Connecting The Dots of Healthcare

I caught the edge of a great quote last evening. It was a woman’s voice, and I believe it may have come from something on The Food Network, the default channel on our television, but have no idea who said it. To paraphrase, “Great cooks are like great musicians. The really good ones don’t need a detailed recipe or even to measure ingredients, they just know how to put something together and have it come out right.”

My wife is a great stove-top cook. She uses recipes as “guidelines” and, like Rachael Ray, rarely measures. What this refers to is expertise and the confidence to use it boldly and fearlessly. As a cook, understanding “why” adding something to the pot may make the dish turn out right is much more important than the “how much” if you’ve had enough practical experience behind your judgment.

Too often after we’ve learned a task, we continue to focus on the “how to’s” when we should advance to “why do I do it this way and how can I make this better?” When we teach, we are overly concerned with the “how” sometimes we never get around to explaining the “why.”

When teachers teach the “why’s,” students can often figure out the “how’s” in creative and new, and perhaps better, ways. But focusing on only the “how’s” after fundamental competence is gained, opportunities for future growth is limited.

In a world that rewards innovation, take the time to look at and understand the “why’s” and don’t be afraid to make “mistakes” in creating new “how to’s.” if the “mistake” is actually a learning experience that could pay off by discovery of a better “how to.”

Often I speak of “expertise” and am amazed at how few people in my audiences consider themselves to be “expert.” Expert stems from the Latin, experiential; knowledge gained by repeated trials and from the Latin, Expertus/Experiri…to try, test. How many of us use knowledge gained by repeated trials from testing and trying new ways to succeed in our work? Are you not an expert?

Don’t be afraid to boldly and fearlessly use your expertise to expand your ability to excel and to encourage students to also become experts beyond simple “how to’s.” It might just cook up something that becomes a new signature dish.