Controlling Change Chaos

We dance around in a ring and suppose,
But the secret sits in the middle and knows.
Robert Frost

Mother Nature is one of the best teachers we have ever found. We can learn from that gracious lady. She is in continuous change. Picture the hurricane. Pure chaos when viewed from the ground. When pictured from the air, it is a self-regulating, ebb and flow, continuous process of rhythmic dynamics. When north of the equator, it always rotates counterclockwise, and expends energy as it reaches land. It is predictable.

The DNA molecule is a similar flux and flex structure, completely unorganized, until Watson and Crick told us what to look for when viewing the double helix. Evolution started to become defined.

Continuous change in our personal lives is required. Change can also be called an evolution. In the business of healthcare delivery, evolution requires continuous quality improvement (CQI) from each individual on the team. When the veterinary practice is viewed as a living, evolving organism, it makes sense for every component (person) to become involved.

Quantum Physics Replaces Mechanistic Process

In the past decade of veterinary practice management, we have learned to build job descriptions, policy manuals, and "wire diagrams" to show the organization and structure of the practice. Somehow, these labors of "management" have helped very few practices prosper. In this decade, and as we enter the next decade, we must disconnect from these mechanistic views and transition to the fluid energy and force-field thinking of the current universe. We must embrace a theory that chaos is critical to success. Consider the definition offered by Margaret Wheatley in her text Leadership and the New Science:

"Order and chaos are two forces and exist in relationship. They are mirror images, one containing the other, a continual process where a system can leap into chaos and unpredictability, yet within that state be held within parameters that are well-ordered and predictable."

Plato talked of the reality of perceptions as a man chained to a cave wall, facing the stone, unable to turn and see the rest of the cave. Plato said a giant fire in the center of the cave could be truth, reality, knowledge, the actual life force, but the poor man chained to the wall would only perceive the fire as shadows. Those shadows would be of his own reflection, but they would be his reality, since the chains held him fast. Plato said men needed to turn one hundred eighty degrees to perceive the reality of life, but very few could, since their chains of bias and prejudice were too tight. Creative chaos counters the destructive nature of stability and rigidity.

The core vision, values, and competencies of a practice prevent anarchy. The clarity of purpose increases staff buy-in. People are the true competitive advantage, and if the constraints are removed, they will stop reacting to chaos and cause it. In chaos, the true assets are ideas. Ideas fuel Plato's fire, the fire of reality.

Strategic planning has proven to be ineffective, but then look at the definition of evolution. Who has been able to predict the evolution of mother nature? Even McDonald's® could not "strategically" predict the uproar caused by styrofoam cartons, but they listened, changed, and saved money when they initiated the use of recycled paper.

There are three important elements in creative chaos:

1.  SCR: Learning from clients can be termed strategic client response (SCR), if action is taken within seven days of the discovery. Clients are continually teaching, but many practices have quit learning. In most communities the veterinary "market" does not exist anymore. A practice has only one client at a time, and they must ensure that each client returns. If a veterinary practice team centers on each client as the special asset that they are, the "market share" will take care of itself. In practices where staff members really listen to clients, there will be occasional "lighthouse clients", animal owners who "cut through the fog" and point the way for the future. They will be the early warning signs of evolution. The secret is in how fast will the practice respond to the client requests, rather than when will the strategic plan be modified.

2.  PCA: The staff is the prime competitive advantage (PCA) of a practice. A practice can hire the best, or hire a warm body. When a practice hires the best, they must be treated as the best. The staff is the first and most important client of a veterinary practice. How you treat the staff will be how the staff treats the clients. They must be given the freedom to make bold bets. Implemented ideas can also be termed CQI. The eleventh commandment, as developed by 3M^®, is simply, never kill an idea. Success is at hand, if a practice counts ideas, rather than paper towels; if the bookkeeper can tell you how many ideas were implemented, rather than how many checks were written; and if the ninety-ninety rule is in effect, which is to approve ninety percent of the ideas in seven days and implement them within ninety days.

3.  Uncommon leaders: The practice must have "business commandos", leaders who are willing to be eccentrics, radicals, and gunfighters. What would happen if this type of leadership occurred in veterinary practices?

The Renaissance Prescription

So, we watch Mother Nature, and we accept quantum physics. We even know now that light can be bent. We also know that plants are not enhanced by a single new "gimmick" being added. They routinely need a balance of water, sun, nutrients, pest protection, suitable soil, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and, in some species, regular nurturing. Plants replicate by rhizomes, root systems, and seeds, those recurring smaller themes, and some plants even lose leaves as they grow. Veterinary practices work better when smaller teams replicate the vision and values of the practice, and when non-productive teams are allowed to be pruned.

The Rx has seven points:

1.  Renew mission: Commitment, challenge, passion for the cause.

2.  Refocus business: Client access, quality, cost-benefit, relationships.

3.  Revitalize culture: Effervescent, openness, ideas born, power-up innovation.

4.  Rebirth leadership: Samurai dedication, centurion loyalty, trust in people.

5.  Rebuild team: Integrate, increase learning, beat 'em with brains, listen.

6.  Reform the organization: Lose dead weight, redesign jobs, decrease boundaries.

7.  Re-engineer work systems: Lean and mean, meet challenges, solve problems.