The Crystal Ball--Prologue

“Curmudge, in this turbulent world, how were you able to stay employed so long?”

“Well Jaded Julie, I kept reinventing myself. I was always looking for ways in which my experience matched my employer’s needs. Often it was difficult to anticipate what those needs would be. Ultimately I became ‘retired’ when I ran out of inventions.”

“The outlook for health care in the U.S. appears to be even murkier than what you experienced in industry. Nevertheless, are there people or organizations who are trying to foresee our admittedly cloudy future?”

“Of course, Julie. But forecasting becomes more risky as one tries to peer farther into the unknown. Let’s start with the near term. Because most everyone already knows that we must become more efficient tomorrow, next month, and next year, we can forge ahead with process improvements with no concern that we might be wasting our effort. But planning ten or twenty years ahead is much more difficult.”

“C’mon, Curmudge, at your age planning ten years into your future is overly optimistic and twenty years out would be a waste of time.”

“Regrettably, that’s true. As you already know, I don’t even buy green bananas. However, for those folks like you anticipating a long and successful career, let’s try to look ahead anyway. Of course, you are not going to make it into the future unless you can make it through today. So we’ll start by describing resources that every health care organization should be using right now. And along with being contemporary, this knowledge is used locally, i.e.; it’s applied by the workers in gemba.”

“It sounds as if you are talking about Lean, which all of our readers should understand pretty well. But why should I, a nurse, push my knowledge horizon out into the future?”

“Be optimistic, Julie. In health care, nursing can be the gateway to most anything in the organization. The business unit and corporate leaders of the future had better understand what will be going on around them.”

“I’m convinced, Curmudge. May I sign up for your trip over the rainbow?”

“Of course. Pack your carry-on; we depart in a week or two.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon