Merry christmas and happy new year to all!
I have been preaching about consistency and Getting things done [GTD] but on the “blog” front I have been a bit of a dissapointment myself I must say. I got caught up on variety of things at work, Deadlines, Covering strikes, Sickness, Kids ect ect and have not taken the pen to write something for a long time…..But as I always say better late than never….and I have made it a new years resolution to write regularly!!
On this christmas I was at Centre parks, witnessing Santa and the Elfs at work and then of course Sanata leaving to the Noth pole with the Elfs, after delivering all the Gifts to the Nice people [Not the Naughty ones!], for a well deserved break. What can we, as surgeons learn from Santa and his Amazing Christams “operation”?
One thing I like about Santa [ And I dont see this from many of my trainnes] is absolute dedication. Rain, Wind , Snow, Cold , even Poor visisbility for Flying ! -Nothing deters Santa. He never dissapoints the millions of children [And adults] who eagerly await his appearance around the world. It is probably very easy for santa to skip a christmas or reschedule a delivery or skip an address – But No, Santa even at his age, never misses a deadline nor does he skip any christmas event citing variety of lame excuses- For all the young and Junior Surgeons [ You may dis⁹agree with the terminology but trust me being the “Junior”surgeon in the room is quite an advantage – when you are senior the buck literally stops with you!} , this is a very good trait to develop early in your careers – be consistent and keep at it – You dont have to feel perfect to get up and come to work! Life does not wait for anyone so get on with it – Just like Sanata has done for years.
Secondly I am yet to hear any child who was dissapointed with Sanatas operation. Its always the same – Same image, Same consistency. You can be rest assured that Santa always gives his best shot at delivering their gifts in an accurate and timely fashion. If you close your eyes just now and Imagine Santa, the image in your head would be remarkably similar to anyone else doing the same thousands of miles away in a different country- It differs very very little with Time , Place and Person. Again an excellent trait for a young surgeon – Be consistent and do your best and leave it, Rest is not up to you. Dont be Mediocre and Slip shod – It does not look good on you or anybody else. Never take things for granted – remember you are building a brand – Just like Santa has a brand that is consistent and universal, you really want your brand to be the best it can be , so dont leave it to chance.
Thirdly , Appearance matters. I am yet to come across a situation santa was caught in dishevelled mess – He is always neat , tidy ,same unique red coat , neat and pressed , with his christmas hat on, even on extreme busy christmas period where he is doing “rounds”. Similarly you should always think about your appearance – It matters. If you appear tired, untidy and unkepmpt , and then you are discussing an emergency operation with your patient which you are about to embark on, which indeed has the potential to alter your patients whole life, how does it look ? You will certianly not be inspiring much confidence in your patients mind and instead of calming them , you may be aggrevating the mental suffering. Remember Santa – however “Crazy” his delivery rounds are he always appears neat,tidy and Professional- We should make the effort to do so too!
Last but not least , Plan ahead, Just like Santa. Its not easy Logistically to do a Operations of such magnitude like santa and achieve efficiencey like he does, with Zero tolerance for errors or delays. Never has he delivered the wrong gift to the wrong household. How does he achieve it – He plans every thing carefully for months. He has a team of elfs who he delegates responsibilities. He has checklists – Sleigh, raindeer and gifts carefully labelled and packed. He risk stratifies with Naughty and Nice lists. He plans his acess and exit carefully [ Chimneys] and has contigency plans for unexpected findings [ What if there is no chimney ?]. He makes sure his team gets cared for [ Carrot and Mince pies for the Raindeer!]. He keeps the Morale high despite extreme work pressures[ Ho Ho Ho!]. All of this are excellent traits for a young surgeons to master – Plan ahead for all contigencies, Be organised, and above all be nice to your staff- They will look after you.
Finally despite all this planing , Shit happens! – Occasionaly even Santa gets stuck in Chimneys and has to be rescued!! Things will go wrong whatever you do and one needs to expect that. But by paying meticulous attention to details and mastering his craft , Santa is able to run a grand “operation” with remarakable accuracy and efficiency. We should learn from him too!!
Thats me signing off for today!
Merry Chistmas and Happy New year ahead! Safe surgery till we meet again!!
LBS
Surgery-the good bad and ugly 