Healthcare Leadership Learnings from Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls in Winter
As this picture shows, my wife and I recently got to spend some time alone (ie. no kids) at Niagara Falls. My wife comes from upstate NY and I proposed to my wife while at Niagara Falls. So, it’s a special place to us. As such, we’ve visited it many times. Plus, I just adore waterfalls.

As I was watching the waterfalls this time, I was again blown away by the volume of water that pours over the falls consistently, all day, every day and has for years. It’s extraordinary that it’s even possible, but the power of all that water is awe inspiring.

Thinking about this wonder of the world, I started to think about healthcare. At first I thought that those of us in healthcare IT were strapped at the bottom of the falls and couldn’t leave. The regulations kept coming over the falls and hammering us over and over. The regulations were unrelenting and we just had to try and find a way to survive. I imagine that many reading this could relate to that feeling. In fact, I bet many of you are tired of the regulations and ready to give up and float down the river.

As my mind continued to wander, I thought that the same was true when it comes to a team working consistently on a problem. A well organized team that keeps consistently hammering away at something over time is a powerful powerful force for good. Instead of being strapped to the waterfall, our teams could be the waterfall that’s hammering away over and over at the problems of healthcare.

Never underestimate the power of many people all working consistently to solve a problem. I’ve been part of teams like that and the results are amazing! Where do you find yourself? Are you at the bottom of the falls or are you the falls?

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

2 Comments

  • First of all – great pic John. Niagara Falls is a beautiful place. We go at least once each year 🙂 As for your question, I think many on the vendor side of healthcare IT believe we are the falls – pounding away at the problems within the system. It takes a lot of consistent effort to yield what feels like small results but over time we believe our work will make a difference. Hopefully in 2015 with the interop and other collaborative initiatives in healthcare, more and more companies will work together to address problems/opportunities. #BeTheFalls

  • I think that’s true for the vendor point of view. I’m not sure the provider or hospitals feel that way though.

    I love the hashtag #BeTheFalls

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