When the market delivers a challenging event
The great management thinker, W. Edward Deming, once said, “Any manager can do well in an expanding market.”
This point is absolutely still appropriate. The first impulse most managers have when faced with a challenge is to spend more money to address what they believe to be the problem. This may mean a new training program or a new technology system. Invariably, the solutions posed by most consultants are tied with some kind of expensive product or system. Too often, these suggestions are shot down by a Board of Directors or C-Suite that are concerned with, “throwing good money after bad” or spending more capital with increasingly smaller returns.
In his excellent book, “Antifragile,” Nassim Taleb challenges us to think of this state as, “fragility.” Then, he presents two other potential states. One is referred to as a “robust” organization and the other is, “antifragile.” Both of these are organizations that are not so negatively impacted by market forces. This week’s video by Dr. Alan Barnard does a great job of explaining these ideas at a memorable talk at the 2015 TOCICO conference in South Africa.
Considering this challenge that we all face as managers and would-by leaders, what can we do to prepare ourselves for when the market delivers a challenging event? Is your healthcare organization fragile, robust, or antifragile?
Most importantly, please identify 1 idea gleaned from this class that could be adapted into your professional context that would assist you in making your organization less fragile. Take that idea and make a workable plan (2 or 3 action items). Finally, conclude your discussion post with a question soliciting some additional specific ideas from your colleagues.
Sample Solution
In today’s global economy, organizations can no longer rely on a consistently expanding market to ensure their survival. As such, it is increasingly important for healthcare organizations to develop strategies which will enable them to remain resilient in the face of changing economic conditions and external forces (Deming, W. E., 1986). To this end, Nassim Taleb suggests that organizations should strive for “antifragility” rather than simply aiming for “robustness” when developing business strategies. Antifragile systems are those which not only survive but actually thrive under difficult circumstances by learning from adversity and becoming stronger as a result (Taleb, 2018).
To achieve this level of antifragility requires an organization to have both short-term plans for maintaining stability during times of economic turbulence as well as long-term strategies for capitalizing on opportunities that may arise due to changes in the market or technology. For instance, healthcare organizations could create contingency plans which would help them manage any losses incurred due to decreased demand or increased competition while also investing in research and development initiatives which might allow them to capitalize on new potential markets or services as they emerge. Additionally, they must be committed to regularly assessing their internal operations with regards both efficiency and customer service so that they can remain competitive even if other players within their industry rise up against them (De Meuse & Farrelly 2017).
