This is the second video in an ongoing series on Defining Success. To view the entire series to date, click here. To receive notifications when new blogs are posted, subscribe to the Spear Online RSS feed.
Perpetual Learning
I have worked with thousands of dentists over the last 15 years of teaching, and I have learned that the dentists who are most successful in their practices, not only materially but also spiritually, have some things in common.
- They believe that their practices are centers of learning rather than dental offices.
- They realize that every patient contact and every treatment session are opportunities to engage patients to learn about their mouths and to help them choose health for themselves.
The hygiene “check” is a chance for you put both of these methods into practice. How would your short time with the patient during their visit be different if your hygienist engaged the patient around these three questions?
- Where have they been (dentally)?
- Where are they today? (dentally and any other way that might affect their choices)
- Where do they want to go?
It is a simple formula, really. Yet it requires a willingness to engage the patient on a deeper level. It means we need to really open our ears and listen carefully. It also means asking some courageous questions. Begin by reviewing with the patient where they have been since they joined the practice, discuss where they are today and then simply ask, “What would you like your mouth to look and feel like in 20 years?”
You only have the right to give advice or make suggestions if the patient feels as though you have heard them!
Are You Keeping Score?
Years ago I was taught by one of my mentors that you must “create the desired outcome, share it with the team, and then inspect what you expect.” When properly applied, this ensures that each individual is crystal clear on the expectations of their role in the business.
His advice came back to me as I was speaking with a close friend who was in a legal battle with a staff member. As we discussed how things had degenerated into a state of affairs that involved attorneys, we both realized that it was rooted in a failure of communication.
This is no surprise when expectations are not clearly stated in writing, agreed upon through discussion, and then evaluated on an ongoing basis. His concern about the increasing divergence between revenues posted and monies collected revealed the problem that expectations had never been turned into a written “policy” (outcome), and therefore, the question was directed at the “person” and not the situation. The person reacted poorly. When things get personal, they routinely get ugly.
- Are you clear on expectations in your office?
- Is everyone?
- Are the expectations written and agreed upon?
- Do you evaluate them routinely?
- Are you keeping score?
Ugly isn’t fun.
When One Door Closes…
Two years ago, during a lecture in Germany, my close friend and lecture partner, Vince Kokich, told me and Dave Mathews that he was going to retire in June 2009. True to his word, our last public lecture as a three-man team was at the annual meeting for the Pacific Coast Society for Prosthodontics in Sun River, Oregon the last week of June 2009.
The good news is that the three of us will continue to teach in Scottsdale as part of Spear Education, specifically offering courses for Spear Study Clubs. I’ve always said that Vince and Dave are my “brothers” in dentistry, and I’m excited that the three of us will continue to help specialists develop interdisciplinary study clubs utilizing our 25 years of real-world interdisciplinary experience.
So here’s to more endeavors and adventures together with my brothers, with you and with Spear Study Clubs.
Learning Together
I’ve just returned from the Townie Fiesta dental meeting in Cozumel, Mexico. It was the second year my family and I attended, and just like last year, the week was spectacular. I know what you’re thinking – beach, sun, relaxation – why wouldn’t it be great?
Beyond all of that is being together with friends, who share the common experience of dentistry, and are willing to reveal their successes, their failures and what questions they are working on at the moment with incredible openness. It is a reminder that there is so much about what we do everyday that I have yet to learn. It is my preference – and my privilege – to learn in the company of like-minded professionals because each of us holds a different piece of the puzzle to make it all work.
This year’s Townie Fiesta focused on communication, the less clinical, but equally technical part of our work. Helping patients choose health, and the necessary dentistry to reach that goal makes dentistry a passion, not just a job. One afternoon as I helped the group participate in an active listening exercise, I watched the amazement as they learned about each other, and figured out how this small piece well placed in their practices could transform patient interactions.
It was a wonderful experience. I can’t wait to take what I learned and run with it.
Veneer Prep Tip
Ask your ceramist how he or she would like you to finish your preparations for all ceramic restorations. You might be surprised to hear that the preference is for a highly polished final preparation.
If you are doing feldspathic restorations or even if you are using milled cores or pressed ceramics, a highly polished surface is easier to work with than one with diamond bur marks throughout.
