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| Image of Sasin Tipchai a Pixabay |
But if we reflect on what culture means in our healthcare institutions in terms of its possible impact on the quality or outcomes of healthcare, perhaps we will see the need to free ourselves from old ideas. We ought to reflect on how we are working and, above all, what we ought to do o dismantle cultures that may be obsolete. The road is not going to be easy.
The necessary immediacy in decision-making during the pandemic is an example of a lever to modify cultures since professionals have had autonomy and confidence in their decisions and have shown that they are responsible for their actions. Taking advantage of this "well-organized freedom" can give good results and be the seed of improvements in our institutions.
But is it possible to change the culture of our health organizations? How do we restart the hard drive that has accumulated inertia, behavior, and ways of working for so many years?
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Extracted from Juan Ferrer |
Precisely on their blog, in a recent entry "Reinvent your organizational culture; Here's How", they invite us to abandon bureaucracy, rules, confusion, and frustration and embrace a somewhat bolder one with confidence, responsibility, and self-management. His proposal includes some key aspects that we point out below:
1. Talk to our team: There is no better start than talking to the people we are trying to make a difference for. The closer we get to the professionals on the ground (and here I also include the vision of patients), the better understanding we will have of the real problems. You are already reminded of the "iceberg theory of ignorance" discussed in a previous post on this blog.
2. Read, read and read: it's impossible to know everything. Reinventing our organization is a difficult task, especially if we are starting the process of change. Learning from other experiences will surely provide us with ideas and alternative ways of working to adapt them to our environment. As references: this blog itself, magazines like the Harvard Business Review, or the always inspiring New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst.
3. Talk to the leaders: taking the culture of the organization seriously allows us to identify a (sometimes hidden) world of opinion leaders, defenders, radicals, rebels, and non-conformists who can help us in our task. Very interesting as additional reading this other entry "How a Group of NASA Renegades Transformed Mission Control".
4. Learn from other organizations' "wish lists". Another place to find references and progressive work models. To sample, the list that includes in his blog Corporate Rebels.
5. Understand that not everything may work out. Some proposals, as innovative and daring as they may sound to us, even with surprising results, are not always suitable for our organization. Thus, a policy of working anywhere or at any time may not be sustainable when we talk about health environments such as a hospital.
6. Write our own "manifesto": our "bible". How should our institution be? What is our purpose? How about we talk about mission, vision, and values? We may not have the answers right away, but sharing this writing with our team and getting feedback can help us lay out a roadmap and point you in the right direction.
7. Create a person responsible for cultural change. The management of what is urgent often prevails over the management of what is important. What begins with an adventurous plan is soon lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For cultural change to be successful, you need someone with full dedication, someone who plans and deploys “a masterpiece”, who can develop ideas and put them into practice.
8. Review, modify, improve and progress. There will be moments of frustration and discouragement. We will be able to break down walls, but not break all the barriers. The important thing is not to stop, although you have to allow time to breathe, time to learn and unlearn, to try and find out what works and what doesn't. This is a journey without beginning or end, it's a continuous progression that will gradually improve our institution.
The value of culture
Culture is an essential word. We might think that it's going to give answers to all our problems, but when something is faulty, it's wrong. As Corporate Rebels concludes, we need to treat culture as the foundation of our organization. Without it, everything else, doors, windows, walls, and ceilings, can look good, but it's possible that at some point it will collapse like castles made out of playing cards.
There are many barriers to changing our culture. The very inertia of professionals, intermediate positions, and managers, thinking that this task is impossible, can torpedo any attempt at transformation. Corporate Rebels has given us interesting clues. Getting started requires doing it together (managers, patients, and professionals). Change is possible. Teams and organizations have shown it throughout the last year of the pandemic.
It is about planning, prioritizing, and acting. Start today and generate a model that allows us to adapt to tomorrow, incorporating the voice of the professional and the patient and offering a better health system for present and future generations.
Additionals readings
- Ferrer Juan, 28/10/2020. Cómo desmontar una cultura obsoleta. Juan Ferrer. Transformando organizaciones y personas.
- The King’s Fund, 6/2/2013. The Francis Inquiry: creating the right culture of care.
- Miguel Ángel Máñez Ortiz. Different entries on culture in healthcare organizations.
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