Back in the (Blogging) Saddle

After a week and a half of intensity at work and intensity at home I'm about to get back in the saddle again. If you have for some reason followed my twitter posts recently they are mostly about bread and chicken coops. The work-life balance tipped away from work for a while and it's been nice. I find that once I refuel like this my mind starts looking up and around again vs the heads down daily grind that can come after intense periods of work.

Work has been intense. Strategy development, team building, infrastructure projects and new technology evaluations abound. I like to get deep into a topic, obsess about it and know as much as I can in the time I have. I then come back up for air and a reality check and figuring out how much of each is needed to keep the momentum going requires more art than science right now.

So a colleague of mine gave me a few articles to read recently and I took the opportunity in a longish large meeting to scan them and it spawned a few ideas.

• An article on the effect of compensation on collaboration (negative in most cases) got cross pollinated with what I'm learning about the National Quality Forum's likely future direction on hospital metrics.
• Build vs buy on the Business Intelligence front in payor organizations. What are the lesson's learned for providers and how does that relate to emerging trends on data aggregation vendors as opposed to traditional Business Intelligence vendors.
• The economic recovery legislation and it's impact on adoption of EMRs and even more importantly the execution of those projects.

Today was a good reminder to stop, pay attention to everything going on around me and not just focus on the next steps and the plan. If you don't stop and smell the roses then you might just miss something important...

(Not) Lost in Translation

Today I was given a fine compliment and told that I was a translator. After writing about having to "traverse the stack" and Business Intelligence as a bad word it felt good to hear evidence that bridging the gap between the technical world and the healthcare world is doable by mere humans. Like many things in our culture this talent isn't nurtured early enough and it seems that the school of hard knocks is the primary teacher. For example, how many computer science programs emphasize non-technical writing, non-academic presentation and business skills? It's been a while since I got my Bachelors Degree but I don't see the core of these programs doing a good job in this area.

There are a few ways to try and get there faster. A double major in business management, communications or an MBA. In fact many of the best and most effective translators I know got their MBAs early in their careers and I admire their grace. In a pinch though an organization can help this happen by cultivating these skills internally, not slaying people for making mistakes and committing to the development of their people. These things will evolve into part of a hard-wired culture of learning and culture definitely eats strategy for lunch!

Back to sharpening the saw...

Recharge

Chelle, my wife, and I are sitting in Seatac airport waiting to catch the first leg of a two flight trip to Barcelona. We're both already tired after preparing the house for my parents who are babysitting the kids while we're away. I'm so grateful to them.

So we're off on our first overseas adventure. I'm so excited but not for the reasons that you may think. The real gift for me is the time I get to spend with Chelle alone.

Its easy for the daily grind to take over and wear you down. The kids come first and my work isn't, well, just a job to me. I honestly think I was meant to do this. Just as I honestly believe Chelle and I were meant to find each other.

So its always a gift to be alone together for a while without the pressures of daily life. We'll come home tired but recharged with the memory of what really counts in life fresh again.