As a sales rep with US Surgical we had the opportunity to scrub in with the Surgeons and OR Teams in the Operating Room during actual procedures. The purpose was to visualize the case and provide verbal technical experience as the Surgeon used our surgical devices on advanced procedures.
This is where I learned the secret to how the medical community dynamically and consistently transformed itself as new technology and procedures where being introduced weekly. A quick example was the explosion of new procedures in the early days of Laparoscopy. In two short years the procedures started out with Trocars and the Endo Clip for the removal of the gallbladder. Followed right behind it with the ability to do an emergency appendectomy for appendicitis and the use of the Endo GIA 30. The Cardio Thoracic Surgeons were right behind with Wedge Resections for possible lung cancers and the elimination of the need to break the ribs. Followed by the OBGYN’s use of the Endo GIA doing Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomies. And then back to the General Surgeons doing Laparoscopic Hernia Repair. This expansion of skills, experience and better patient care transformed the surgical disciplines in less than 2 years. Think about it!
How did they do it? They leveraged the speed and efficacy of the ripple effect. All it took was one surgeon taking a course in a teaching hospital on a new procedure and the rings were set in motion. There wasn’t a leader or manager explaining to the surgeons the new procedures and how to do it, there were colleagues from other surgical disciplines that would proctor the surgeon on the first few cases. Once the surgeon reached his approved number of procedures, he/she would then then build their experience from doing the procedures and when the next surgeon was ready to learn the surgeon would then become the teacher.
Anyone that’s spent any time teaching a skill or technique realizes that teaching elevates the teacher’s understanding and ability far beyond their original experience could provide. Creating this flywheel effect across the medical field has not only improved its speed of adoption by elevating the performance of those teaching others.
So how can you apply this principle in your own world? It’s time for the manager to consider the approach, create a system and encourage their team members to become experts and raise their game by teaching their colleagues. By instilling this approach within your team, you create new levels of expertise, ownership, and mutual respect across the team and improved levels of adoption.