People have different skills. Some are good at some things and some are good at others.
Our old O.R. manager was a good manager. He had skills and techniques that I don’t have, but one move he uses that I thought was brilliant is that everything is always “just three weeks away.”
We were in the process of building four new O.R. rooms at our hospital. Everyone had questions about this. We had to deal with staffing issues, etc. Surgeons wanted to know about getting more O.R. time and on and on, but his response was always “three weeks.” That went on for just over a year.
We kept being told we were getting a new robot, and that it would be here “in three weeks.” Hmmmm…
While discussing this with a very good friend one day during a very long case (he’s a tech so we get lots of time to discuss how we’d run the world) we concluded that 3 weeks is the perfect amount of time to tell someone if you have no clue how long it’s going to be. It’s just far enough into the future that you aren’t expecting results tomorrow, but it isn’t so far that you complain and get panicky.
We just saw Trump do that exact same thing with the isolation. He threw out a random (or not so random) time frame of 15 days, and then just moved that to the end of April.
The part I want you to get is that both my old O.R. manager and Trump are right. They can’t know anything for certain. There are way too many variables, but if they say nothing, they’d get eaten alive. If they say 6 months to a year, everyone flips out. Make it three weeks and then reevaluate. That’s perfect for managing people’s minds and expectations.
The part you need to know is that none of this is set in stone. There are no answers. It’s a “play it by ear” kind of thing. I don’t know how long you’ll be distance learning. We just got word from my kids’ schools that they said school is cancelled indefinitely instead of putting a date on it. Yesterday was the first day my kids had distance learning and, man, was it tough. Imagine explaining to an eight-year-old who knows everything how to work a computer that he knows more about than you do.
There were a lot of tears in town yesterday. Learning from home is tough, and I don’t know how long it’s going to be like this.
Good news for you, the April issue of the Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter was written just for that purpose. We’re gonna improve your ability to focus and to learn, we’re gonna boost your motivation, AND we’ll keep you from clawing your eyes out.
Because I’ve got so much to share with you this month on distance learning and working from home, I’m adding in a HUGE bonus to subscribers. I’ve got a 7-part video series (that’s probably going to be 10-14 parts by the time I’m done) on how to get it all done. How to manage yourself, your family and get great scores.
I know it feels like there are more videos out there than ever, so I’ll get you the audio and the transcripts too.
Today is the day to decide. Keep banging your head against the wall? Or try something new? It’s your call, but you’re running out of time.
Physician Assistant Exam Scholar’s Newsletter
Brian Wallace