It’s Monday morning. You’ve returned to the practice from a 3-day seminar, all fired up to implement everything you’ve just learned. You’re nearly busting at the seams…can barely wait to share it all with your amazing “Can-Do” team. You’ve distilled 17 pages of notes and your 47 point “action list” into a “short” list of just the top 10 things you want your team to deploy right away. And then it happens. Reality.
Reality is that you’ve got 10 minutes left in the morning huddle during which you’ve got to discuss 6 restorative patients, 3 emergencies and 15 hygiene recall patients on today’s schedule. But even that discussion is going to have to wait because Mrs. Ima Payne is at the front desk (again)…no appointment, demanding to see the doctor (you).
What if Everything You’ve Been Told About Building Your Dream Practice Was All Wrong?
Actually, I’m sure it wasn’t all wrong. But one of the most common reasons dentists fail to meet (or exceed) their goals and dreams is tied to a universal untruth. The notion that complex problems (in this case, dental practice management) require complex solutions.
Fact is, the more you ask your team to do, above and beyond the buzz of day-today getting the dentistry done, the less likely you are to get what you wish. No, I’m not suggesting that there aren’t certain aspects of running your dental business that don’t require lots of moving parts. What I am recommending is that you GIVE YOUR TEAM A BREAK and KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE. One thing at a time. Literally one new concept or strategy. And that’s where “TOBI” comes in.
Imagine the difference in response from your team if they knew they could depend upon you not to overload them with your “10 Top Things” and 17 pages of notes. Imagine the relief, even enthusiasm with which you’d be met if you asked them simply to adopt ONE SINGLE SIMPLE CONCEPT at a time. Just learn and deploy ONE THING.
TOBI = “The One Big Idea!”
How long do they have to deploy one concept? Of course, that depends, to some extent on the strategy. But I’m a huge believer in doing the simplest things that are proven to yield the biggest results. As I’m sure you’ve heard before, “Little Hinges Swing Big Doors!”
One of the most common laments I hear from dentists is, “We just haven’t had the time to implement all that stuff.” Keywords (misconception), “all that stuff!” My wife, Elizabeth (known on Planet Gems as “Elizabeth, the Engineer”) loves to point to the “Low-Hanging Fruit” Gems.
Rather than driving yourself or your team nuts and worrying about all the “stuff” you didn’t get done, choose just one, or at most, two (one for the clinical team and one for your business staff) “Gems” and focus only on those two “Gems” until you’ve nailed them. Again, “TOBI!”
Try the “TOBI” concept and you’ll be thrilled with the results!
