T.S. Eliot famously said “good writers borrow, great writers steal.” In my case, I don’t think you can refer to it as stealing if all I’ve done is ask a simple question and captured people’s responses.
Over the last few months I’ve had the opportunity to chat with colleagues, both at UCI and across the country, working in the spaces of healthcare, technology and higher education. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to interview these amazing leaders and hear them share their stories, strategies and paths to success. I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s conversations and find both pragmatic advice and inspiration from the nuggets that have been shared with us.
As we launched this blog in the summer, I shared one of the most impactful concepts I’ve experienced as a leader – the idea that we can effect monumental change through making the decision to be one percent better every day. This year we asked each of our interviewees in what areas would they encourage leaders to be one percent better, and the responses were insightful. I hope you enjoy reading them.
I wish you all health and prosperity in the new year.
John Halamka, President, Mayo Clinic Platform
Listen to the full interview
My 40 years in the industry has been based on two principles. First, I always work at the intersection of two disciplines. As you know, I love the UC system, because I did the medical scientist training program, and I was the first person to combine medicine and engineering. At the time, my advisor said, “why would a doctor want to work in engineering? This makes no sense.” So work at the margins, right between two disciplines – that’s certainly powerful.
The second thing I’ve always done is tried to put coalitions of people together for the benefit of all, never with a hegemony of any one organization. For example – I recently had a call with a leader in the telemedicine world, and we were talking about regulatory change to reduce cost and friction to patients. And I said, ‘wouldn’t the natural thing be to just put all five CEOs of the telemedicine firms together with a couple of leading clinicians and a couple of policymakers, and then work together as a nonprofit, non self-interested group?’ He’s like, I never thought of that.
So work at the intersection of disciplines, form coalitions for the benefit of all, and I think you’ll have a huge impact.
Brad Wheeler, CIO emeritus and professor, Indiana University
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The first thing that just leaps to mind is improving the user experience. And that’s not just about where the icons are on the screen. It goes back to radical simplification, ease of use, never having to enter data twice — things that we already know. I’ll be so bold here is to say it — we have spent more than a decade giving too much deference to functional owners who have a preference for how user transactions with universities should be. And I think we really need to look through and beyond them to the person using the system, whether it’s a student or a staff member, or whomever, and ask how do we improve that experience for the end user, while we accomplish compliance and other things. So UX would be number one, and just press on it and don’t sacrifice.
The second would be seeing the connected journey. We tend to work on systems and business processes, unit by unit. And we try to optimize them as point solutions. We need to think about constituent journeys, and how that works. And students are our constituents, parents are constituents, faculty and staff are. We are really having to think more about how we build a connected journey for students.
I would just encourage our young IT leaders and others – think about the end user experience and make it better, and connect the journeys in their eyes.
Mike Dennin, Dean, Undergraduate Education, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, UC Irvine
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You know, the first is the easiest, don’t be afraid of data. We’re thinking of making t-shirts that say, “I have data and I’m not afraid to use it.” And it’s scary, because you might learn stuff about yourself, you didn’t want to know. That’s one side of it. The other side is you might accidentally reaffirm biases you shouldn’t because you don’t look at the data the right way. Somebody said early on in the process, ‘well, what if through all these COMPASS reports we discover someone’s actually teaching badly?’ But I don’t get the question…we just help them teach better! So you have to acknowledge data can be dangerous, but you can’t be afraid of it.
And I think the other thing, as you move into the data space, is to find those small easy wins, those areas where people need a little bit of information. Help them get at the data they’re using already, but in a very slow and cumbersome way. If you can solve that one problem for them, now you’ve got an ally in this space to really help you move the whole thing forward. Find that pain point for someone around data and then fix it for them because it’s usually fixable.
And then the final piece for faculty, is don’t be afraid of change. Changing what we’re doing doesn’t mean we’re trying to lower standards. Success is like not a limited quantity. It’s not like only 10 students can be successful, and then once those 10 have used up all of our success, we have no more to give. It’s actually one of those few things out there that is an unlimited quantity. That is an achievable thing. Not everybody will be successful at the same major in the same way in the same style. There are thirty thousand different college experiences. But we all can be successful by appropriate definitions. That’s what I would tell faculty to keep in mind.
Abby Sears, CEO of OCHIN
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Of course, achieving health equity demands systemic change, but I think there are a couple of things we can all do to help move that needle. First, employers need to rethink our workforce and do more to create a work environment that is more flexible and welcoming of those who have traditionally been excluded from stable employment, such as single parents, people with disabilities, or those facing a mental health crisis. I would really challenge us as employers to be more creative and be more patient and be more open, because I think that would go a long way toward breaking cycles of poverty and improving access to health care. Until we have health care access for all in this country, health care comes from employers; and employers have to do more.
Second, we have to recognize that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and use technology to overcome practical barriers (like transportation) and systemic barriers (like racism) that have prevented too many patients from accessing holistic, high-quality care for far too long. We’ve got to embrace telehealth and make sure it’s available to everyone, so providers can reach patients wherever they are with whatever type of care they need.
Last, I would challenge the health technology industry to be more socially competent and more sensitive to cultural differences, because we’re simply not. The tools we design need to be more user-friendly and built with the diverse patients, languages, identities, abilities, and medical preferences in mind. This is an essential part of improving access and inclusion across the healthcare industry, by removing last-mile barriers for patients.
Doug Haynes, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, UC Irvine
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I think the 1% model is a powerful tool, because ultimately creating a culture where African Americans thrive at UCI, or for that matter any organization, is organized around choice. We have to choose as a community to confront anti-Black racism as a precondition to creating a thriving culture. And so there are four things I just want to sort of suggest and invite folks to.
The first thing is acknowledging how anti-Black racism manifests itself in society. And that involves learning more about it.
The second is committing to learn about and advance skills that curtail implicit biases and anti-Black racism in all forms. It’s a skill. Just as you’re learning and you’re educating yourself, you’re also developing a skill about recognizing implicit biases and how to interrupt them. And this has applications in multiple populations. We are equipping ourselves with new competencies, but we’re also looking at data and evidence to better understand how our organization is doing.
Next, engaging with members of the Black community is so important to acknowledge, but also to be in a better position to make visible their contributions to the organization.
I want to end on this final point. When you think of the Black community, I want you to think of the diversity within it. There are Black gay men and women, transgender, queer, first-generation, low income, veterans, disabled. In addressing anti-Black racism to create a culture where African Americans thrive, you’re really addressing the range and dimensions of diversity that characterize all great organizations.
