Chop wood. Carry water.
Chop wood. Carry water. In Seth Godin’s book The Practice, he devotes a small section to the zen saying “Chop wood. Carry water.” (Shortened from "Before enlightenment: Chop Wood. Carry Water. After enlightenment: Chop wood. Carry Water.") He was discussing this in...
The Downside of Being a Healthcare “Consumer”
There is an irreversible trend for large healthcare companies to refer to patients as healthcare “consumers”. There nothing wrong with being considered a consumer when getting gas, or shopping for an iPhone, or purchasing a book on Amazon. These are impersonal...
The Opportunity Cost of The Physician Vaccination Selfie
I have no problem with physicians posting pictures of themselves getting a CoVid19 vaccination. Good for them. These photos signify hope, and I believe they act as a great visual cue for the vaccine-hesitant. But when I see their healthcare organizations...
Sticky Notes: A Simple “Idea-Capture” Technology
I love using simple technology to capture ideas, and sticky notes are one of my favorite. For example, over the last few hours, I have jotted down: Steve McConnell: buy a book on softwareMIT Innovation: Blog post about my definition of innovation vs. MITsCheck Blog...
My Deep-Reading Book For Winter
My Deep-Reading book for this winter is “Philosophy of Mind” by David Chambers. It’s the textbook used by Oxford University’s Continuing Education Course on the Philosophy of Mind. It’s a significant textbook: 675 dense pages with 63 essays, covering both the...
What Disney Can Teach Healthcare
Elsa, Grogu, and Minnie. These are three little toys I will occasionally put out on my desktop to remind me of one thing: Creativity can be monetized. Look, quite a few businesses are struggling during the Covid19 pandemic, and healthcare is no exception. But not...
Creativity Isn’t The Problem
I will paraphrase A Seth Godin YouTube Video: Quieting the Lizard Brain (which— if you are a physician considering a career pivot—is well worth 18 minutes of your time to watch): Creativity is not your problem. Everyone is creative. The problem is creating something...
How I Use New Years’ Resolutions
Most people think New Year’s resolutions aren’t effective. Perhaps they are right, especially if they're just something someone thinks up on December 31st, and then forgets by January 7th. But that’s not how I use them. What I do is twice a year—usually during the...
Telemedicine and Telehealth: Let’s Not Get Too Excited
In the summary paper The Effectiveness of Outpatient Telehealth Consultations, here’s what some of the consultation evidence suggests: For outcome, there is strong evidence it may be helpful in psychiatry and wound care. There is moderate evidence it’s beneficial for...
The Significance of Calling Patients “Customers”
I am not a big fan of calling patients "customers". The word customer is defined as a person who purchases goods or services from another, which means this connection is limited to a pure final transition. It's a transactional term used to define a financial...