Malcolm Gladwell once said, “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.” If you were going to start with a clean sheet of paper, how would you re-imagine your dental practice and team? What would you like to do?
You may want to start with thinking about what matters most to you. In some cases, your ideas may involve taking the dental practice in a new direction over the next five years. Others may have easier-to-reach goals such as improving the overall flow when patients check out in the front. Or maybe you simply want to have a clean sheet of paper with how you interact with someone on the team. No matter how big or small the goal, consider something you would like to accomplish.
It’s natural to think about obstacles associated with your vision or goals. Maybe your obstacles involve a shortage of resources or lack of team buy in or unresolved conflicts. Once you’ve identified the obstacles, involve the team and/or a trusted advisor to help you brainstorm about potential solutions. Also, look carefully at your own limiting beliefs since we are unfortunately skilled at selling ourselves short.
Finally, no matter what you want to put on your sheet of paper, consider how you need to break the process up into steps. What do you need to learn? When can you schedule the first meeting? What do you need to prepare? Just as dental patients are more likely to complete a treatment plan if you can get them to schedule for the first phase, you are more likely to see your goal to completion if you can get started with the first step.
What are you waiting for? Take out your sheet of paper and re-imagine how you want to make your practice or team stronger. Then commit to the steps to make it happen.