Management vs Leadership

Though times require good management ...


... but only great leadership can make a difference in the long run.

I once have been told to be brave and bold: I will.
Thanks boss!

Tracking and measuring everything

It's clear that if you had to manage 300M$ worth of medical equipment, that goes rented in hospitals all over the USA, you would have to find out a way to track where every single piece of equipment is at every single moment: isn't it? And if you had to service equipment at a rate of more than 200 a week, you'd be very careful in knowing what's going on: wouldn't you? Well, this is what the guys at UHS do in their local office in Minneapolis (and in the other 85 offices across the country): for every piece of equipment that they manage, they know at every time where it is, who has touched it, how much time it took to fix it, what spare parts were necessary, how much it costed to repair it, etc. And every specific indicator is clearly showed in a dasboard and benchmarked against the performance of the other UHS offices (I'd call it "positive competition"). And part of the bonus compensation of the employees is determined according to how good their performance had been: I assure you the guys here keep track of anything, and strieve to do better and better!
I can guess this is not only good management practices, but it's something that roots in the american culture. Have you ever seen a baseball match (the same applies to football, basket, anything) on ESPN or any other tv channel? At every moment they show you batting average, run batted in, home runs, wins, strikeouts, etc. etc.
So, keeping track and measuring things is both a matter of culture and good management: in any case it can be done, and there's no excuse not to do it!

Next stop ... London!

So, my week at RTKL in Dallas is over now. Thanks to all the great people that welcomed me, and put up with me and my tons of questions (some of those not too dumb, at least I hope ...). Thanks to Debbie (and Marty often connecting with us from Saudi), Lorraine, Pippa, Mike and Keith (with me in the picture taken today shortly before my departure)! And to Steve, Gary, Pam, Jennifer, Melody, John, and all the other colleagues of your great team.
Next stop London, then! Looking forward to meeting Lorraine and Pippa there and doing some great work together!

A picture is worth a thousand words ...

An old phrase by Frederick R. Barnard used to say "One look is worth a thousand words"; in fact it was stolen from the original chinese proverb saying that "A picture is worth ten thousand words" (and if you google the phrase you'll find at least other 5 claimed origins ...). So, how many words may a 3D rendering of your new operating room be worth? And a computer graphics live animation? But the guys at RTKL go beyond all of this, so here you are with a complete mockup of the new operating room, filled with equipment and furniture. And a group of nurses and surgeons visiting it (at a 6.30am meeting!), using the equipment, moving the lamps, making suggestions and coming up with the final decisions ready for the architectural construction drawings. And there were two of these mockups to explore, good for the medical staff to compare the different layouts, plus patient rooms. Wow! And now let's go back to the whiteboard ... oops ... to the CAD station ...
PS You may have read of how Apple used to design its new retail stores a few years ago ... Apple had a full store mock-up hidden in a San Jose-area warehouse for a year prior to opening an actual store, so they could test out various layouts and designs. They continue to tinker with the formula-- furniture, lighting, merchandise mix, so-called "collateral" (those brochures and cards, etc.), placement of objects, etc.
Pursuing excellence ... sounds familiar?

It's nice to be nice

During these days of intense "watching and learning" at RTKL I sometimes happen to spend some time on a desk just checking my email or going through the notes I took during the day. Today I occupied Shalenta's desk and I immediately noticed a framed sheet of paper welcoming her at her new company. How nice it must have been getting welcomed by your new colleagues and managers that handwrote phrases as "We are so glad to have you on board and look forward to working with you", or "We are glad you have joined our team. Welcome".
And what to say of the recognition as "employee of the quarter"! It may cinically mean little to somebody, but I think that being given a boost is good for anyone of us (not just for the egomaniacs...).
Final remark for any HR department (and for any employee welcoming a new colleague): it's nice to be nice!

2nd-5th of August 2010 - RTKL, Dallas, TX

Partnering with the guys at RTKL will require a lot of thoughtful action and bravery on both sides, but it’ll be a lot of fun, also!
To express my feelings these days here in Dallas, dealing with Debbie, Marty (on call from Saudi), Keith, Mike, Lorraine, Pippa, … and a lot of other great professionals (the best medical equipment planning team you could dream of doing work with), and trying to figure out how to take the best reciprocal advantage of the partnership between our companies, please let me quote Seth Godin a little bit (it’s easy to look smart when quoting smart people …)

Business Development is a mysterious title for a little discussed function or department in most larger companies. It's also a great way for an entrepreneur or small business to have fun, create value and make money.
Good business development allows businesses to profit by doing something that is tangential to their core mission. Sometimes the profit is so good, it becomes part of their core mission, other times it supports the brand and sometimes it just makes money. And often it's a little guy who can be flexible enough to make things happen.
The thing that makes business development fascinating is that the best deals have never been done before. There's no template, no cookie cutter grind it out approach to making it work. This is why most organizations are so astonishingly bad at it. They don't have the confidence to make decisions or believe they have the ability to make mistakes.
Business development people are exploring the unknown. That means that there's more than cash on the table, there's bravery and initiative and excitement. The best business development people I've ever worked with are able to capture the energy in the room and amplify it. They'll build on the ideas being presented, not make them smaller.

