November 2016 - AvoidingPuddles.com

I have always found the entrepreneur an intriguing character. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I held a fascination with figures such as the nerdy but supremely wealthy Bill Gates of Microsoft, or Britain’s own charismatic and adventurous Richard Branson. They have wealth, control and the confidence that comes from knowing that they made it all happen themselves.

Most impressively, entrepreneurs often use their self made fortunes to attempt to benefit mankind. Bill Gates intends to give away most of his billions to help cure disease and Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, Tesla and Paypal, wants to colonise Mars within our lifetime.

Before entering medicine, I would wonder if one day I might become an entrepreneur.

Of course, I’m now contented and settled in my role helping my patients as a GP. But I still have respect for the entrepreneur and for startup culture. They are inventive, creative, hardworking and prepared to fail fast and fail often until the problem is solved and job is done.

Healthcare is facing a perfect storm of challenges. The list is familiar; increasing patient expectations, older and more medically complex populations, availability of more but higher cost treatments, and shrinking or static budgets. To continue to deliver universal care, good care and to also control costs, we will need to do things differently.

Many believe that medical entrepreneurs and startups can help us face these challenges by using new and emerging technology to find innovative solutions. To allow us to improve care, control costs and treat everyone. To let us have our cake and eat it.

With these hopes in mind, I joined a hundred or so other medical, technology and financial professionals at the Doctorpreneurs day conference at St Thomas Hospital London on Saturday 5th November.

It was a great opportunity to listen, talk to and study that fascinating species, the Doctorpreneur. Over the next 5 weeks I will take you back to anatomy class and we will peel back the skin and take a look at what is behind a doctor led medical startup.

Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅕ – The Founder

Observations and insights from my notebook on the Doctorpreneurs event 5/11/16…

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅕ – The Founder”

Results, incoming telephone calls, scripts to sign, screen messages, electronic tasks, supporting clinical staff, scanned mail, interruptions from reception, paper inbox… Let alone a new patient every 10 minutes….

Now add… email, online news, text messages, app notifications, eConsultations. Twitter is now a useful source of news and opinion. GP only groups such as Resilient GP and Tiko’s GP Group have even made facebook a (several times) daily work related destination for many GPs….

No wonder I find it so hard to stay on top of everything.

Dr Puddle has been using focus to unlock frightening new abilities... — Dr Puddle has been using focus to unlock frightening new abilities…

There is such pressure facing the modern GP to stay on top of multiple work streams. To be responsive. To stay connected. To be up to date with the latest news and developments. It can sometimes feel like we are drowning in work and information.

We know that if we just had some time and energy we could improve our practice systems. We could find better, smarter ways to work. But, life is just too busy. There are too many plates to keep spinning.

This week I stumbled across a useful concept which resonated with my feelings of information and action overload. Cal Newport is an academic Computer Scientist and writes about the impact of technology and how to learn successfully. I listened to a fascinating interview with Cal on James Altucher’s podcast.

Cal describes two types of work:

Deep Work: Activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push cognitive capabilities to their limit. Deep work is rewarding, generates real value and multiplies the return on invested time.
Shallow Work: Non-cognitively demanding repetitive tasks often performed while distracted. Shallow work is procrastination at worst and fighting fires at best and generaly mundane.

“Shallow work stops you getting fired. Deep work gets you promoted” – Cal Newport

Do you remember that essay you left until the last minute and the intense rush to complete it? The grade was as good, if not better than the essay you spent much more time on. How did that happen?

You did deep work and focussed hard. You were selective about sources, prioritised and worked efficiently.