RWL Newsletter #99 - all about stories
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Today I went along with about 25 of my students to a new event sponsored by alumni of the Health Management and Policy major at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, one of our closest collaborators. We had a group of young alumni, most of whom had graduated in the last three to four years, talk to current students about making the transition to a career in health administration after college. It's so great to see our engaged alumni taking the time out of their day to work with current students.
So this issue of RWL is loosely about stories. Check out the links!
Read
What: Esquire, BENEATH THE SURFACE OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a25133821/bruce-springsteen-interview-netflix-broadway-2018/
Why: So I have to admit, I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan. Not as big a fan as some people, but I've been listening to him since I was a kid. I had heard about this show he was doing, but I didn't realize the serious nature of story telling. He is quite open about his struggle with mental illness, as well as his family's history of mental illness. I grew up a skeptic of mental illness. It's taken having people close to me struggle with it to come to take it seriously. I'm glad Springsteen is talking about it candidly. Mental health parity isn't just an issue for insurance, we have to recognize it's a health issue not unlike any other medical condition. Having stories like Springsteen's out there, it can
Watch
What: TEDxBerkshires, Homework For Life, Matthew Dicks (17 min)
https://youtu.be/x7p329Z8MD0
Why: He tells a story about journaling stories. He has some interesting incites about how to tell effective stories. But he suggests a discipline of writing down the one story that happened each day that made that day different from all the others. He suggests just a couple of lines. Telling stories is an important part of leadership. I like the idea of this exercise. It sounds like a good exercise for storytelling skills, but also a good exercise for the soul.
Listen
What: Planet Money, Episode 877: The Laws Of The Office (24 min)
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/11/19/669395064/episode-877-the-laws-of-the-office
Why: This is a fun episode about getting what you pay for. "Goodhart's Law, which says if a company decides to measure something, workers will find a way to respond with good numbers." This is how economists think about management. We tell ourselves stories about how we can control what we really can't.
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 by e-mail, 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
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
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
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau