The physicist Niels Bohr is reputed to have quipped that prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.
Many medical group leaders are afraid of what the future may bring. They see growing hospital-centricity. They see national groups. They see commoditization.
Some strategize for a better future. Most don’t.
But those that do strategize may be going about it the wrong way. Upon what do they base their assumptions? What theories underlie their strategies?
We often tend to see the hospital or the “other” group or some other person or entity as the opponent, as the focal point for our strategic thinking. “How do we keep the XYZ Group out of Localville?”
But that’s generally a mistake.
Do you really know that it’s the XYZ Group that will be the actual threat? Do you know for a certainty what the actual threat will be? The threat may come out of nowhere and it might consist of facts or events not previously considered or even recognized.
You need to look at the larger picture, both at what’s in the foreground and in the background.
You need to become resilient, to be able to bend and adopt to what the future may bring.
Ask how your group can become more resilient. Ask how you can change the background to influence the outcome, to gain leverage over the identified opponent as well as over potential others.
