Pruning Priorities

Google says of pruning: "[to] cut away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth". Of priority: "the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important". Both concepts minimize the importance of many things in favor of meaningful output of something.

It's an old story, but many of us take too much on in our work lives. And although the human brain is amazing, it has significant limitations in how much it can remember. Multitasking is also bogus, so saying "yes" to too many projects, too many responsibilities and my favorite - too many priorities - is a recipe for weak, fruitless trees.

Having worked in four different industries I have found the lack of priority pruning to be troublesome and ubiquitous. In oil and gas however, the drive for profit forces some projects past others, and in research/music an end product must be produced to ensure future funding and output. Unlike these prior industries healthcare does not face such pressures. Yes, there are budgets which can fluctuate locally, but generally the money thrown at healthcare is ever increasing . I find it somewhat ironic then, that healthcare has more people spread thin and unable remember all their commitments than in other areas I've worked. Occasionally I believe meetings are actually booked to remind folks what has been forgotten since the last meeting!

So why is this? The gallant "we just don't have the resources" is bandied about and gets full marks for a feel good excuse, but that is like a struggling oil company trying to improve its margin by solely focusing on new revenue. The ledger has another side - albeit its not the fun side. Which brings us to the catch-22 which plagues healthcare support roles, which is the area I can speak to.

In order to produce more with less, you must first have less to produce. Not everything can be, or is a priority, at a particular moment in time. Much is secondary, a distraction or even political positioning. We do not need multiple sets of nuanced guidelines. We should not collect data that goes unused, and we do not need multiple coding systems for what is the same human body all over the world.

A solution? For those of us that work to support healthcare we should aim to possess a number one priority at all times, and get comfortable saying "no I can't do that because it will compromise my priority project". This does not mean that we waste taxpayer money and avoid work, it simply means being all-in on a particular item/project until it is complete, and then refocusing and doing that again.

I am pretty sure all of us want strong trees that bear fruit... especially in healthcare.