RWL #176 - still social distancing
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire - Forward Operating Base Last Homely House (FOB LHH)! Busy trying to make headway this past week on a couple of articles, so once again I am late getting the newsletter out. I wrote most of this week’s letter as we drove down Route 4 to my inlaws’ house where we met up with my wife’s parents and siblings and their families (and dogs) for a socially distanced lunch. We all sat spaced out around the driveway and chatted for a couple of hours. What a weird world it has become. But it was nice to be in the presence of family, rather than talking through Zoom.
Here’s this week’s links. I hope you find them useful - as usual, feedback is welcome. Stay well out there.
Read
What: SHRM, Employers Say Students Aren’t Learning Soft Skills in College
Why: In this first week of summer “break” I’ve been working on a paper with some former colleagues about teaching soft skills. The article argues that college programs have been de-emphasizing courses that develop soft skills like critical thinking and communication and emphasizing technical skills. It also argues that liberal arts courses are particularly good for developing those skills. Since I did my undergraduate work in philosophy and English lit, I like that argument, but I don’t think a good healthcare management program (like the one I teach in) can’t also teach soft skills in the classroom. Regardless, I do think the best places to learn most soft skills is in a living workplace, which makes internship/residency experiences particularly valuable.
What: HFMA, 8 hallmarks of a successful healthcare venture capital program
Why: Venture capital is one of the areas of finance that I know very little about. I’m including this piece because I found it interesting to think about how not-for-profit systems like the Cleveland Clinic or Intermountain Healthcare are involved in the ultimate for-profit game of venture capital. It makes me think of the 1973 Pauly and Redisch article, “The Not-for-profit Hospital as a Physicians’ Cooperative”. It’s one more way that not-for-profits transfer rents to stakeholders when there are no shareholders. It might be a socially optimal solution, hard to say. Something I’d like to think more about. If you have good info on this topic (healthcare venture capital or rent seeking), I’d appreciate links.
What: Ideas.TED, What is the ideal age to retire? Never, according to a neuroscientist
Why: Chances are if you are reading this newsletter then you are a knowledge worker of some sort, and there is no physical reason you will need to retire, short of a debilitating disease. Work gives most of us meaning. That work might not be paid, but producing something rather than only consuming is the source of meaning for most of us. You need to unplug (I am hoping to get out an kayak this week, finally!), but unplugging is necessary for recharging the batteries to go back into the fray again. I hope to work full time until I am 70, and then maybe ramp down to part time thereafter, forever. Pre-COVID-19, I harbored a secret fantasy of building up a portfolio of online teaching and then booking a cabin on a cruiseliner and embarking on an around-the-world cruise with my wife, the online teaching paying the bills. Now I don’t know if I will ever get on a cruise ship again, but I could imagine doing a little Healthcare Finance teaching from an AirBnB in Paris or Rome. I just can’t imagine not having the stimulation of meaningful work in my life. I hate running and lifting weights, but I do it because my body needs that stimulation to stay healthy. I think meaningful work is the same thing not just for the brain, but for the soul.
Watch
What: Tina Seelig: The little risks you can take to increase your luck | TED Talk
https://www.ted.com/talks/tina_seelig_the_little_risks_you_can_take_to_increase_your_luck
Why: This is a great motivational TED Talk on an important topic. The key is this line, “Be willing to take small risks that get you out of your comfort zone.” I was just talking with a friend about Nasim Taleb’s Antifragile which essentially makes a longer and more in-depth argument for the same idea. Taleb is a quantitative trader, and his approach is to keep most of his money in very conservative investments (Treasury Bills) and take a small amount of capital and invest it in options that have a small downside risk and huge upside potential. Most of these investments fail, but because they are each very small, it doesn’t matter. You only need one every now and then to pay off because they payoffs are big. In that same stream, Seelig talks about how to create more luck, you have to create more possibilities. Seelig specifically talks about having more conversations with strangers as a way to create more luck. A casual conversation with a stranger could potentially create a connection that might lead to a new business (or personal) opportunity. I think of myself as a somewhat shy extrovert. I like to talk with people, but it takes a little for me to overcome my awkwardness. I also hate small talk. But that said, so many opportunities have come my way when I have gone out of my way to create those opportunities for connection. It’s a part of why I do the podcast. It gives me an excuse to talk to interesting people and hear their stories. I’ve also why so many successful people are members of professional organizations and community organizations. Those organizations create opportunities for luck. You can create your own luck by taking those small chances and seeking connection.
Listen
What: WorkLife with Adam Grant, Career decline isn't inevitable
https://www.ted.com/talks/worklife_with_adam_grant_career_decline_isn_t_inevitable
Or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/career-decline-isnt-inevitable/id1346314086?i=1000473612276
(I don’t really like the way WorkLife lists its links, so I’m providing two here)
Why: From the podcast, “As we age, we often feel like the clock starts ticking on our careers. But there are ways to sustain—and even gain—excellence over time.” This goes with the read (from above) “What is the ideal age to retire?”. I think a lot of people retire because they feel like they are no longer at the peak of their game. It might be that it is simply time to change things up. That seems to be Grant’s conclusion, and I like that.
What: The Dispatch, Paul Romer Has a Plan
https://thedispatch.sounder.fm/show/aLn9D?current=zkkgz
Why: Paul Romer won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2018. He is famous for his work on economic growth, and maybe a bit infamous for being fired by the World Bank. He is also less famous for his work with charter cities. Romer has a number of interesting observations and suggestions about how to go forward given COVID-19. He’s worth listening to because, frankly, he’s Paul Romer.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)