Healthcare: Are We in the Wrong Jungle?

Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a foundational leadership book and a must-read for every aspiring leader. Focused on timeless principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity, Covey's book is one of the most compelling and applicable books I have ever read. This book is a how-to manual for anyone who desires to go beyond quick fixes and surface-level leadership to create lasting change in themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

In his book, Covey looks at leadership in light of enduring principles that govern human behavior and relationships. There is no shortage of metaphors, meaningful research, inspiring stories, and heartfelt quotes. He weaves these together in a way that penetrates not only the mind but the heart, leaving the reader looking for ways to apply and benefit from these timeless truths.

There is one specific metaphor that has continued to play in my mind — the leader, the manager, and the jungle.

In explaining the differences between management and leadership, Covey writes:

You can quickly grasp the important difference between the two if you envision a group of producers cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. They're the producers, the problem solvers. They're cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out. The managers are behind them, sharpening their machetes, writing policy and procedure manuals, holding muscle development programs, bringing in improved technologies, and setting up working schedules and compensation programs for machete wielders. The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, "Wrong jungle!" But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often respond? "Shut up! We're making progress."

Reading this simple metaphor resonated deeply with me. I remember saying out loud to myself, "Yes, that is healthcare!" I began to see many of the current challenges facing our healthcare system within the context of depleted producers, rigid operational managers, and a lack of visionary leaders willing to scale the tree and ask the hard questions about the direction of their organizations.

So often I have seen visionary leadership and innovation squelched by the harsh realities of management pressures or the burnout epidemic of our frontline workers. The endless drive for productivity and progress strangles our ability to step back and ask the question: "Are we in the wrong jungle?"

We need more leaders who can look up and out to imagine what could be — those who are willing to climb out of the status quo to survey the horizon and set the direction for our organizations and our industry. It takes boldness to sound the alarm and lead a change in course, especially when it is so often met with the resistance of temporary progress and short-term gain.

We need more leaders to get out of the brush and climb the trees, or we will never know if we are in the right jungle.