WaterCooler Collaboration

Collaborative Thinking

Dr. Jerome Groopman’s recent book, How Doctors Think, applies not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to physicians’ ability to work more interdependently.  He wrote that people can be true partners with physicians when they know how physicians think and what thinking errors they make. Dr. Groopman feels that three types of thinking errors interfere with physicians’ [...]

Collaborative Revolution

I want to bring to your attention a summary of a new book, The Necessary Revolution, by Senge et al. The title derives from the authors’ belief we must implement revolutionary changes rather than incrementalism to improve the way we work and live.  They use examples such as Northern Sweden’s global villages that cut energy use 80% [...]

Collaborative Rage

Authors and reporters share an unspoken agreement. Authors provide content. Reporters provide exposure. Most of the time, it is a symbiotic arrangement. Some times, however, word limits frustrate both of us. For the Washington Post article,  Hospital Clash Puts Patients in the Middle, I provided definitions and examples of structured dialogue and appreciative inquiry in healthcare that unfortunately, [...]

Collaborative Indifference

I felt a little like tennis star John McEnroe as I read a comment from Dr. David Nash in Hospital Clash Puts Patients in the Middle by Dr. Manoj Jain, a special to The Washington Post, September 16, 2008: Do conflicts between doctors and administrators harm patients? “Look at the epidemic of medical errors,” Nash [...]

Collaborative Innovation

The Olympics and party conventions give me hope that we can build on the desire to be a part of something larger than ourselves to unite and improve.  Leanne Carlson defined innovation as the art and science of how we evolve for the future (Carlson LK. 2006. Innovating for the Future. The Physician Executive. 33(6):30-34).  Innovation requires: [...]

Collaborative Defense

Maggie Mahar’s recent post, Surgeons and Other Physicians: A Cultural Divide, has prompted me to do something that I have never done before, defend my profession in writing. The stories about abuse of medical students and nurses make it seem like the profession attracts only one type of personality, the tyrant. I wrote in the comment field: [...]

Collaborative Independence

Happy Independence Day and sincere gratitude to all who are serving in the armed forces to keep us independent, as well as to their loved ones.  My son, who is studying to become a naval aviator, is on a summer cruise off Cyprus, and it gives our family a different perspective on the 4th of July beyond [...]

Collaborative Attitude: Remembering Tim Russert

I was moved watching Tim Russert’s memorial service yesterday.  We both grew up in Buffalo and rooted for the Bills, regardless of outcome.  We never met, but we share common values, including: the importance of family a sense of spiritual connectedness optimism a focus on communication and relationships as a central source of meaning and [...]

Nursing Collaboration

Last week, hospitals across the US celebrated National Nurses Week, which led me to recall with gratitude nurses who made a difference in my training and kept me from harming patients. What better place to start than internship? I salute Nikki, a nurse on the 7PM to 7AM shift in the Emergency Department of a [...]

Collaborative Bidding

I wanted to alert you to a provocative, well-written post by Tina Wardrop, “Sidestepping the Medical Staff Bidding War.” The shortages of physicians, demands of a burgeoning elderly population, and economic and family-related physician time- squeeze will create a bidding war unless we create organizations in which physicians want to work by: offering them a [...]

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