Each morning, a new day dawns filled with both challenge and opportunity \u2013 and if you\u2019re one of the few, the proud who honor and respect this noble profession, more accurately the \u201ccalling\u201d of Private Practice Dentistry, you\u2019ll see it as yet another chance to roll up your sleeves and make many good things happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when that day ends, the stadium clears, and the scoreboard clock winds down to zero, what can you as head coach point to as the key factor in assessing the final tally?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was it the amount of busyness experienced inside the walls of your practice? The flurry, the hubbub, the rush from patient to patient, the mad dash to fully pack the day with activity? Was it all about the \u201cdoing\u201d of the stuff we call Dentistry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guarantee it wasn\u2019t, not by a long shot, even though this sort of expectation and analysis does mesh well with what\u2019s considered conventional wisdom nowadays. Last week I noted the alluring call of the unceasing drumbeat \u2013 \u201cmore, more, more\u201d \u2013 sucking you into a whirlpool of greater anxiety and effort, but ultimately to much less than fulfilling results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer does not lie in more activity. Nirvana, Heaven, the Promised Land does exist, but it\u2019s attainable only to those who recognize busyness as a symptom, not a strategy. The true path appears when you abandon Activity for Accomplishment. Tasks for Results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actions for OUTCOMES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does it matter if you invest minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years into activities that fail to move the needle either for your patient\u2019s ultimate health or your practice\u2019s financial future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back when Microsoft was king of the hill, someone calculated that if Bill Gates spotted a $100 bill on the ground, it wouldn\u2019t have been worth his time to stop and pick it up. It\u2019s a perfect illustration of the importance of time and the mindset we must rigorously develop, nurture, and guard against every assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greatness doesn\u2019t just happen, it rises and grows and thrives in an environment where it\u2019s both welcomed and nurtured, which is why it\u2019s so rarely embraced or seen. And a misguided focus and over-attention on filling every moment of every day with \u201csomething\/anything,\u201d regardless of strategic value, is why so few doctors \u2013 probably 20% or less \u2013 experience true greatness via a practice designed from the ground up around their goals, dreams, and values, while the other 80% remain mired in mediocrity and frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The secret, the key, the true North Star for this kind of practice requires persistent FOLLOW-THROUGH on all fronts, an all-hands-on-deck effort that involves every team member pulling for every patient to ensure no one gets left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The greatest reason why such a team, even though fully empowered, fully engaged, fully in line with the greater mission and greater good, would fail to achieve overwhelming success \u2013 boils down to one simple reality of life and existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
INERTIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a universal law, noted by Newton, that a body in motion will stay in motion and a body at rest will stay at rest. Thus, every team and every individual has an inherent, natural, tendency to quit too early\u2026 stop short\u2026 give up\u2026 when the moment demands otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the demands of each moment, when viewed objectively and outside the fog of \u201cbusyness for the sake of busyness,\u201d require focus and energy and total integrity to ensure that the greater goal is never sacrificed or left to wither on the vine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must make certain a patient\u2019s far better tomorrow doesn\u2019t get shortchanged by a shortsighted fixation on doing merely what insurance will fully cover and then no more, regardless of the ultimate consequences. This means committing to complete health treatment planning without scrimping or cutting corners or letting them wander off without the wise counsel they need to make wise decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does this play out in what happens in the moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With every patient interaction outside your practice \u2013 from that initial phone call, the very first time they speak with a team member who listens to their needs, answers their questions, and makes sure they are embraced into the fold as a real human being whom you\u2019d never abandon to randomly disappear into oblivion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With every conversation within your practice \u2013 as you establish the triangle of trust for that patient so they know they will be served at the highest level of compassion, professionalism, and care every step of their journey to comprehensive health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With every interaction regarding money \u2013 ensuring total clarity about not only responsibility, but also the ultimate value brought into that patient\u2019s life \u2013 far beyond \u201cclean, drill, and fill\u201d \u2013 instead, constantly reaffirming a transformational vision of just how much better health and life and self-worth can become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These aren\u2019t merely instances of one-off banter between doctor, team, and patient \u2013 they reflect a dedicated commitment to follow through to ensure that what\u2019s been promised actually takes place: from the smallest commitment to the greatest. Full on integrity from beginning to end, alpha to omega.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I\u2019m referring to goes beyond a few platitudes or even motivational posters on the wall. This must be embedded deep within culture, expressed in every action of every day. From the morning huddle to the daily wrap-up, there must be follow-up on commitments made to assess progress towards accomplishments and results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, it\u2019s your hand at the wheel. Therefore, the bottom line is that you must think through where you yourself are taking things too easy, where you yourself are giving away too much control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t about micromanaging or inserting yourself into every interaction and decision. It\u2019s about making a stand to make sure what\u2019s promised equals what\u2019s delivered \u2013 and that\u2019s the very minimum acceptable standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus, we come to what I call: \u201cThe Biggest Decision You Will Ever Make in Your Professional Life\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n