Surviving Healthcare Reform: what you should be doing now before it's too late!
Adapt, or Go Home!
In 1949, thirteen (out of a highly skilled team of sixteen men) died battling a relatively small blaze that turned deadly in Mann Gulch, Montana. Upon investigating the circumstances of why thirteen of the “smoke jumpers” died while only three lived, Norman Maclean wrote a book entitled “Young Men and Fire”, which is the true story account of that fateful expedition of the “smoke jumpers” - fire fighters who parachute into the back country to fight fires.
Maclean found some startling and interesting facts. Mann Gulch is surrounded by steep canyon walls with the northern slope at a 75% incline. When the wind turned suddenly on the smoke jumpers, they were in a race with the fire up those steep walls. Unexpectedly, the fire started to spread much faster than anticipated.
One of the amazing and notable things that Maclean discovered was that the thirteen who died had carried their tools - heavy poleaxes, saws, shovels and heavy back packs - while attempting to out run the fire up those steep walls. In other words, the thirteen had run as far as they could with all their equipment, even though that equipment was worse than useless in a race with the fire. Their inability to drop their heavy tools and packs ultimately prevented them from being able to outrun the fire. To these seasoned fire fighters, their tools were more than simple objects - they represented who they were, why they were there and what they were trained to do. Dropping their tools would have meant abandoning their knowledge, beliefs, training and experience.
This might not seem like a hard choice to make to you, but because these specialized fire fighters hadn't been trained for such an unpredictable moment, they had no alternative models or maps for behavior. In moments of uncertainty and imminent danger, clinging to the old "right" way might seem like a good idea... but more often than not, it is actually deadly.
The three survivors of the blaze were forced to think outside the box and develop alternative methods of escaping the fire. Once they figured out they were no longer “fighting the fire” but were instead “trying to escape from it”, they realized they had to drop all of their useless equipment. One survivor used an innovative technique called the 'escape fire' where he took a match and lit a ring around him so that the fire would "jump" over him. When he tried to suggest it to the other men, they continued running up the steep slope because the 'escape fire' technique had not been part of their extensive training. Their inability to drop the tools and equipment that weren't working and seek new methods to escape is what ultimately led to them being engulfed by flames and smoke.
My question to you is this: What are the poleaxes, shovels and backpacks you're currently running with?
What are the tired, worn out strategies and tools which you are lugging around? What existing beliefs and models of behavior do you need to drop in order for you to survive and prosper? What training, attitudes, decisions or experience needs to be abandoned in favor of a new, innovative approach?
A nationwide healthcare fire is raging and what got you here won't get you there.
The people who learn the critical business skills and latest marketing tools necessary to survive and even thrive will be the winners in all this. But, this has always been true. Survivors and successful people are always learning and practicing to improve their game. New circumstances always require new skills and tools… The alternative is suffering and death.
What you need to do in your pharmacy, right now...
is find new ways to drive sales, growth and profits. Retaining your customers, bringing them in more often, increasing their point-of-purchase sales, driving referrals and testimonials, building iron-clad customer loyalty, and providing the most incredible customer service experience in your community… are your best guarantees of increasing your revenues… short term and long term.
Luckily, it doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel, but it does require getting the right skills and tools that give you the adaptability you’ll need to thrive in any environment. You're ready to take charge of your business. You've just needed better strategies and tools.
This is your opportunity knocking.
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