Assess Situation

Assess Situation — Direction, political alignment, initial organizing.


Diagnose Your Situation

Where are we now and where do we want to go? If you're like most leaders, you're probably not happy with the status quo and want to make change, but how, and in what direction? Some approaches to defining where you are right now:

The bottom line is this: Are you satisfied with how your organization is doing? Do you want to make change now, and would the New American Hospital model be similar to what you'd like to accomplish?


Commit to Action

It's been said that "The way in is easy, the way out is hard." That is certainly true when committing to the creation of organization excellence. Everybody wants to be excellent; everybody will salute that flag. But are you ready to:

If your group is not ready, it could be for a variety of good reasons: The press of other work, different priorities, etc. The point is that leaders need to think through what is really possible in their situation. Gold Standard Management is a complete way of doing things, it is infrastructure and culture, and a very challenging approach to living life and doing work. Rather than attempting this mountain many management teams will take a more conservative approach, doing evolutionary or incremental change. As cautionary advice, don't get on this train if you think the organization can't endure the journey. Just as physicians will not undertake high risk surgery on some patients, leaders must assess whether GSM is a good fit for their situation.

So, kick back, think about what you want for yourself. Listen carefully to the voices around you.

Then, make a decision.

Next Steps: pick change agents and plan and organize the work.