Last weekend, there was a notable upset in the NFL playoffs. The fourth-seeded New York Giants went to Green Bay and defeated the top-seeded Packers, who up to that point had only lost one game all season. The game was actually somewhat lopsided, with the Giants knocking off the defending Super Bowl champions by a score of 37-20.
Upsets happen all the time in the NFL, but what made this one stand out to me (aside from the fact that it was my beloved Giants playing the role of the spoiler) is the fact that Green Bay had been arguably the most dominant team in the league for most of the season. The entire team was clicking on all cylinders—offense, defense, and special teams. They were the total package.
But as the regular season winded down, they hit the brakes. The coaching staff decided to rest the quarterback — Aaron Rodgers — for the final game of the season, and because they went 15-1, they earned a bye during the first week of the playoffs, meaning that Rodgers had three weeks off between starts. The logic behind benching one of the league’s elite quarterbacks is that he would be rested and refreshed for the playoffs. The flaw behind that logic? As it turned out, the offense that was playing at the top of its game a month ago looked downright rusty on Sunday. Experienced players made uncharacteristic mistakes and looked downright sloppy.
It got me thinking — can taking a break sometimes do more harm than good? Is it ever beneficial to stop the momentum?
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about taking a vacation — everyone needs to do this. In fact, I strongly believe that taking a breather can help improve one’s focus.
What I’m referring to is when a particular project is put on hold just when it’s building momentum, whether it’s because an organization has so many other concurrent projects, or because it was bumped down the list by Meaningful Use, ICD-10, or another more pressing matter.
The former is something that most — if not all — CIOs can surely relate to.
In an interview with Anthony Guerra last fall, Laishy Williams-Carlson, CIO of Bon Secours Health System, talked about the frustration she feels when she isn’t able to devote more time and energy to a hospital that has just gone live on the Epic EMR. It’s during this time that a facility needs guidance most, and in an ideal situation, the CIO would be able to stick around past the implementation phase and help resolve any issues that arise; in other words, make sure that the facility doesn’t lose momentum.
But the reality is that as soon as one project is complete, the focus must be on the next go-live — especially in a health system of Bon Secour’s size (which includes 18 hospitals, 14 of which are implementing Epic). What happens is that facilities have to “put up with good but imperfect,” so that other projects can be worked on. “It’s a constant trade-off,” Williams-Carlson said.
The other common scenario is that a project is either put on hold or loses key personnel (and budgetary dollars) so that more resources can be allocated to higher priority projects such as Meaningful Use. In an interview published on healthsystemCIO.com last spring, Bill Spooner, CIO of Sharp HealthCare, said it comes down to the fact that there are only so many hours in a day. Therefore, “so many other things that we would like to do that truly advance patient care in some cases are being put on the backburner in the face of Meaningful Use,” he said, citing medical management in clinical pharmacy as one example.
I would bet that every CIO has had to deal with these issues at one point or another, particular during the last year or so. Sometimes, projects simply need to be put on hold, and there isn’t much that can be done about it. But there are also times when you can’t let a key project lose momentum — when taking a step back is just too detrimental to an organization’s progress, and too costly. Sometimes, you have to surge ahead.
Don’t believe me? Ask the Packers.
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