Monday, September 28, 2009
Top 50 Hospital Blogs by Nurseblogger
I received an email recently to let me know that my blog was listed as one of the top 50 hospital blogs by Jimmy A. aka Nurseblogger. I am very honored to be considered amongst such a prestigious list of individuals and hospitals. This is a great resource list for anyone looking for information about what's happening in the hospital world - I'd encourage you to check it out. I have followed many of these blogs myself, and think I may have found a few more to add to my list! Thanks for the mention Nurseblogger, I appreciate it!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Anything is Possible - Social Change
On Friday afternoon, I had a chance to get away from the office for a couple hours and attend the Idea Festival at the Kentucky Center downtown. I was intrigued by a session called the "Abundance Farming Project" the brainchild of Paul Osterlund, a retired engineer. The project enables rain-dependent farming families in developing countries to increase crop yields, so subsistence farmers facing water scarcity can grow their way out of poverty.
By distributing a product called Zeba(TM) to farmers, they are able to increase the output of their harvest significantly which can mean the difference between success and failure to these farmers that are completely dependant upon the rain for their crops to grow and to live on. Zeba is a starch-based biodegradable superabsorbant soil product that can hold 500 times its mass in water. Just one teaspoon placed around a plant in soil can absorb 1 liter of water when it rains, then it slowly releases the water over a lengthy period between rains, and then repeats. For areas with scare rains or draughts, this product will allow farmers to grow crops many times the size they would otherwise be able to grow.
Paul's hope is that over time these farmers will literally be able to grow their way out of poverty in areas where now they are stuggling merely to survive. The project and the technology behind it is fascinating in itself (which you can read more about at abundancefarming.org), but just as important is Paul's focus on creating meaningful social change.
Some have said that if you can dream it, you can do it and Paul has taken that mantra to heart. He used to say that "somebody ought to think about getting this stuff (Zeba) into the hands of poor farmers" and now he is the one driving that key project and helping poor farmers to become self sufficient.
Paul talked in his presentation about the power of "declaration"... he said "Possibility is something that is spoken from our mouth and from that declaration it comes into existance." I think this is true in life and at work. All too often though we keep our thoughts to ourselves and we are disappointed when nothing happens. To create the change we want to see in our lives, in our job, and in the world, we first have to be brave enough to talk about it and then do something about it. Then anything really is possible!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Staying focused on the (soccer) goal
On Saturday, soccer season kicked off for my middle son and the family staked out our usual seats up close on the sideline. We are blessed that our son is a naturally gifted athlete and were excited as we cheered him on to score the first goal of the season for his team. The pure joy for the game at this age (7 years old) is exciting to watch, especially when one of them is lucky enough to score a goal! My son has a a post-goal celebration that begins with raising his hands in the air and then proceeding to run down the sideline giving everyone who stretches out their arms a high-five along the way.
In watching their game, it got me thinking about our goals at the hospital and how much similarity can be drawn to watching a youth soccer game. There are a few key steps that the team goes through each game and then they repeat, over and over.Achieving our goals at the hospital doesn't seem all that different in retrospect.
1. Planning: Before the play begins, the team huddles and discuss their goal and how to position themselves around the field to be ready to score.
2. Execution: As the play begins, the players are communicating with each other and are constantly re-aligning themselves to be in position to make or receive a pass from a teammate as they move the ball down the field.
3. Persistence: Many shots are taken at the goal for every one goal that is scored. For every missed shot at the goal, the team doesn't give up, but instead regroups, reposition themselves, and they try again to take closer aim at the target. With enough practice, patience, and persistence, they eventually score and achieve their goal.
4. Celebration: While not all celebrations are as elaborate as my son's, the team take a moment to congratulate each other on getting the ball down the field and scoring a goal. They recognize, even at a young age, that it takes the whole team to score a goal and they celebrate together briefly, before getting lined up again to make another score.
And then the cycle repeats. Again and again.
While our goals in the hospital may be more complex, or at times may seem more daunting, the steps to achieving them are really not all that different. However, it never fails to amaze me that when we come up short on achieving a goal how many of those steps we failed to take or failed to take seriously. We set high goals for ourselves, but then fail to devise a realistic plan on how to achieve them. Instead of taking responsibility for executing against our plans, we expect someone else to make the effort to cause things to happen. Sometimes, even with great planning and execution, we still sometimes come up short and instead of regrouping and learning from a missed attempt, we simply give up. And when we do achieve our goals, we all too often fail to stop and take a moment to celebrate with each other on a job well done.
As we look forward on the rest of this year, and the goals we have set but have yet to achieve, I hope that we can all take a moment to go back to the lessons taught by watching a group of 7 year-old kids playing soccer. I'm certain we will be successful and just maybe have a bit of fun while doing it!
In watching their game, it got me thinking about our goals at the hospital and how much similarity can be drawn to watching a youth soccer game. There are a few key steps that the team goes through each game and then they repeat, over and over.Achieving our goals at the hospital doesn't seem all that different in retrospect.1. Planning: Before the play begins, the team huddles and discuss their goal and how to position themselves around the field to be ready to score.
2. Execution: As the play begins, the players are communicating with each other and are constantly re-aligning themselves to be in position to make or receive a pass from a teammate as they move the ball down the field.
3. Persistence: Many shots are taken at the goal for every one goal that is scored. For every missed shot at the goal, the team doesn't give up, but instead regroups, reposition themselves, and they try again to take closer aim at the target. With enough practice, patience, and persistence, they eventually score and achieve their goal.
4. Celebration: While not all celebrations are as elaborate as my son's, the team take a moment to congratulate each other on getting the ball down the field and scoring a goal. They recognize, even at a young age, that it takes the whole team to score a goal and they celebrate together briefly, before getting lined up again to make another score.
And then the cycle repeats. Again and again.
While our goals in the hospital may be more complex, or at times may seem more daunting, the steps to achieving them are really not all that different. However, it never fails to amaze me that when we come up short on achieving a goal how many of those steps we failed to take or failed to take seriously. We set high goals for ourselves, but then fail to devise a realistic plan on how to achieve them. Instead of taking responsibility for executing against our plans, we expect someone else to make the effort to cause things to happen. Sometimes, even with great planning and execution, we still sometimes come up short and instead of regrouping and learning from a missed attempt, we simply give up. And when we do achieve our goals, we all too often fail to stop and take a moment to celebrate with each other on a job well done.
As we look forward on the rest of this year, and the goals we have set but have yet to achieve, I hope that we can all take a moment to go back to the lessons taught by watching a group of 7 year-old kids playing soccer. I'm certain we will be successful and just maybe have a bit of fun while doing it!
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