Management Isn’t Brain Surgery
But maybe it’s not so different, after all
How often have you heard the expression: [blank] isn’t brain surgery?
When a brain surgeon was asked what managers could learn from his profession, he offered the following:
- Don’t pretend there isn’t pressure. Every action has consequences, and unless you are aware of those consequences, you are going to get into trouble.
- Plan for problems. Focus clearly on what can go wrong. The real value of this kind of planning comes when things don’t go the way you expected. Always anticipate the worst case scenario: What’s the worst thing that could happen? What can I do to make sure it doesn’t? What will I do if it does?
- Make pressure a positive. No matter how good you are at planning, the pressure never goes away. Don’t fight it – feed off of it. Turn the pressure into motivation to do your best.
- Be confident, not arrogant. Keep a steady hand while also staying humble. You can be a good leader without being a dictator.
- Get real about risk. The only way to handle risk is to be brutally honest about it, but people need hope.
This last point ties in with an earlier post of mine, in which I talked about the combination of brutal honesty and hope as ‘The Stockdale Paradox’ – a somber lesson for surviving the most crushing hardships:
“Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. And, at the same time, confront the most brutal facts of your current reality,
whatever they may be.”
To learn more about Dr. Benjamin Carson, the brain surgeon referenced in this bulletin, pick up a copy of Gifted Hands by Cecil Murphey and Ben Carson.