In search of excellence
Once upon a time, in a dental practice far away, there was a young dentist named Doug. Doug knew that anyone who was anyone in dentistry had slaughtered the dragons that imprisoned excellence. The great knights spoke of their many battles and how they were able to take excellence into custody and keep it in their possession. Ah yes, excellence was able to be captured and Doug would not be denied.
In dentistry, there's a whole lot of talk about excellence. You can't go to a national, state or local conference, sit in a clinical presentation and not hear the word excellence. You can't read about a CE program and not see the word excellence many times throughout the text. Look at many ads in the journals and see the word excellence scream out at you. Yes, apparently dentistry is all about excellence.
Unfortunately, the way excellence is held in dentistry is a fabrication, a fairy tale, a myth, a fantasy. Why? Because there is no such thing as excellence. Excellence is not a noun. Therefore, excellence is not a thing. For that reason, excellence cannot be an object, a commodity, an entity, a crown, an implant, or an anterior gingival contour. If excellence is not a thing, then excellence cannot be a particular kind of dentistry since kind refers to some thing.
If excellence is not an object, then excellence is not tangible. If it's not tangible then excellence must be an interpretation which means excellence is purely a human invention. Excellence does not exist in nature. Excellence is a label you and I give to things, not the way things are.
Since excellence is a human invention, excellence can be interpreted in a multitude of different ways. Given you make up the meaning of excellence, the question is, What's your interpretation of excellence? And more important, Does your interpretation of excellence empower you?
If you are like most dentists, you have been trained to holding excellence as a thing, an object. When you hold excellence in some physical context, then you are seduced by the interpretation that excellence is the most beautiful and expensive dentistry. Wow, let's turn out the lights, have three screens and see impeccable margins, sexy contours with fabulous colors and subtle staining at 250X magnification. Now that's excellence.
Or is it?
If you consider excellence a noun, then excellence is automatically elevated to an ideal. You can never ever win in the domain of ideals. When you're pitted against an ideal, you'll never be good enough. When you compare yourself against an ideal you're not able enough. When you contrast yourself against an ideal there is always something lacking. When you judge yourself against an ideal you're defeated every time.
Now, what do you do when you don't feel that you're good enough? You go straight ahead and try to get good enough. You take more CE and buy boat-loads of new equipment to get better, so you can achieve excellence. Since excellence in this context can never be achieved, you keep yourself in a mind-set that doesn't appreciate, acknowledge or validate who you are, which in turn keeps you in even more CE and buying more new stuff. It's the perfect vicious cycle. But since you can never achieve excellence, you continue to feel inadequate. But, then, why should dental practice be any different than dental school?
Holding excellence as a noun, seeing excellence only as a clinical result, and perceiving excellence as an ideal means you'll never achieve it and you'll never be good enough. When you hold excellence as an ideal, you can't really treat patients. Why, because if they don't go for the ideal, if the don't say Yes to accepting the ideal, then you're a failure.
What if there was another way to hold excellence? What if excellence was a verb, not a noun? What if excellence was not an outcome of what you did but how you did it? What if excellence was a moment-to- moment endeavor, not an end? What if excellence was who you are, not a final product? What if you were to hold excellence as never bending from your values of doing the very best with what you are doing? What if excellence were not a thing?
If excellence were not a thing, then you wouldn't be able to compare. You can only compare things; crowns from lab A to crowns from lab B. Income from my practice compared to income from Joe's practice. Comparison is always a win-lose game. What if you held excellence as the gradual result of always striving to do better? Because striving for excellence motivates, while striving for perfection demoralizes.
Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.
- Pat Riley
 |
The subject of ‘leadership’ has fascinated me for decades; what constitutes a good leader, are they born, chosen or just wired that way? And I want to start this article with the punch line - that we are ALL leaders in some aspect of our lives, professional and/or personal. So we may as well accept that and learn some skills.
|
 |
Recruiting the right people for your practice can be seen as a daunting and time-consuming task. Dental recruiter, Tracy McLaughlin from DentaFind in London, sheds some light on how putting certain processes in place can help you hire and retain staff members that are ideally suited to their roles and more importantly, your practice.
|
 |
Most practice management programmes are ineffectual. That’s right; useless, a waste of time, not worth a plug nickel. Stop spending your money. Practice management programmes don’t work.
|
 |
Dr Marc Cooper, dental business consultant, shares his thoughts on the recession and its impact on dentistry in his latest e-newsletter.
|
 |
Newly launched city centre dental practice, Ollie and Darsh (Liverpool, UK), shares some tips on how the right combination of business planning, branding, design and vision can lead to success and an an influx of patients. Join dental business coach, Chris Barrow, on a virtual tour through the practice.
