Happy Friday,

I'm about to go on a week-long road trip for Thanksgiving to visit family. I hate driving, so the 32 hours of driving are the inspiration for this little email.

Surgeons are generally regarded as smart and professional, despite shows like Grey's Anatomy. So when a hospital realized that during the handoffs between surgery and ICU care were going terribly and the patients were suffering, they wanted to fix it.

Unfortunately, none of them could. Nothing they tried worked, even with all those big-brained doctors and surgeons.

The story goes that while on break, they saw a Formula 1 race and how the pit crews acted in this blindingly fast, yet precise set of movements to get the car back out on the track. So they asked for a Formula 1 pit crew to come and fix their problems.

They, the very pragmatic leadership, refused, as the idea was absurd.

Eventually, they caved, since nothing else worked. A pit crew arrived and observed these handoffs. Then the pit crew suggested a list of fixes and guidelines.

The surgeons and staff began to practice what the folks who change tires for a living suggested, and it worked. The outcomes improved. The approach was such a success that other hospitals adopted the same methods and guidelines.

Now, I think there are lots of lessons you could learn from this. You could look at the application of lean concepts to streamline things. You could look at it from the lesson of hiring outside experts (Hey, that's me!). You could also look at how our egos don't always have good judgment when it comes to new ideas.

So, what impression did you walk away with from this story?

Sincerely,

Ryan

PS: All joking aside, I do help my clients cut their delivery time in half, make software virtually bug-free, and build teams that can handle the toughest challenges. So if you'd benefit from teams like that, let me know.