Full story at:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/09/understanding-business-development.html

Dealey Plaza, Dallas - November 22, 1963

How strange is it being today in a place where sometime in the past an event occurred that changed the history of a Country and maybe meant even more? So much has been written about this place and so many things are yet to be revealed. I wasn't even born when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, but I feel the grieve for the man (remember the picture of little John at his father's funeral) and the emotion of History, here today, in the form of a hundred meters of a street and a couple of grassy knolls.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

This phrase from the Bible echoed in me today as I was wandering alone around Dallas in a hot saturday afternoon, far from home and family with one whole more week before seeing the ones I love again. All in a sudden I heard a distant though familiar sound of bells, and following it I got to the beautiful cathedral "Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe". I entered with other people approaching the church and attended the Holy Mass; it was in spanish, but the structure of the service is exactly the same everywhere, so I could easily follow it. The Holy Gospel of today was about putting attention to what really matters in life, and the priest preached the importance of friends and family, and how important it is to pay them time and attention.
They say that nothing happens by pure chanche, and today I had another confirmation of how this is really true! I miss my loved ones, but I'm not here by chanche, nor it was a pure chanche hearing that bell in the distance ... getting to an unexpected familiar place in a stranger and so different country.
We shall all put attention to what really matters to us, where our treasure is. In case of doubt, ask your heart, he knows the answer!

Visiting the ECRI Institute

What does it feel like when you have the possibility to visit the “home” of someone you’re a true fan of? If I could take my daughters to the house of Hello Kitty or make them have a ride in the Scooby Doo minivan, they may be less amazed than I was today visiting the ECRI Institute in Plymouth Meeting near Philadelphia. Thanks to Jim Keller (Vice President of Health Technology Evaluation and Safety) who guided me through their offices and laboratories, I have seen the place where medical devices get tested, scrutinized and compared, and I have met the people that write the reports and guidelines that are worldwide respected and recognized. In this place you can feel the passion for contributing to better healthcare and patient safety through unbiased health technology assessment and evaluation. Thank you Jim, you and your team are doing a great job!

Balance

Humans tend to be very unbalanced. We can't sort out how to address our "minds," our "bodies" or our "spirits." We certainly are at a loss over any rational balance between our professional and personal lives (work and family). We are unbalanced, that that is wasteful, sad and dangerous. Life gets shorter every day --- most of us act like we are in training for some great happening that will occur in the future - we totally forget to live in the "now." Certainly most of us have to work to pay the bills, but a life that is all work and no play --- well, is not much of a life. I guess these few days here under the subtle influence of the various Indian Philosophies of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are having their effect on my easily impressionable mind.

Fortunately, my compatriots on our expedition here to India are aware of this serious human condition, and do attempt to seek balance, as you see in the picture above, where we are attempting to keep the "temple that is our body" in proper condition; and we are also engaged in endless intellectual debate on a vast range of topics including the relevance of terms such as Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Engineering; considering if the addition of "winglets" to the top of a sailboats mast would reduce a theoretical vortex drag (the de francesca hypothesis); and also the gender of god.

We are seeking balance --- of course we are not there --- but in respect of this search - I am now off to dinner.

Brian

Delhi -- a decade later

I was last here in Delhi in 1997-98 -- it remains a fascinating place - though on the surface, it looks and feels pretty much the same as it did a decade ago. For better writing than mine - visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi

The hazy view is from my hotel room. It is hotter then you would expect - around 41 degrees Celsius. Imagine having to peddle a bike around in that heat, as the fellow in the picture has to. We are quite fortunate.

Brian

Learning about the local culture

We all know how important it is to be sensitive to local cultures - and with that, or Grand Master Pietro today took us to The Red Fort to better understand the richness and history of this area. Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort to learn much more about the fort and to see some great pictures. Based on our visit today, we believe we may have found the new location for the TBS offices in India - and a suitable residence for Roy.

Brian

WOW - that is all I can say about this place

A few days ago we visited the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences.

It is rare when I don't say much - but on this visit - I sat spellbound - they are performing magic.

And I finally found a way to slip myself into one of these pictures. You see the guy standing in front of the television monitors; he is Abhay P. Singhavi - CEO Preventive Health (and telemedicine) services) If you look closely into the monitor behind him - there I am in the middle in the grey suit.