|
 |
When asked what her practice philosophy is, Dr Dilek Sipar believes it is to provide individualized patient care with all the benefits of modern dentistry in a relaxed and friendly environment and in a manner that exceeds patient expectations. Having recently received ISO 900/2000 quality management certification for her private dental practice in Didim, Turkey, it is clear Dr Sipar sets high standards for herself and her staff. Dental Learning Hub asked her to share some tips on how to successfully integrate a quality management system.
|
 |
“The upcoming New Year looks much different than those of the past 10-20 years,” says Dr Marc Cooper, president and chairman of the Mastery Company. He explains that what you ask yourself what really matters to your wellbeing, the recession will not occur as relevant to your answer. He explores the tools and opportunities available to dentists to have a positive and fulfilling 2009.
|
 |
“During the recession, it makes good sense to shift the focus of your practice,” says Dr Marc Cooper from the Master Company. He explains that for many years, growth has been a focus for dental practices. “The way to grow more is with more, more of everything. But the tide has turned. A recession is defined by prolonged negative growth, negative real economic growth. Pursuing practice growth is now going against the tide. And if you continue to go against the tide, it's going to cost you big time,” he says. Read his latest article on how you can manage the new tide and remain afloat.
|
 |
“Regardless of whether the US economy is in a recession or not, you and your practice may be,” says Dr Marc Cooper, president and chairman of the Mastery Company. Ask yourself: Have my practice revenues stayed the same or declined over the last year? Has my personal income stayed the same or even shrunk over the last year? “With energy, food, housing and taxes all on the increase, this combination means that you and your practice are in a recession.” Dr Cooper has developed a 10-step programme to help you make the right decisions for your practice in the current economic climate.
|
 |
“People are a direct reflection of the conditions or circumstances surrounding them. When things are good, they are good. When things are bad, they are bad. In today's economic conditions, it is safe to say that ‘tense, anxious, nervous, stressed, edgy, and apprehensive’ describes most people,” says dental business consultant, Dr Marc Cooper. In the uncertainty of the economy, the constant flood of bad news and doubt about personal economic circumstances, Dr Cooper gives advice on how to take a stand a be a leader.
|
 |
“If your practice results are beginning to swirl down the drain, you need to consider managing yourself and your staff like there's a hole in the bottom of the boat. In a recession, you recalibrate and you reconsider. You look at what you must do to make that bottom-line number.” Dr Marc Cooper from the Mastery Company, explains how to adjust your mindset to survive in an uncertain economic climate.
|
 |
"Most dentists manage by job description. How dumb is that? Well, if you ask me, pretty dumb," says Dr Marc Cooper from the Mastery Company. "Description has no power. Describing how to perform your job and delivering high performance are not the same. But dentists believe that if you accurately describe to staff exactly what you want them to do, how you want them to do it, and why you want it done, it will produce the results. Now that's dumb!"
|
 |
"Once upon a time, in a dental practice far away, there was a young dentist named Doug. Doug knew that anyone who was anyone in dentistry had slaughtered the dragons that imprisoned excellence. The great knights spoke of their many battles and how they were able to take excellence into custody and keep it in their possession. Ah yes, excellence was able to be captured and Doug would not be denied." Dr Marc Cooper from the Mastery Company discusses the goal of excellence in the dental practice.
|
 |
"What kind of leader are you? Do you bore your staff or do you inspire them? Do you generate enthusiasm amongst your staff, or apathy? Does the future shine throughout the practice or is it dulled by business as usual? Is your staff on a mission or are they indifferent? Is your staff charged, revved up, on task? Do they show up early and leave late? Do they do everything they can to be at work, or do they do anything they can to get out of it?" In this article, Dr Marc Cooper from the Mastery Company investigates the role of a leader in the dental practice.
|
 |
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
Winston Churchill
If you're not producing results in your practice, why aren't you? I'm sure you have good reasons: difficulty finding and retaining good staff; bad location; the economy's gone sour; new competition moving into your neighborhood; hoodwinked into a lousy transition; Delta reimbursements suck; there are not enough new patients.
|
 |
Dental practice guru, Dr Marc Cooper, started his career as a periodontist, academic and researcher, and went on to become a practice management consultant and ultimately founded the Mastery Company. He welcomes dentists who have “strong core values, a driving intention to deliver quality care and an intense desire to be successful”. Dental Learning Hub asked him a few questions about his work, approach to life and thoughts on dentistry.
|
 |
Dr Markus Firla, dentist and quality management consultant, provides some insight into the current climate of dentistry in Germany and how it is set to change in the future.
|
.aspx?maxsidesize=50) |
Dental business coach, Chris Barrow, talks to Dental Learning Hub about the predictors and capabilities required for success in the dental practice.
|