A521.3.4.R.B. - Personal Reflection

In the early winter of the 1989 Pennsylvania deer hunting season, my grandpa and I became disoriented in the mountains.  I was 14 years old and excited to be hunting alongside my grandpa.  These mountains may be considered a joke when compared to the ranges out West, but were impressive to Eastern standards.  Darkness was quickly approaching and the snow seemed to be falling larger and harder with each passing minute.  I trusted my grandfather to get us off the mountain safely considering his many years of being an avid outdoorsman.  However, as a half hour of hiking in the snow turned into an hour, some fear and a hint of panic began to creep in.  I was a fairly soft spoken and timid teenager; one who lacked a bit of confidence when I thought of sharing an idea or suggestion.  I was always afraid of what people thought or of the possibility I may be ridiculed for voicing my opinion.  In this particular situation, I was more nervous about having to spend the night in the mountains in the freezing temperatures than what my grandpa thought of my opinion.  I eventually suggested we head down the mountain and when we find a creek we should follow it downstream.  I knew there were many creeks in the mountains and all of them eventually crossed a road.  To my surprise my grandpa actually listened to me and we did just as I had suggested.  My idea worked perfectly.  Granted it took another three hours to finally get our bearing on our location, but it worked.  In some ways, I think that experience helped me realize there was nothing wrong with speaking my mind.  I view it as the beginning of a growing confidence in myself.  I believe it also helped me in my career and organizational environments.  Now, when I am presented an opportunity to share my ideas I have no fears.  Am I right all the time?  No.  Do I always have the best ideas?  Of course not.  But now I realize that nobody is.  So why not at least speak my mind and try to be part of a solution instead of standing silently on the sidelines.

 

Another example that had a formative impact on me was an event that occurred in the summer of 1991.  I was entering my sophomore year in high school and we were a couple months into our summer session football practices and camps.  This was our preseason equivalent to college football or the NFL.  It was a time for the coaches to weed out the kids who didn’t want to take practice seriously.  I was not just an opportunity to improve our strength, knowledge, and ability, but a chance to test the dedication and work ethic of every member.  If someone wanted to be on our football team, they had no other choice but to be strong physically and mentally.  Let me just put it in perspective.  Air Force Basic training was much easier because of the demanding workouts and screaming coaches I endured during the four years playing football.  The Air Force Training Instructors (TI’s) had nothing on my head football coach.  We had many plays we had to study and a very complicated system to learn.  We finally had our first scrimmage against another high school and I was playing the running back position.  I remember the Quarterback calling the play and the entire offense clapping in unison as we broke the huddle to line up.  I lined up in my position and my mind went blank.  I knew it was a matter of seconds before the ball was snapped and I should be tracing the steps I have done countless times in practice.  My mind was still blank.  I quickly asked myself, “What am I supposed to do?” and I didn’t have the answer.  The ball was snapped and I improvised without success.  I did everything wrong and it was evident.  There was no hiding it from anyone, including my coaches.  And of course I got an earful.  The moment I received an intense tongue lashing from my head coach I vowed to always be as prepared as humanly possible going forward.  I never made another mistake running my plays the rest of my football career.  I worked and studied hard so I was prepared.  This event caused me to apply the same preparation techniques after high school and throughout my professional career.  I strive to always be prepared for anything whether in an organizational or team-based environment.  Of course nobody can prepare for the unknown, however, things are so much easier when we prepare for what is known. 

A521.2.3.RB - Danger of Stories

Chimamanda Adichie describes the danger of a single story in her 2009 TED video.  Right away, she paints a vivid picture of her childhood and how stories impacted the way she viewed the world.  Since she began reading American and British children’s books at an early age, stories consisting of characters who were white and blue-eyed, played in the snow, and ate apples (2009) was normal to her.  She instantly had my attention because she formed a connection that everyone has experienced: childhood.  I briefly escaped to memories of lying in bed reading children’s books and falling asleep to my mother’s soft voice reading them aloud.  Adichie secured my attention and I was eager to hear her story.  Whalen (2007) discusses that “when you work with sensory memory, you don’t have to become a master storyteller” (p. 36).  It is possible Adichie may already be considered a master storyteller when taking into account the opening remarks of her speech declaring “I’m a storyteller” (2009).  Regardless, she uses sensory memory stimulation wonderfully and had me wanting to hear more.

