If there’s one thing I never want to be considered, it’s ungrateful.
And yet, a few weeks ago, that’s exactly how I sounded when I was complaining to Anthony and Nancy about being called for jury duty. In my defense, it’s not exactly the first time I’ve been summoned. In fact, it seems to happen every two years.
Still, I was being a little overdramatic. And so after listening to me drone on about the inconvenience I’ll have to endure in reporting to a court house, Nancy suggested I view the situation in a different light. “Think of it this way,” she said, no doubt channeling the same tone she uses for her teenage children when they’re in whining mode. “You only have to be there for a day or two. Other people have to live in that world all the time. You’re lucky.”
And she was absolutely right — for the most part. I should be grateful that the only time I’ve had to set foot in a court room is in a jury selection box. That’s not a small thing.
Where I disagree is with the word “lucky.” The fact that I’ve always taken the straight and narrow path isn’t about luck. It’s about the fact that I had parents who wouldn’t accept anything less. Of course, I’m lucky to have been born into a loving family that had the means to provide me with food and shelter. That much is true. But my parents didn’t just roll the dice and hope their kids grew up to have strong work ethics and sound morals. To say that would be selling them short and discounting all of the times they put in the extra time and effort to teach us the difference between right and wrong.
It’s a funny thing, this concept of luck. It’s a term that’s tossed around with great frequency, and yet can hold so many different meanings depending on how it is interpreted. Webster’s dictionary defines luck as “a purposeless, unpredictable and uncontrollable force that shapes events favorably or unfavorably for an individual, group or cause.” According to Merriam-Webster, luck refers to “the things that happen to a person because of chance; the accidental way things happen without being planned.”
Sounds pretty powerful to me. And in fact, legendary Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez famously said, “I’d rather be lucky than good,” leading one to conclude that all you need is luck.
So why prepare for anything? Why do all the hard work? Why not just roll the dice?
Because, with all respect to Gomez, luck is only part of the equation — a very small part. When I think back to all of the interviews I’ve conducted or read, I’ve never heard a CIO chalk up a successful implementation to luck. I’ve heard them talk about the struggle required to secure funding and buy-in, the rigorous planning it takes to anticipate (and resolve) every scenario imaginable, and the nights and weekends spent overseeing each step.
In an interview published earlier this week, Jeff Pearson, CIO at Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics, talked about the difficult decision his team made to postpone a go-live because they were concerned that the system hadn’t been tested sufficiently. They weren’t leaving anything up to chance.
In another recent interview, Marc Chasin, CIO and CMIO at St. Luke’s Health System, talked about the importance of “really critically look at workflows” in preparing for a go-live and making sure clinicians understand “just how much heavy lifting needs to be done.”
Others have echoed the same sentiments. If you want to achieve success, you have to put in the work and the time. And yes, you might have luck on your side, but a smart leader would never rely on that.
I know I’d much rather be good than lucky.
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