While not specific to healthcare, I really enjoyed the ways Derek Pando would mess with former management consultants that switched to a tech job in Silicon Valley. Here’s what he shared:
Here are my favorite ways to mess with coworkers that are former management consultants working in tech in Silicon Valley.
After they just explained a strategy say….”I get it, I do, but are we being strategic enough? I need you to think about this strategically”
Everytime they say Mckinsey, Bain or BCG, ask “who is Mckinsey?” as if it’s a person. Pretend to have never heard of any of those firms.
After seeing their 2×2 ask “Would this be clearer in a 2×4?” Try to keep a straight face.
When they send you PPT decks…subtly change the fonts/formatting before sending it back to them.
Ask them to run a big meeting without a PPT. 🙂
No doubt we could apply many of the same things to consultants in healthcare. In fact, we could probably come up with a lot of our own that are specific to EHR and health IT consultants. There’s certainly a culture there that has been built up over time. Some parts good and some bad.
However, while I found this humorous, I also thought it provided a good check for all of us to consider what cultural biases we have in our own lives. Are there things we do because that’s what the culture does that we should reevaluate?
There’s one response I hate more than anything: “We do it that way because that’s how we’ve always done it.”
Certainly, this can be a powerful force for good in healthcare. Creating a culture of safety and security is a great thing for every organization. However, it’s important for people to understand why the culture has been created a certain way. Life happens and situations change.
It’s beneficial for all of us to step back on occasion and ask “Should we keep doing it that way?” or even “Why are we doing it this way?” When you start asking these questions you’ll often discover that the reason is a good one and you need to continue doing what you’re doing. However, you’ll also often find that what you’ve always been doing isn’t the best way forward. Maybe new technologies arrive that open up new doors of opportunity that weren’t available previously. New leaders come and go that allow for new doors to open that were previously closed.
We all have our own biases and cultural idiosyncrasies that are part of who we are and how we work. Checking those regularly to see if they need some tweaks, adjustments, or full on replacement is a good thing for us and our employer.
