You take every measure to ensure nothing hits....
But You're Only As Good
as Your Last Pump Case...
& Other Anecdotes about Reputation
By Ralph E. Jordan, CEO & President
Trident Health Resources, Inc.
A few weeks ago, an article in the Houston Business Journal ran about the favorable medical reputation of Houston. This is attributed to the trailblazing research and inventions pioneered by Dr. Michael DeBakey, who among many his achievements devised a roller pump that years later became an essential component of the heart-lung machine DeBakey helped secure Houston's medical reputation and is remembered as one of the 20th century's great pioneers of cardiovascular surgery. He was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine in the hub of Texas, director of The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, and senior attending surgeon of The Methodist Hospital, also in Houston.
What can we glean about reputation from DeBakey? First -- that it is far-reaching. It is far-reaching beyond one person's contributions and extends to entire programs, hospitals, and even cities. So precious is professional reputation is that, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." Perhaps we all know of a person who was fallen from grace by a singular incident. So in knowing this, we recognize the daunting reality of the work performed by a perfusionist.
The pressure to perform with perfection lies within the nature of the perfusionist's work, monitoring the heart and lungs during surgery. Experience matters greatly - even more than clinical expertise and quality education. Repeating success gains reputation - doing what you do best over and over builds confidence and strength in performance
There is little room at the top for aspiring medical professionals who make errors. And yet, I think there must be a dosage of reality... that is, to be humble as a professional. For no matter how great the skills of a perfusionist, he or she truly is only as good as the last pump case. Someone once told me, the bigger the career climb, the harder the fall if one does fall. Mistakes do happen... does that mar a professional's reputation? What do you think?
Another anecdotal line is that "Perfection is the enemy of good." For perfectionists, the slightest err can be paralyzing. But it is important to recover quickly from errors, assume responsibility for the repair and keep going. I have found working with Trident's perfusionists that they are often hardest on themselves. In managing people and being alongside them in their long-term careers over the years, I have found that it is certainly possible to arise above mistakes and retain a favorable reputation.
As a company, Trident isn't perfect. We have been fortunate to have had very few issues in our history. Being forthright and attentive, we address problems immediately and completely. Our corporate culture is people-focused and real. We work with people and through them and, in contrast to what others may do, we do not subscribe to an unyielding top-down approach to management or patient care. We know that the heroes in perfusion have lived through difficult cases. Valuable lessons have been gained through trials and experience. Without myopic eyes but instead through a big picture lens, the leaders of this industry, no doubt, have their share of stories of difficult cases, mistakes they have overcome, and ways they were able to overcome.
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