Also here you see Pietro and Carlo equally spellbound by what is being done at Narayana. Visit: www.narayanahospitals.com to learn more. Really - check them out.

Brian

Columbia Asia

Columbia Asia (http://www.columbiaasia.com/) is a company started by Rick Evans many moons ago. They were a client of mine in Malaysia and they are doing very innovative things for healthcare. We visited Rick at his offices here in Bangalore (no, Rick is not in the pictures) and we hope to be doing some business with them.

Rock Stars

It is not all wining and dinning --- unfortunately.

Here you find Pietro, Ven (the leader of TBS India), Roy (The Voice From the Kingdom), and Chevla (the guy who really gets things done).

I am not sure I am so happy about being the picture taker --- my ego and vanity are bruised.

A really great start to things here in India.

Brian

Blogging is hard work...

I don't know how Stefano kept up with this. Bravo to him.

We had the first TBS INDIA board meeting on Tuesday. Notice the TBS Logo in the back ground of the fascinating picture of Pietro and Paolo.

The meeting went well - we are off to greatness.

Bad day for flying

Panic after Air India plane skips landing

In Mangalore
Heavy rains, no landing system forces Air India Express plane with 150 on board to land in Kozhikode
M Raghuram. Mangalore

Memories of the May 22 air crash of Air India Express's Dubai-Mangalore flight IX-812, heavy rains and a yet-to-be-repaired Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Mangalore's Bajpe Airport are making it extremely difficult for pilots to land at this aerodrome which is claimed to be an all-weather one.
On Wednesday, this became evident when, again, an Air India Express flight on the same Dubai-Mangalore route was forced to abort landing during heavy rains at Bajpe at 6.10am and made to proceed to Kozhikode instead.
The flight with 144 passengers and six crew members approached the Bajpe airport runway and tried to land in heavy rains, Chellam Prakash, station manager, Air India, said.
Poor visibility, heavy rains and a fear of an encore of the May 22 air crash when the ill-fated flight overshot the runway and crashed into the ravine beyond the runway killing 158, forced the Mangalore air traffic control (ATC) to ask the pilot to abort landing at Bajpe airport and diverted the plane to Kozhikode.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials told DNA that the ILS, which was damaged during the IX-812 flight's crash at Bajpe airport, was not yet functional as the system engineers had not fixed it. An airport official told DNA: "Visibility had come down to 100 metres due to heavy rains. Air India pilots are not allowed to land unless there is a clear visibility of 2,000 feet from the landing threshold. In the absence of a working ILS we could not permit pilots to land at Bajpe and asked them to come back later."
The flight then landed safely at Kozhikode at about 7.15am.


... but the TBS buddies are dauntless and won't get threatened so easily! Our brave spirit is best described by Freddie Mercury words:

Don't stop me now

Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time
I feel alive
And the world, I'll turn it inside out yeah
I'm floating around in ecstasy
So don't stop me now
Don't stop me
'cause I'm having a good time
Having a good time

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go there's no stopping me
I'm burning through the sky yea
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit
I'm travelling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Don't stop me now
I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time
Just give me a call
Don't stop me now
'cause I'm having a good time
Don't stop me now
Yes I'm having a good time
I don't wanna stop at all

I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars
On a collision course
I am a satellite
I'm out of control
I'm a sex machine ready to reload
Like an atom bomb about to oh oh oh oh oh explode!
I'm burning through the sky yeah
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit
I'm travelling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you

Don't stop me don't stop me, don't stop me hey hey hey!
Don't stop me don't stop me ooh ooh ooh
I like it
Don't stop me don't stop me
Have a good time good time
Don't stop me don't stop me

I'm burning through the sky yeah
Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit
I'm travelling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Don't stop me now
I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time
(all right) Just give me a call
Don't stop me now
'cause I'm having a good time
Don't stop me now
Yes I'm having a good time
I don't wanna stop at all

Morning in Bangalore

The day is just starting and I wanted to get this posted before the day started. The team started arriving yesterday from various points in Europe - I got to the Hotel around 2am - so it is a sleepy start for the day - but the rest of the team arrived even later - so it will be an interesting start of the day for everyone.

You can learn more about Bangalore at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore It is the Silicon Valley of India - but you cannot really tell that from this picture.

I will do my best to keep this blog updated while here - but I am cannot promise to be as diligent and interesting as Stefano was on the expedition to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Setting the TBS flag here in India was a visionary strategic move on behalf of our company CEO. While it will of course be challenging to support our ever increasing geographic scope of services - I am confident that years from now, India will prove to be a cornerstone to our global operations.

Stay tune for more ... and as always -

Be Brave !!!

Tbs lift off for India

Next Stop - INDIA

Just a quick note --- Team TBS will make its next dent in the Universe in/at India.

Stay Tuned