Build a team
A doctor has a very different approach to problem solving than a businessperson. While you may take a couple of weeks to research all of the possible solutions and the effects of each solution, and then, based on the research, make a decision, a doctor is trained to do the opposite. He or she will make a decision quickly based on the information readily available to him or her, and then if more information becomes available, the doctor may change course.
“You may say, ‘Which of these approaches is the better approach to take?’” Norwood says. “I think the truthful answer is it depends on the situation.”
In some situations, if you take the physician’s approach, it may be a false start and cause problems, but in other cases, if you take the businessperson’s approach, it might be too late. So it’s important to have those differing viewpoints whenever you create a team to address any issue or problem.
“Putting those two together in a team is a powerful proposition,” he says. “It’s challenging to lead, because you are trying to build a team with people who have very different personalities.”
Despite the challenge of it, it’s something that you have to do before you can jump into trying to solve anything.
“Whoever is the leader of the team has to recognize that building the team is a very necessary first step, and trying to jump into the action items too quickly may backfire on you,” Norwood says.
Sometimes when people build teams to solve problems, it’s often centered around positions and titles, but Norwood advises to look beyond that.
“It comes down to two real criteria — interest and expertise,” he says. “If you’ve got an issue that comes up that needs to be resolved, I’m going to be thinking about what’s the smallest number of people that have expertise in this area and have an interest at stake, and try to get them in the room. When you get more than eight or 10 people, it’s becoming a committee, and a committee takes on a life of its own.”
