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How to develop healthcare teams with grit

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In an NEJM Catalyst video and text piece, Thomas H. Lee discusses the need for health-care teams with “grit” in today’s every more complex healthcare environment.

Lee describes four key elements of what it means for a group or an organization to behave like a gritty individual. The text below is from NEJM:

Have a goal hierarchy:

“In a goal hierarchy, the lowest-level tasks are akin to daily to-do lists, with things like going through one’s inbox on the electronic medical record, answering pages, and sending in prescriptions. ‘Those are tasks that if that was the only thing I focused, on I’d have a burnout issue,’ says Lee.”

“Middle-level goal tasks are designed to help clinicians accomplish things like coordinated care and preventing complications for patients by addressing their current symptoms.”

A Growth Mindset

“‘A growth mindset is the idea that you can get better and change — even if you are already the best. ‘That drive for improvement, that restlessness with the status quo, that is part of grit,’ says Lee.”

Two Types of Resilience

“One type of resilience is the willingness and the ability to bounce back from setbacks, acknowledging that things didn’t go right and trying to learn from the experience and be better as a result.”

“A second type of resilience is the flexibility to deal with the unexpected. When taking care of patients, the unexpected happens all the time — unexpected medical conditions or other circumstances. ”

Identification with Growth

“Individuals must feel pride in being part of the Parkinson’s team or the cancer team, and pride in being part of their institution. ‘That has to be something that motivates them, gives them pride, makes them feel better about themselves,” Lee says, ‘so that when the inevitable stresses of the unpredictable come along, they’re ready to shoulder them and not fall apart.”’

“‘These elements of a gritty team are essential competitive differentiators for health care organizations that are going to thrive in the marketplace that lies ahead,’ he adds. Grit is strategic and will help organizations thrive in the face of competition.”

To access the piece, please hit this link.

 

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