I admire people that are willing to tackle a difficult challenge by looking at it in a different way. That's what I thought about when I read this article from the New Yorker. Just in case that article is now behind a firewall, let me give you a bit of background.
The author, Atul Gawade, is a doctor. Like a lot of doctors he wants to improve his field. In the article he wonders if lessons learned from a popular restaurant chain, The Cheesecake Factory, could be applied to his field.
It's an interesting question. When you take a close look at a place like a Cheesecake Factory you notice a huge organization that manages to give customers a consistent outcome at a reasonable price.
Isn't that what a lot of people want from their health care? Consistent treatment. Fair prices. Atul takes a look at place that is delivering those outcomes (big restaurants) and sees what lessons can be learned and applied.
What if we applied that thinking to the arts?
Is there something we could learn from how law firms operate?
Could we take the lessons on how architects design buildings and apply them to our world?
What can one type of solo practitioner, like an accountant, teach another type of solo worker (the artist)?
Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. But you'll never find that out if you don't think about it.
Sometimes complex problems require a different angle of attack. Stop banging your head against the same wall and see if you can look at the problem a different way.
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