One approach
Don Berwick’s, December, 2003 article,
“Improvement, trust, and the healthcare workforce”.
The key messages are:
· Current strategies for developing the healthcare workforce are based on outmoded theories of control and standardization of work.
· Quality is a system property; if we want better results, we have to change the system.
· We need to harness the imagination and participation of the workforce in reinventing the system.
· The workforce needs to know how to set bold aims, measure progress, find alternative designs for work, and test changes rapidly and informatively.
Change begins with a shift in attitude from “it’s your problem” to it’s my responsibility”.
Another approach:
Professor David Cooperrider, of the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, has been named the recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award by ASTD--the American Society for Training and Development. This award is presented to him in recognition of his work in Appreciative Inquiry and the impact he has had on the training and development profession. Previous recipients of the award have included Malcolm Knowles, Robert Mager, Peter Senge, Geary Rummler, Gloria Gery, Roger Schank, Allison Rossett and Meg Wheatley.
>From their letter informing David about this honor:
"As a not-for-profit organization, ASTD provides leadership to individuals, organizations, and society to achieve work-related competence, performance and fulfillment. Part of our mission is to spotlight leaders and practitioners who are role models for others. It is truly fitting that you receive this award because of your pioneering thought leadership on building better organizations and communities. You have given us a new approach, based on unconditional positive change, to organizational learning and workplace performance.”
I have believed since the beginning of this project, that Appreciative Inquiry methodology could be the catalyst for change that we need to make groundbreaking progress in transforming health care. Appreciative Inquiry gets the whole system (including all stakeholders i.e. including patients and their families) in the room to discover and illuminate its core strengths and abilities, utilizes collaborative imagination to reach beyond the known to design the future, and establish steps toward that future. The process is energizing, encouraging, uplifting, engaging and creative. Buy-in is high.
Here’s my challenge…
Getting the whole system in the room means taking time out of care delivery. Besides the issue that patient needs are ongoing, the expense to practitioners (prohibitive for many family practices) makes it quite unfeasible to pay staff for extra meeting time.
I’ve tried different approaches and continue to look for creative approaches to saving time AND still capturing the vital essence of the process. I’m looking for someone well versed in Appreciative Inquiry and health care to lend some wisdom to this dilemma. Anyone willing to be a thought-partner?
