Solve the hardest problems......

....excerpt from my daily message to the company

“Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.” - Henry Ford

Good morning!! What an incredible day yesterday! We have evaluations and implementations occurring throughout the US, and what an amazing and beautiful sight with all of the monitors lined down the hospital hall waiting to help thousands of patients. I had forwarded my post from yesterday to the entire company to show you the amazing sight, check out Rich’s re-share of the post from yesterday and read his comment leading into the pictures. 

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/richkeenan19_protectthekidney-ornurse-cardiacsurgery-activity-6754860412052893697-JCWB

I totally agree with Rich’s sentiment and every person at Potrero regardless of how long you have been here should be incredibly proud of what this picture represents. The ALWAYS FORWARD mentality that you all demonstrate on a daily basis and the never quit attitude that got us to where we are today. 

Like Henry Ford’s quote above, instead of going around or ignoring problems, you methodically approach challenges that we face as a company and solve them! It takes pioneers like you that are not afraid to accept the risks, challenges, difficulty to fight the status quo and swim upriver to prove to the world there is a better way!

I chose the quote today by Henry Ford because the picture from Phillip reminded me of Ford’s assembly line – rows of model T’s waiting to be shipped out to the masses of America. As I researched this morning, I realized that it was 115 years ago yesterday that Henry Ford himself set a world land speed record – 91.37 mph on a frozen Lake St. Clair. Ford was able to travel 1 mile in 39 seconds in a crude and basic bare boned automobile nicknamed 999 after the then famous 999 locomotive, which in 1893 was the first man-made vehicle to travel over 100 mph. Ford drove the car himself and traveled faster than any person to date in an automobile on that cold January day back in 1904. 

Ford was about to make his historic march toward revolutionizing how automobiles were produced with his moving assembly line. Ford’s vision and the problem he was solving, not running from, was how to mass produce automobiles that until this time were individually made by hand. Until this manufacturing innovation occurred it would be near impossible for automobiles to be provided for the masses. 

What we now see as normal with getting into a car and driving from point A to point B was astonishing at the turn of the 19th century. Even though he set the record that day and news of his accomplishment was carried in newspapers around the country, he was still 9 years from perfecting and launching the moving assembly line. Overcoming massive challenges and solving huge problems takes ingenuity, hard work, grit, perseverance, and a NEVER QUIT attitude…sound familiar?

Ford like you all solved problems and faced challenges as they arose. He was tenacious and pushed the envelope of what was possible and challenged the status quo until his vision of a car for the masses was realized. All of your hard work, your dedication, your drive, your patience with failure, your sense of urgency, your resolve, your tenacity will all lead to success for not only Potrero, but thousands and thousands of patients, nurses, and doctors in the world. 

Long after we are gone, the technology that you created and launched will be innovated on and improved just as car 999 was back in 1904. The Accuryn platform will be your long-lasting legacy and the gift that you leave here on Earth. Don’t forget that when the going gets tough….

ALWAYS FORWARD!!!!!

Joe

This is a series of articles based on the daily letters that I write to my company (slightly modified - company specifics removed). My hope is to share some positive thoughts that gently push the world toward positive thinking and encourage many to achieve their fullest God-given potential