Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast (Peter Drucker)

Have you ever looked from very closely at an oil painting, perhaps from a few inches away? You will see, colours, lines, the texture of a brush stroke, but will have difficulties identifying the object(s) depicted, not to speak of appreciating the entire composition. You have to step back, create some distance, to stand not too close, but not too far away either; you need to stand in just the right distance to appreciate the art-work in  its entirety.

In our jobs, we are all working hard and are focused on what we do. If we want to serve our patients and be successful as a department and an institution, this is mandatory. However, by being (too) focused and working (too) hard, we risk losing ourselves into details of administrative processes, getting bogged down by daily routine, and missing the big picture of which we are a part. To work effectively, as with viewing art, we need the right distance; we need to appreciate how our part fits into the entire picture.

An oil painting is usually completed when we look at it. Our work, however, is usually a work in progress, composed of areas more completed than others, and hardly every finished in its entirety. In addition to distance, we need to understand the common goal we are working towards and as a department, as an institution, are aiming for. Only then, can we work on our individual part and assure that our individual contribution fits into the big picture. Knowledge of the big picture is essential in order for each of us to add value to the enterprise and keep moving it closer to its goal.

One of the real big picture items I cannot emphasize enough is the way we interact with each other at work. Call it respect, civility, professionalism, call it decency – it does not matter. What matters alone, is that we live it, each of us every day; that we value being questioned, that we listen before we respond and chose our words carefully, that we try to understand a dissenting opinion, and that we argue based on data not on judgement.  If we are able to create this type of open, collaborative culture the issues that may come our way, however big they may be, will (almost) solve themselves… if not, even the best strategy to tackle them will fail.