Some speakers cannot get away with just standing behind a podium to communicate their point effectively.  Adichie does not fall into this category.  She does not use many gestures or other nonverbals to keep her audience engaged.  No visual aids were used at all.  However, none of these were necessary.  She told her stories so well and mixed a bit of humor at the right times that all she needed was her voice.  She was herself, comfortable with her style, honest, and kept her stories simple and clear (Denning, 2011).  Adichie defines a single story and the dangers they pose throughout her presentation.  She is able to communicate her personal stories beautifully.  These stories reveal the dangers of buying into a single story.  For example, Adichie says, “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story” (2009).

Adichie is also no exception to being guilty of believing a single story.  Such was the case when she made immigration in the U.S. synonymous with Mexicans being abject immigrants.  Denning (2011) discusses how it is imperative to link the change idea to the story using phrases such as “What if…”, “Just imagine…” or “Just think…” (p. 77).  Adichie applies this technique numerous times (ten times to be exact) to link her change idea that single stories are dangerous.  One example to make the connection would have been good, but it is almost impossible not to make the connection to the audience with ten scenarios.  This technique invites the audience to dream and provides an invitation to imagine.  Denning (2011) states, “The listeners have to make the decision as to whether to dream and whether to decide to live that dream” (p. 78).  I can say without a doubt that I have decided to live it by not buying into a single story.

 

Adichie, C. N. (2009, July). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript?language=en

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/A Wiley

Whalen, D. J., & Ricca, T. M. (2007). The Professional Communications Toolkit. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

A521.1.4.RB - Stories in Your Organization

Describe a common story in your organization and discuss its implications on the organization. Does this story promote the goals and ideals of the organization? Does it help describe "who we are and what we stand for?" What is the story's impact on the culture of the organization?

 

I first heard the phrase “if you’ve been to one VA, you’ve been to one VA” when I began my career with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs almost ten years ago.  I was working with a counterpart who worked at a different medical center than I worked.  We were trying to solve an issue and having some difficulty when he said the aforementioned phrase to me.  I responded to him with a puzzled look on my face because I had no idea what he meant.  He explained that despite all medical centers falling under the VA organization, each facility operated independently and had their own way of doing things.  I had trouble grasping that concept because I was used to the Air Force, my prior organization, where we operated in a very standardized manner.  This way it would be possible to work at an Air Force Base in one location and fit right into another Air Force Base on the other side of the world because the same systems, regulations, and procedures were used.  It is evident the lack of standardization across the VA creates an enormous barrier to successful collaboration and continuous improvement.    

The biggest implication of operating without standardization on the VA is inefficiency.  Granted, some medical centers figure out efficient ways to operate, but not all.  For example, when a new policy is published throughout the VA, each medical center institutes their unique procedures to follow it.  Or, if a VA has a process proven to be effective and efficient, it is not shared among other VA’s.  This results in some medical centers with highly efficient procedures and others who are extremely inefficient.  This can be very detrimental to a medical center when multiple inefficient procedures are compounded.  This equates to a lot of wasted time, energy, and taxpayer dollars.  It may even go as far as having an adverse effect on veteran patient care.  A perfect example of inefficiency affecting patient care was the highly publicized patient wait times for appointments.  Such inefficiency contributed to patient deaths and VA employees manipulating the wait times.  These actions directly and adversely affect the goals and ideals of the VA organization.  The VA core values are integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect, and excellence; none of which are demonstrated by trying to manipulate patient wait times.  The actions of a few VA’s do not represent “who we are and what we stand for” as an entire organization.  It is truly unfortunate what started out as a lack of efficiency resulted in a complete disregard of integrity and excellence.  It is also unfortunate that the action of a few VA’s resulted in an overall negative perception of the VA as a whole.    

I still hear the phrase "if you've been to one VA, you've been to one VA" fairly often from employees.  It seems to be the mantra when an employee becomes frustrated with a process.  That tells me the VA still has work to do addressing the standardization of processes.  However, the positive side of each VA medical center operating independently is that some are tremendously efficient and exceptional at providing care to the Nation’s veterans.  I am fortunate to be an employee at one such medical center.  I have personally witnessed the tireless efforts employees give to achieve such high standards and exemplify the VA’s core values.  Nonetheless, if best practices and standardization was shared across the entire organization, then all medical centers could be held in such high regard.  I only hope VA leaders can one day recognize that standardization would lead to all VA medical centers operating at the highest level of care in the industry.