The Critical Thinking Problem Solving Process for Community Health Center Leadership.

The Critical Thinking Problem Solving Process for Community Health Center Leadership.

Continuing our prior post, we present a suggested problem solving process for Community Health Center Governing Boards to utilize at their monthly Board and Financial meetings.

Extensive Questions

This post contains extensive questions. If your style as a Governing Board member has not been one of serious questioning, please note that any three of these questions, when responded to with answers that respect your intelligence and standing as a Board Member with fiduciary responsibilities, would immensely enhance the quality of Board policies and the quality of care for your underserved patients.

When presented with information, plans, financials, etc., our suggestion is that each Community Health Center Governing Board member follows this process, and asks at least three of these sample questions:

§ What is the outcome, or ideal state you are trying to accomplish?
What purpose are you trying to achieve?
State in positive terms and phrase as a question.

§ What is the problem, or question at issue, you are trying to solve?
Pose it as a question.
If you answered or solved this, will it get you to your goal?
Is it stated clearly, accurately, deeply considering the complexities of the issue or problem?
How are you defining the terms you use in describing the problem?
Would this definition make sense to the other stakeholders?

§ What are you assuming about the goal or the problem?
What evidence do you have for assuming what you are assuming?
Is the evidence accurate and precise?
If you don’t have all the evidence, what would you need, and where would you go to get it?

§ What data or information do you have to help solve the problem?
o If you don’t have enough data or information, what questions would you need to ask to get the relevant data?
o Where would you go?
o How would you determine the reliability of the data?
o Are you working with facts, or inferences?

§ What point of view are you coming from in analyzing the problem?
What other points of view would you need to consult and why?
Have you defined the problem broadly enough?

§ If you have completely defined the problem meeting the above criteria, what solutions or decisions can you come to regarding the problem you are attempting to solve?
What are the consequences of the solution (both positive and negative)?
How will you maximize the positive and minimize the negative consequences?

Next post: Special Notes on Effective Problem Solving for Community Health Center Leadership.

Critical Thinking for Community Health Center Governing Boards and Senior Managers

Critical Thinking for Community Health Center Governing Boards and Senior Managers

Questions Are the Answer

We have been asked for a few tips focused on the questions that Community Health Center Governing Boards need to ask their Executive Directors and Senior Managers at the monthly Board and Finance meetings.

Questions and Direct Answers

What we have found is that any of these questions will add value to your role as a Community Health Center Governing Board member. The key to these questions is to make sure that you have received an actual, direct answer to the questions asked. If not, simply rephrase the question, and then ask it again.

Our suggestion is that you anticipate not receiving direct answers initially, and prepare rephrased questions in advance.

Expert Salespeople

Remember that Executive Directors are expert and experienced salespeople. Make sure that your Executive Director has answered your questions fully and directly at the monthly meetings. There should be no need to “get back to you” with an answer. Senior Managers spend hours, prior to the meetings, anticipating the Board’s questions.

Some suggested initial questions:

PURPOSE:
§ What are you trying to accomplish?
§ Please put your goal in the form of a question
§ What would you say someone who did not agree with you?

PROBLEM:
§ Would you put that problem in the form of a question?

CONCEPTS:
§ How is that concept valid?
§ Please define your concept.

INFORMATION:
§ What information is missing from your report?
§ How reliable is your information?

ASSUMPTIONS:
§ What assumptions are you making?
§ Please outline your assumptions for the Board.
§ What would you say to someone who did not agree with your assumptions?

EVIDENCE:
§ How do you know that?
§ Help me follow your logic, please re-state that evidence.

INFERENCES:
§ If we grant that conclusion, where would that lead us?
§ Why?

CONSEQUENCES:
§ What are the implications of that conclusion?
§ How did you arrive at those implications?

POINT OF VIEW:
§ What is the basis for your point of view?
§ Is your point of view different from two years ago? [Note: Be careful of Executive
Directors and Senior Managers whose points of views have not grown, i.e. changed.]
§ How is it different?

Next post: The Critical Thinking Problem Solving Process for Community Health Center Leadership.

How to Reinvigorate People - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

How to Reinvigorate People - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

Within Community Health Centers there are people who hit a midlife crisis when they realize that they won't make it to the top, or discover that they are not first-rate.

The worst midlife crisis is that of physicians.
They have a severe midlife crisis. Basically, their work becomes boring. Just imagine seeing nothing for 30 years but people with a skin rash. They have a midlife crisis, and that's when they take to interfering in day-to-day operational management decisions and implementation.

What can you do?
Give them a parallel challenge. Without that, they'll continue to foster deterioration in the Center. Encourage providers facing a midlife crisis to apply their skills in a parallel challenge.

Next Post: Critical Thinking for Community Health Center Governing Boards and Senior Managers

The Danger of Charisma - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

The Danger of Charisma - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors

There is too much talk, too much emphasis on leadership today, and not enough on effectiveness.

Leaders
The only thing you can say about a leader is that a leader is somebody who has followers.


An Effective Leader
If an effective Executive Director says "no", it is "no"; and "yes", it is "yes".

Do not say "no" to one person and "yes" to the next one on the same issue.

The most effective Executive Directors know exactly what they can do and what they can not do.

Next Post: - How to Reinvigorate People - Thoughts on Community Health Center Governing Boards and Executive Directors