When you finish your preps go over all the surfaces with the appropriate carbide finishing burs and follow it with a brownie point. You can shape the brownie point to polish all finish lines by simply shaping it with a diamond bur. Run the brownie at low speed so that it doesn’t fly apart in the patient’s mouth.
Defining Success: Context for Success (Part 1 of 14)
This video is the first in an ongoing series on Defining Success. To view the entire series to date, click here. To receive notifications when new blogs are posted, subscribe to the Spear Online RSS feed.
The Power of Perspective
A recent USA Today headline read “Jobless Rate in West Tops 10 Percent." I’m from northwest Ohio, deeply embedded in the automotive industry, and I’ve been there before. Dentistry usually lags a little behind the economy in general, and I’ve had several colleagues tell me that they’re feeling the difference now.
I have no control over what others do or say. I have no control over the economy of the United States or the world. When I was in practice I had no control over the reaction of my patients to these things. I did (and DO) have control over one thing – my reaction to these things. I don’t want to sound like a Pollyanna, and I don’t want to minimize the pain and worry that accompanies the economic turmoil of job loss, but I’ve learned that I can only do what I can do, only affect what I can control, and only give to others when I see myself in abundance.
The only way to do that was to act directly where I could, in the economy of my practice. I had to remind myself that if unemployment was 11%, then 89% of people who wanted a job had one. I reminded myself that when times are tough, people seek out things of real value, and what I do has that. I intentionally stayed away from negative information before I began my day so that I could focus clearly on the actions necessary to help my patients feel hopeful about the one thing we do together: maintain and restore health, something that becomes more valuable than ever in times of uncertainty.
I took strength and hope from the trust and love of those I served, my teammates and my patients, and shared that hope and strength. I found a way to create possibility in a time when “impossible” appeared to block every path. I tightened my belt and chose carefully to invest in myself and in my team so that we would be uniquely positioned when things changed, as they always do.
SO HOW DOES THAT APPLY TO TODAY? My “patients” are now dentists; other than that, not much else has changed. I still have no control over things; just over my reaction to them. I refuse to let the negative influence the one thing I can control, which is helping dentists find the things of real value in their practices and then nurturing and strengthening them through tough times. I continue to experience abundance from the trust and love of those I serve, and I strive to give more than I get, without reservation.
One person can change the world; what are you doing to change yours?
Advancing Academic Leadership in Dentistry
June was a very special month for me and my lecture partners of the past 25 years, Vince Kokich and Dave Mathews.
On June 12th, we gave a benefit lecture at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. All proceeds and donations went to raise money for the establishment of the Kokich/Mathews/Spear Endowed Fund for Academic Leadership in Dentistry for the University of Washington School of Dentistry. The purpose of this endowment is to support the professional development of faculty and further elevate the quality of teaching at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
Distributions from this endowment will be used to provide opportunities for faculty to learn educational methodologies and hone presentation and communication skills to create an effective, dynamic and engaging learning environment for students. Hopefully, this will also support a new part-time teaching position, bringing an expert in faculty development and training to the School of Dentistry to lead workshops and provide one-on-one consultation with faculty. The scope of the endowment may extend beyond faculty to offer training to graduate students interested in an academic career, or pre-doctoral students who would like to develop their teaching and presentation skills.
We are very pleased to announce that the event generated more than a quarter million dollars in cash donations and pledges! The three of us have always been focused on teaching at the highest level, and we believe that it should start in dental school. We are proud to leave this legacy to the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
Fearful or Fearless
Jim Collins wrote a while ago that the enemy of great is good. How does that fit for you in your practice?
I subscribe to a blog written by Seth Godin, bestselling author and entrepreneur. In a recent post he wrote, “There’s always a gap between the short-term results of a well-polished system and the first results of a switch to a more efficient one.”
Consider how you choose to implement what you learn at Spear Education. Do you allow yourself R & D time so that you can live with the tension of not doing a new procedure or using a new process to perfection? Can you give your team the time they need to muddle through the learning process? Will you engage your patients so that they can celebrate with you the willingness you show to be relentless in your learning on their behalf?
If you stop short because the discomfort is too difficult to endure, then you may still be good, but will your patients get to experience your greatness?