Written by Reed Tinsley, CPA | May 11, 2009 48 Keys to Strategic Success: Insights for Physicians and Medical Practices Here is something a little different that I thought any reader of this blog might be interested in. It's from Tom Peters and it makes sense for any person or business, including physicians, administrators, and their medical practices: We usually think of business strategy as some sort of aspirational market positioning statement. Doubtless that's part of it. But I believe that the number one "strategic strength" is excellence in execution and systemic relationships (i.e., with everyone we come in contact with). Hence I offer the following 48 pieces of advice for creating a winning strategy that is inherently sustainable: • "Thank you." Minimum several times a day. Measure it. • "Thank you" to everyone even peripherally involved in some activity—especially those "deep in the hierarchy." • Smile. Work on it. • Apologize. Even if "they" are "mostly" to blame. • Jump all over those who play the "blame game." • Hire enthusiasm. • Low enthusiasm. No hire. Any job. • Hire optimists. Everywhere. ("Positive outlook on life," not mindless optimism.) • Hiring: Would you like to go to lunch with him-her. 100% of jobs. • Hire for good manners. • Do not reject "trouble makers"—that is those who are uncomfortable with the status quo. • Expose all would-be hires to something unexpected-weird. Observe their reaction. • Overwhelm response to even the smallest screw-ups. • Become a student of all you will meet with. Big time. • Hang out with interesting new people. Measure it. • Lunch with folks in other functions. Measure it. • Listen. Hear. Become a serious student of listening-hearing. • Work on everyone's listening skills. Practice. • Become a student of information extraction-interviewing. • Become a student of presentation giving. Formal. Short and spontaneous. • Incredible care in 1st line supervisor selection. • World's best training for 1st line supervisors. • Construct small leadership opportunities for junior people within days of starting on the job. • Insane care in all promotion decisions. • Promote "people people" for all managerial jobs. Finance-logistics-R&D as much as, say, sales. • Hire-promote for demonstrated curiosity. Check their past commitment to continuous learning. • Small "d" diversity. Rich mixes for any and all teams. • Hire women. Roughly 50% women on exec team. • Exec team "looks like" customer population, actual and desired. • Focus on creating products for and selling to women. • Focus on creating products for and selling to boomers-geezers. • Work on first and last impressions. • Walls display tomorrow's aspirations, not yesterday's accomplishments. • Simplify systems. Constantly. • Insist that almost all material be covered by a 1-page summary. Absolutely no longer. • Practice decency. • Add "We are thoughtful in all we do" to corporate values list. Number 1 force for customer loyalty, employee satisfaction. • Make some form of employee growth (for all) a formal part of values set. Above customer satisfaction. Steal from RE/MAX: "We are a life success company." • Flowers. • Celebrate "small wins." Often. Perhaps a "small win of the day. " • Manage your calendar religiously: Does it accurately reflect your espoused priorities? • Use a "calendar friend" who's not very friendly to help you with this. • Review your calendar: Work assiduously on your "To don'ts"—stuff that distracts. • Bosses, especially near the top: Formally cultivate one advisor whose role is to tell you the truth. Regularly! • Commit to Excellence. • Talk up Excellence. • Put "Excellence in all we do" in the values set. • Measure everyone on demonstrated commitment to Excellence. You'll find a longer version of this as a PDF—it includes two Appendices. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.rtacpa.com/the-heart-of-business-strategy48-things-that-matter/" }, "headline": "Heart of Business Strategy: 48 Things That Matter", "description": "Explore the heart of business strategy with 48 essential factors. Elevate your approach for success in healthcare practice management. Learn more!", "image": "", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Reed Tinsley", "url": "https://www.rtacpa.com/author/reed/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "REED TINSLEY, CPA", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.rtacpa.com/wp-content/themes/reed-tinsley/assets/media/Reed-Logo.svg" } }, "datePublished": "2009-03-11", "dateModified": "2024-08-06" } About the AuthorReed Tinsley CPAThis article is written by Reed Tinsley, a Houston, TX-based CPA with over 30 years of experience advising physicians and medical practices across Texas and the United States. Reed holds certifications as a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Certified Healthcare Business Consultant (CHBC), and Certified Financial Planner (CFP), specializing exclusively in the healthcare sector. He is a published author, nationally recognized speaker, and trusted advisor to physicians on accounting & tax, practice management, and financial planning. Schedule a Free Consultation. .author-info h3 { font-weight: 700; color: var(--dark-blue); margin: 0; } .author-info { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: var(--mp-s); margin: var(--mp-m) 0; border: 1px solid var(--dark-blue); padding: var(--mp-m); line-height: 1.8; background: #F1F2F2; } .author-info--title { display: flex; gap: var(--mp-s); } .author-info--photo { border-radius: 500px; width: 100px; } .author-info a { color: var(--dark-blue); } .author-info a:hover { color: var(--blue); } Have questions? I’m here to help. InstagramThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.Name(Required)Email(Required) PhoneMedical Specialty(Required)This field is hidden when viewing the formHow did you find us?(Required)How did you hear about Reed?(Required)How did you hear about Reed?*AI SearchGoogle SearchLinkedInReferralOtherWhich AI lead you to Reed?(Required)Which AI lead you to Reed?*ChatGPTClaudeOther AI ToolPlease share who referred youTell us the other way you heard about ReedWhich is greater, 2 or 5?(Required)What is 4 + 7?(Required)Message(Required) gform.initializeOnLoaded( function() {gformInitSpinner( 1, 'https://www.rtacpa.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery('#gform_ajax_frame_1').on('load',function(){var contents = jQuery(this).contents().find('*').html();var is_postback = contents.indexOf('GF_AJAX_POSTBACK') >= 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_1');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_1').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;var mt = parseInt(jQuery('html').css('margin-top'), 10) + parseInt(jQuery('body').css('margin-top'), 10) + 100;if(is_form){form_content.find('form').css('opacity', 0);jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').html(form_content.html());if(form_content.hasClass('gform_validation_error')){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').addClass('gform_validation_error');} else {jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').removeClass('gform_validation_error');}setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ }, 50 );if(window['gformInitDatepicker']) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window['gformInitPriceFields']) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery('#gform_source_page_number_1').val();gformInitSpinner( 1, 'https://www.rtacpa.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery(document).trigger('gform_page_loaded', [1, current_page]);window['gf_submitting_1'] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('.GF_AJAX_POSTBACK').html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').replaceWith(confirmation_content);jQuery(document).trigger('gform_confirmation_loaded', [1]);window['gf_submitting_1'] = false;wp.a11y.speak(jQuery('#gform_confirmation_message_1').text());}else{jQuery('#gform_1').append(contents);if(window['gformRedirect']) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger("gform_pre_post_render", [{ formId: "1", currentPage: "current_page", abort: function() { this.preventDefault(); } }]); if (event && event.defaultPrevented) { return; } const gformWrapperDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_wrapper_1" ); if ( gformWrapperDiv ) { const visibilitySpan = document.createElement( "span" ); visibilitySpan.id = "gform_visibility_test_1"; gformWrapperDiv.insertAdjacentElement( "afterend", visibilitySpan ); } const visibilityTestDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_visibility_test_1" ); let postRenderFired = false; function triggerPostRender() { if ( postRenderFired ) { return; } postRenderFired = true; gform.core.triggerPostRenderEvents( 1, current_page ); if ( visibilityTestDiv ) { visibilityTestDiv.parentNode.removeChild( visibilityTestDiv ); } } function debounce( func, wait, immediate ) { var timeout; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if ( !immediate ) func.apply( context, args ); }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout( timeout ); timeout = setTimeout( later, wait ); if ( callNow ) func.apply( context, args ); }; } const debouncedTriggerPostRender = debounce( function() { triggerPostRender(); }, 200 ); if ( visibilityTestDiv && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent === null ) { const observer = new MutationObserver( ( mutations ) => { mutations.forEach( ( mutation ) => { if ( mutation.type === 'attributes' && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent !== null ) { debouncedTriggerPostRender(); observer.disconnect(); } }); }); observer.observe( document.body, { attributes: true, childList: false, subtree: true, attributeFilter: [ 'style', 'class' ], }); } else { triggerPostRender(); } } );} );