I recently spent time in the emergency room. For reasons that remain a mystery, my gut refused food and water for six days. It turns out, that deprivation is a perfect formula for severe dehydration that sucking on ice and sleeping all day will not cure. Thankfully, after a couple of drip bags, several cases of Gatorade and a month of normal eating, I seem to be fully recovered.
Now . . . to the emergency room lessons.
1. Respect the Collective Wisdom of the Group. At 7pm on day 6, Saturday, my mother called and said that I had to go to urgent care. It seems that my very loving family planned an intervention, and her call was the last-ditch effort before they forcibly stormed my door. Given that the doctors admitted me to the hospital that night, it appears my family was right. (In full disclosure, I had no idea I was that sick and at the time thought that everyone was nuts.)
The lesson: Bringing together the collective wisdom of a group – the integrated experience, knowledge and insights of people focused on a specific situation or issue – delivers better solutions and results than a single person.
2. Sometimes It Takes More Than a Sticker. Step One in the emergency room is to see the triage nurse. This visit happened in a small cubicle adjacent to the waiting room. Before me, the nurse consulted with two families and their sick toddlers. In the waiting room, the children were squirmy, whiney and clearly uncomfortable; in the triage room they screamed their hearts out. I feared that the little room was a torture chamber! When it was my turn, I reluctantly entered the room. I asked whether it was safe and if he needed me to scream too. The poor nurse sighed, held up cool Star Wars stickers and said, “I offered them stickers, but they were no help.”
The lesson: Sometimes our plans, tools and processes fail. We need to have options and alternatives ready. That’s where the collective wisdom of the group can help!
3. Allocate Resources Wisely. The team admitted me to the emergency room and led me to my ER gurney – in Hall 2. Yes, I spent five hours on my assigned bed in the hallway of the ER. The medical team reserves the ER cubicles for patients who need continuous monitoring and beeping machines. They prioritize allocation of limited resources based on patient care requirements.
The lesson: Project resources are limited – people, equipment, materials, space, time, money – and we have to make project-first decisions to allocate them. Help your team make the tough choices to deliver optimal best project outcomes
4. Find The Fun in Each Day. As they hooked me up to the drip, I remembered a day 20 years ago when I visited my dad in the intensive care unit. As the nurse changed his IV bag, he started with his monologue. “What flavor is that? I specifically asked for fajita-flavored tonight. Can you please confirm that this is the fajita one?” By the time he finished talking, both the nurse and I had giant smiles and forgot (for a minute) the severity of his condition. And, the memory gave me another smile as I was hanging out in Hall 2.
The lesson: Bring a sense of humor to each day. Especially when the team is working through a difficult situation, a light touch can be helpful.
5. Be Respectful (and Nice). Another woman occupied the gurney a short distance from me in Hall 2. Like me, she had no medical need for those beeping machines. However, her family insisted that she be moved to a private cubicle. When this request went unmet, the requester became more belligerent and uttered my favorite phrase of the night “Are you charging us full price for this bed in the hallway?” I give the ER team kudos for their professional and respectful de-escalation of this situation.
The lesson: Just be nice. Request items and information instead of demanding them. Respond professionally, even when the other party in the communication has reached their politeness limit. Project teams who value and preserve the long-term relationship can conquer problems together and deliver the best outcomes, despite the project challenges.
From IV drips to project tips, a short hospital stay delivered unexpected clarity about teamwork, resourcefulness, and leadership. Whether you’re managing a team or navigating uncertainty, these 5 ER-inspired lessons offer practical wisdom to help you adapt, communicate, and lead with empathy.
Stay well,
~ Cinda
Cinda Bond, MIPI, has been an OrgMetrics partnering facilitator for more than 10 years. She has facilitated more than 500 sessions for teams throughout the country. She also collaborates with engineering and construction teams to develop large documents containing hundreds of pages for construction contracts and proposals.
For more information please contact Cinda Bond, CindaBond@Orgmet.com / (925)640-9007 (cell), or OrgMetrics RobReaugh@Orgmet.com / (925)449-8300