web_vol47 4.pdf - International Hospital Federation

Opinion matters
✚ What is hampering you in achieving this now?
✚ What are you afraid of losing?
✚ What might you gain by doing something differently?
What I know for a certainty is that health care people are
capable of brilliance. I know that the answers to the questions we
need to ask are within the hearts and minds of the people in the
health care system. The answers to the dilemmas that you face
are within your own organization – from your front-line health care
providers, from your managers and from your boards. Accurate
and transparent information must be the air that we breathe. The
more open the flow, the more easily we learn to translate the
information to meaningful awareness and knowledge. To return to
our analogy of a multi-storey building, we need to ensure that all
levels are properly aligned, with sturdy staircases and ladders
placed exactly where they are needed.
My professional experience provides me with three points of
observation:
✚ Context is everything – organizational history, sense of
urgency, readiness for change, culture and degree of
leadership commitment.
✚ Denial is our greatest treat – silence, unawareness,
indifference and complacency are the greatest enemies of
improvement.
✚ It is all about relationships – what goes on between people
defines a health care system.
References
Bate P., Mendel P., Robert G., 2008. Organizing for quality; the improvement journeys of
leading hospitals in Europe and the United States. Oxford: The Nuffield Trust and Radcliffe
Publishing.
Cooperrider D.L., Whitney D., Stavros J.M., Fry R., 2008. Appreciative inquiry handbook; for
Leaders of change, Brunswick, OH: Crown Custom Publishing, Inc.
Covey S., 1989. Seven habits of highly successful people. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc
Publishing.Koffman F., Senge P., 1995. Communities of commitment: the heart of learning
organizations, Productivity Press.
Gilber G., Balik B., 2010. The Beautiful Lie; Hospitals & Health Network Digital Magazine.
Kouzes J., Posner B., 2003. Leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
MacLeod H., 2011. We Have a Perfect Storm – Let’s Use It, Longwoods Healthcare Papers Vol.
11(3).
Piper W., 1976. The little engine that could. Penquin Publishing.
Quinn R., 1996. Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within. San Franciso: Jossey- Bass
Publishers.
Senge P., 2002. The fifth discipline; the art & practice of the learning organization. New York:
Doubleday Publishing.
In closing, our reality is made up of interconnecting circles of
complex activity; however, we are conditioned to see and think in
straight lines. What we see depends on what we are prepared to
see. ❏
Acknowledgments
This paper was reviewed by: Pierrette Leonard and Diane Aubin.
However, the opinions and recommendations expressed are those
of Hugh MacLeod.
36 World Hospitals and Health Services Vol. 47 No. 4