Patching Things Up

I recently had surgery to reattach the retina in my left eye. There’s no way to be certain how it detached, but it had been getting worse in stages for a while. I just noticed problems with my vision recently, but once the eye doctor saw it, things shifted into high gear. Post-op, I was relegated to keeping my head pointed toward the floor for a while (almost a week), which turned out to be no fun.

The good news is that the repair was successful, and the part of the retina that was reattached will actually be more secure than it was originally. Go figure. What stood out to me was the processes in place as I walked through the pre-op, surgery, and post-op procedures. In an industry where a mistake can be life-altering (or ending), very specific practices are in place to prevent errors.

This musing isn’t about project management, process improvement, or any color of belt. Rather, I want to talk about how these tangible processes have counterparts in our leadership and culture.

From the moment I walked into the surgery center until the moment I left, I was asked countless times for my name, DOB, and what procedure I was having done. Turns out, it is not a good thing when they perform a procedure on the wrong person or the wrong part of the right person. So, every interaction began with identifying the patient and what needed to be done.

I’m not suggesting that we implement that level of redundancy in our daily interactions (unless it’s necessary). However, I do know that the people interacting with me knew who I was and the procedure I was having done. Many times, it was the same person who had just interacted with me who asked again. What is important is they NEVER took for granted that they knew. They always verified the most basic info and did not seem embarrassed at all to do it.

Before I went into surgery (while I was still lucid), they verified which eye was being operated on and literally marked on my face with a Sharpie to indicate it. When the doctor came in, he asked me again, checked himself, and then signed his initials over my left eye. They were making absolutely sure they got the right eye (well, the left eye, in my case!).

Something as simple as clearly designating where the work needs to be done can be liberating. Once in the OR, the team didn’t have to question whether they were working on the correct eye; it was obvious. How much more effective would our teams be if they could easily visualize where the work needed to be done? It seems so simple.

Once I was wheeled into the OR, they introduced me to each person there and told me their role. I couldn’t really see them and wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a lineup, but they took the time to identify themselves. Two things stood out to me:

1. They wanted me to be as comfortable as possible in a difficult situation—a good lesson for all leaders.
2. More importantly, every person in the room had a specific reason for being there—a critical role they played. There were no extra people standing around. The work at hand was critical and well-defined and they assembled a team to do it. The receptionist wasn’t in there chatting me up. The nurse who took my vitals and drew blood was nowhere to be seen. Only the people essential to getting the job done were present.

As an ancillary to the above, when they wheeled me into the OR, the nurse let me know she would be putting some “bracelets” on me—a euphemism for restraints. She said, “The doctor doesn’t need your help.” Sometimes, we need to move people out because their help isn’t actually helpful at all.

Finally, once the surgery was over, the doctor and his team gave me very specific instructions for my post-op behavior and follow-up. They told me what I should experience, how I should react, what was normal, what was abnormal, and when to come back for a follow-up. Clarity about how to proceed once a change has occurred is essential for ensuring the change is successful. I had the potential to destroy the work the doctor had done. His post-op effort prevented that. I got to wear an eye patch for a while—a visual reminder of the “patch” that had occurred inside my eye.

Great leaders never take for granted that people know what they need to know. They clearly identify the work their teams need to do, get the right people (and only the right people) on the team, and then follow up and follow through to ensure success. We will always have a need to patch things up, so let’s always do it the Bison Way.