MHA@GWU Module 8

Key Competencies:

1. Leadership

  a. Leading and managing others

  b. Planning and implementing change

  c. Ability for honest self-assessment

2. Communication and Relationship Management

  a. Interpersonal communication

  b. Writing skills

  c. Working in teams

3. Business Skills and Knowledge

  a. Systems thinking

  b. Information and technology management

  c. Human resources management

  d. Solving problems and making decisions

  e. Planning and managing projects

  f. Strategic planning

My Development:

• The importance of Systems thinking and learning is the understanding of the construct of the systems when working among numerous individuals with the goal of minimizing errors and improving efficiency.  This also means having the creative intelligence needed for innovation for the healthcare organization which will help empower individuals and helop solve problems.  Throughout this module, there was a greater appreciation of a healthcare organization being more than just a medical care delivery system but rather as a learning organization for the team at large.  It is important consider all aspects of hard vs soft systems whether through a linear perspective or a human systemic perspective.  Either way, the goal is to learn to work through those systems, improve them, or adapt to them.
• One of the new capabilities which became useful to me in my line of work is moving my organization towards becoming a learning organization for ourselves, our teams, and our patients.  Becoming a learning organization gives us a competitive advantage particularly in a market-driven environment such as healthcare.  From an independent provider perspective, being competitive is necessary when going toe to toe with the bigger healthcare organizations around Dallas such as Baylor Scott & White Health and Texas Health Resources.  In addition, when it comes to learning there is both formal and informal learning that we all utilize meaning we learn from reading texts and notes compared to learning visually and by hands-on practice.  I tend to lean more towards being a visual learner myself.  70% of adult learning is self-directed and has benefited me as a manager and leader.
• From this module, a new career specialty in which I am leaning towards working for a healthcare organization is something in the realm of operations manager or efficiency analyzer.  Taking what I learned about my personality from Immersion 1, I do value efficiency, order, structure, and standards which are constructed and accepted by all parties involved.
• Studying Complex Adaptive Systems is still a challenging topic for me for which I hope to continue learning about the subject more to try to gain a better understanding of them.  It is true that the environment in which healthcare operates is inordinately complext, chaotic, and unpredictable which requires some things such as having a thriving workforce that is allowed to their skills with leadership needing to unleanr the old, unhealthy behaviors that align with the old bureaucratic model.  New leadership behaviors need to be learned as healthcare continues to change, as policy continue to change, and regulations are updated.  The same can be said about hospitals that need to grow and adapt to a changing and sometimes chaotic environment.
• Environmental jolts do have the ability to throw any healthcare organization out of sync.  Such environmental jolts include a hurricane, earthquake, multiple MVC traumas, and building or forest fires.  These jolts tend to come at us when they're least expected.  Nobody likes surprises that can throw us off our daily routine in which most of us don't plan accordingly.  Nonetheless, we all acknowledge that reality can throw a curve ball at us from time to time and like the military we need to be ready for any possible scenario.  Maintaining a state of readiness for a hospital means having the right leaders available at a moment's notice with the right administrative, clerical, and clinical support team ready to do the job for the patients.  When those jolts come, it is important for the leaders to not lose focus in a critical decision making moment which can affect the outcome for everyone involved.  Learn to accept the challenge so that by working together the ultimate objective can be achieved, providing and facilitating medical care for the patients that need out help.
• In my line of work as a manager and as a clinician, I also value creativity.  In many ways as adults, we are still continuing to learn and educate ourselves as best we can to improve.  At the same time when embracing education as a tool used to staff the new labor force, we also start to develop the notion that we're not creative and thus creativity can get lost.  I am a big fan of the PDCA cycle when implementing change going back to module 6.  I have found the steps for fostering creativity very helpful when designing a quality improvement in front desk duties for my clerical colleagues:  Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.  Going through those 5 steps can be very powerful and profound to help individuals, teams, and organizations come up with new and creative ways to address the needs for the patient being served.
• One of the challenges which I encountered and overcame during this module was the team assignments that came in and in which our teams were given a short amount of time to prepare, like around 30 minutes.  My mindset is used to receiving assignments in advance so that I'd have sufficient time to prepare and perform what needs to be done.  I like careful planning.  Nonetheless, I see the relevance of "short notice".  In relation to environmental jolts, reality has taught us that surprises can occur without warning or prediction in which sometimes we feel under pressure to act with limited time.  As human beings, when the moments come, we learn, we adapt, and we work together if we're coordinating within an organization.  As the NASA saying goes, "let's work the problem, " meaning we tackle the challenge together for the sake of the mission.