message to our team in what needs to be done and how far we have already come to get there. This time last year, our finance team was putting together budgets and preparing annual business plans. We spent countless hours, weekends, and holidays in the preparation of all these regional reports and requirements. Then the unthinkable actually happened; we were told that our already ambitious growth goals were too low and we needed to increase our P&L by another $3.5M contributing to our bottom line. We had already increased our year end EBITDA by almost $2M more than we were on track to deliver by the end of 2014. At the by the middle of this past January, we were already discouraged thinking about the year-end bonuses we wouldn’t get, the capital funding that wouldn’t come and the wasted hours of putting together an unrealistic budget that month after month was going to take hours each time to explain why we weren’t going to be able to meet it. During our revenue cycle monthly meeting, he consistently reiterated his faith in our ability to find ways to cut additional costs, increase various efficiencies, and to think of innovative ways that we could uniquely contribute each month to a larger bottom line. In fact, he challenged all of his directors, even those that are not really finance oriented to do the same.


Against all odds, and we still cannot figure out how we have done it, for the second quarter of 2015 we were ahead of our impossible 2015 budget by almost $1M to the good. Having that much financial cushion is vital to our season; yes, hospitals have seasonality to them. Believe it or not, especially here in Florida, the summers tend to be the slowest months because everyone is out of school, snowbirds have already gone home at the end of spring, and most of our tourism is not surrounding our area within the community. Summer months are usually where operation vitality is closely scrutinized. In a perfect world, less patients means less labor, supplies, utilities, contract labor, and other operational expenses that can make or break an entire year in less than one month. If our leadership is not constantly coaching, encouraging and monitoring the team for improved efficiencies, it can literally tank our entire year. So in order to prevent this at all costs, we had to find a way to address these areas with people who were mostly clinical and much less business operational minded. We had to figure out a way to roll out the message for everyone to understand, and get everyone on the same page in order to support the vision.


We developed a set of easily identified reports, coached all directors in how to read them to know how much they are spending in their area at any given time, and provided technical expertise so that they could maneuver through these reports instead of us telling them they are spending too much, teach them how to identify how much they saved. This methodology worked thus far; some directors just literally signed invoices for payments and never even looked to see if the bill had already been paid causing duplicate expenditures, others didn’t understand how the accounting portion of their job worked, let alone having a clue of how much money they are spending for office supplies in their area. Now with these reports, and our senior management’s support of them, we have as an entire organization, been able to save almost $200,000 per month by staggering schedules, borrowing excess office supplies from other departments on site, and reduce duplicate payments to vendors by paying the same bills over and over again.


Don’t let me fool you; change is HARD and getting people who deal with patients all day is not at all easy to get them on board to reading reports. However, by explaining to them that if we are able to save on these tiny little daily things means we have more money to go buy new equipment for their floors resulting in better quality patient care, we were able to make great strides in many areas over a short amount of time. Most of our nurses are resistant to change because of how fast paced and challenging their jobs already are; hearing they had to do one more thing almost sent them over the edge. However, implementing change with an entire support structure to help all those in need whom are either resistant to change, adverse to change, or just simply don’t know how to cope with change, seemed to make a great difference in our success and the overall organization’s attitude towards it. Change will always seem like a “bad” thing to some people; growth always seems like an opportunity to me!


Looking forward to learning so much more about OD this semester; I truly cannot wait to see what we uncover next.

Until we blog again!

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experimental Approach to Organizational Development, Eight Edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Starke, F. A., Sharma, G., Mauws, M. K., Dyck, B., & Dass, P. (2011). Exploring archetypal change: the importance of leadership and its substitutes. Journal of Organizational Change, 29-50.