No matter how challenging the issues of inadequate health workforce supply may be in 2003, we are assured of one thing: the situation will get worse. Aging baby boomers will stoke demand for healthcare services. Other industries facing similar workforce shortages will compete against health care for the best and brightest students. Huge numbers of active healthcare professionals — also members of that baby boomers group — will retire.

The articles in this section include:

• Growing a Local Garden of Healthcare Heroes — A rich array of resources, benchmark programs and promising practices aimed at recruiting young people into health careers
  
  
• Competing Against Other Industries for the Best and the Brightest — Where we are and should be
  
  
• Developing Current Employees to Meet Future Needs — Recruiting and training from within.

To share a case example, request a Guide article on a specific topic, or join the Workforce Strategy Network, please contact Bill Jolley at bjolley@tha.com.

Seeing the Big Picture

Scott Simmerman, PhD, is a consultant and internationally known speaker on organizational change. His cartoons and training materials are used by leaders and professional facilitators in numerous industries. The illustration that launched Simmerman’s global career is called Square Wheels©.

In the Square Wheels cartoon, three people are attempting to propel a loaded wagon. One is pulling the wagon with a rope. Two are pushing from behind. Only the person in front can see where the wagon is headed, and how close it is to the goal.

The team does not appear to be making much progress, despite their diligence. One glance from our more favorable perspective reveals the problem: the wheels on the wagon are square.

This illustration is used by managers, group leaders and professional facilitators to stimulate dialogue about organizations and the way they do things. It is a treasure trove of embedded meaning and metaphor. Discussions about what the cartoon has to say about teams and their goals range from the size of the wagon to the outsized burden placed on the leader to the disadvantaged viewpoint of the workers struggling to push from behind.

The "a-ha!" moment arrives when the viewer realizes the wagon is loaded with wheels — round wheels of all sizes. The big picture reality is the wagon team already has the right tools to move the wagon quickly and efficiently. All they need to do is stop, take a breather from their arduous journey, step back a few feet from the wagon, consider which of the wheels in cargo should be used instead to propel the wagon, and — voila! Meaningful progress occurs.

For more information about Scott Simmerman and his work, go to Squarewheels.com. Or click here for an animated version of the analogy that you can use in training sessions.

What Strategists Can Learn From Square Wheels

Successful strategy is about

Square Wheels reminds us that great results require more than good people with good ideas and a strong commitment. Great results require a clear understanding of what tools are available, and which are best suited for the task. Great results require discernment and proper allocation of resources.

This guide — like a myriad of other industry publications — contains a wealth of good ideas successfully used by hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The reader’s dilemma is not only, "Which will work for our organization?" but also, "Which will propel us toward our goal most quickly and efficiently?"

Square Wheels Lesson One for the budding strategist is:

Make sure you see the big picture (or the big wagon, in this case).

Lesson Two:

Take time to sort through the wheels at hand.
Choose the best from among the options.

When confronted with an array of promising ideas or potential solutions, the strategist’s role is to determine which among them…

• Can be effectively implemented by this organization (as opposed to one in different circumstances).
• Will produce the most leverage — i.e., the most return on investment of human, financial and material resources.

The articles in the pipeline development section, along with sidebars and links to ideas in action and additional resources, will focus on the most effective "wheels" you can use to propel your wagon.