What Matters to You – The Why

Learning New Things

I took a course on dental practice management from the Sauder School of Business out at UBC a while back. I had some downtime, my wife was flat out in her practice, so I headed out to Vancouver to take a course that was not in my field. However, several items applied to my own business, and as it turns out, also towards my first term as an MLA. It was interesting being in a room full of folks from the dental field, who ran their own practices, ran them for others, and were from all across the country. It was a 4-month course if I remember correctly. We met monthly for three days at the campus, then had homework to complete when we returned home. 

Being stuck in a room full of doctors for that long was a little intimidating. To be quite honest, my wife, I believe, was not only concerned about time management but was also trying to break me out of my own comfort zone and safe zone that I had established over the years. As it turned out, my perspectives and background were well suited to the program and helped a number of my fellow classmates as it were. The skills developed on projects could readily be scaled for dental medical practices. I, too, learned from them and the course and applied it not only to my wife’s practice but also to my own business. Here are a few items that I’ll share as takeaways.

Best Practices in Canada are not necessarily celebrated or replicated when it comes to the medical field!

I was gobsmacked to read a best-in-class case study from the Harvard School of Business for the Shouldice Centre that has a huge success for patient outcomes, low cost, and profitably. The center was from Ontario, had been around since the late 40s and was not a traditional medicare system. I could not comprehend why that model was not replicated in the main system?! Why in the heck do we shy away from models that are “outside” of the mainstream? With that same lens, I believe we need to look at our healthcare system, what is being done in other locations that work, and don’t put up artificial barriers. We must keep an open mind if we really want to address problems and implement solutions. Outcome and patient-based service must be a priority. Depending on the severity, you should be able to get the service in a reasonable time frame, if not immediately.

How do we communicate?!

One marketing lecture stood out, which had us consider a “Ted Talk” that talked about the “Why” of communications. The concept considered the three parts of our brain and tapped into the more primitive functions, the emotions, the gut feeling, the internal voice, and the non-logical decision-making process, as it were. Let’s face it, that core part of the brain and the systems it controls have kept us alive as a species for the longest. If we are logical enough to recognize that, we can communicate better and be aware when others are manipulating that part of our brain to have us make decisions. 

I was reminded of some lessons I learned from that course over a decade ago, most recently when I was given feedback from a young engineer in Edmonton at a Holi event where I was asked to speak. Her advice was simple and came back to the why. For her generation, she said, it seemed that we (as conservatives) were always fighting. She understood and agreed with the policy but said the tone needed to be softened.

Explain why you feel you need to fight or what you are fighting for, soften the tone, and others will understand the “why”.

I intend to explain “the Why”

Over the following few columns, I will do my utmost to inform folks of the why, and the background of how we came to where we are currently in the policies. I will also attempt to explain the bills put into place and the urgency of ensuring that we don’t lose the progress we have made over the last few years. I now better understand how the eyes of some of the younger generation see us and how the messaging seems to land with them so well. Also, we are sometimes seen as the villain or misunderstood authority figures. When I think of the “Villains” in the classic Disney cartoons Cruella De-Ville, and Maleficent, they were simply bad people. My kid’s generation now has all of the back story and the” Why” they became that way. There are two sides to every story, they say. I hope you also can consider that, and I hope the learnings I’ve shared offer insight into how you communicate or help you in some tough spots.

I look forward to running into folks more often over the next few months; there are several town halls, fundraisers, and local events that I will be attending. If you see me, please come on over and let me know what matters to you and why. Let’s keep the conversation going, moving forward together and ensuring we keep Alberta Strong and Free.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson