Collaborative Exit

July 9th, 2010 by Kenneth Cohn

Greetings from Prague, where the choral group in which my wife sings made its international debut. Our activities included a tour of the Hradcany Royal Palace, which was a painless way of relearning European history.

I use the word “relearning” because I can remember the page from freshman year high school describing the defenestration of Prague May 23, 1618, in which over 100 Protestant nobles led by Count Thurn stormed the palace to protest the succession to the throne of the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand, whom they regarded as intolerant.

Windows through which two Catholic governors were thrown

Depth to which Catholic governors fell

The Protestants confronted the two Catholic governors whom Ferdinand appointed and, failing to obtain satisfaction, threw them and their secretary out of the palace’s eastern window to the ground over 50 feet below, starting the Thirty Year’s War. The three survived because they landed in a dung heap.

The situation was viewed as a win for both sides because the Protestants rid themselves of the Catholic governors. The Catholics interpreted the event as an act of divine intervention because the governors were not injured.

Next time that I feel overwhelmed, I will encourage myself to remember that being knee-deep in dung proved life-saving for two adults in 1618. That battles can last thirty years reminds me of the long memories involved in physician-physician and physician-administrator disputes on which I am consulted.

History can teach us perspective when we are open to learning.

As always, I welcome your input to improve healthcare collaboration.

Kenneth H. Cohn

Disclosure:

I have not received any compensation for writing this content. I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

Posted in Learning

Comments

Comment from Mark B.
Time: July 12, 2010, 11:27 am

A lighter perspective on healthcare issues is always appreciated. It seems the governors escaped from one giant pile of dung just to land in another.

Comment from Ken Cohn
Time: July 12, 2010, 12:05 pm

Thanks Mark for pointing out yet another parallel to healthcare; my clients are grateful when I show them how to engage physicians so that they do not need to do further pile-jumping.

Comment from George B
Time: July 13, 2010, 10:26 am

It appears, from the pictures, that there was no real reason for the pile of dung to be there in the first place. So apparently, effective collaboration had already occurred, proving that collaboration will certainly save your life.

Comment from Ken Cohn
Time: July 14, 2010, 5:01 pm

Thanks George, for another interesting slant

You are correct that if the Protestant nobles had chosen to throw the Catholic governors out of different windows under which no sewage or garbage had flowed, the governors would have perished.

I will quote you that collaboration can be life-saving

Thanks for making the time to comment