In a world where healthcare delivery transforms rapidly, our approaches to medical education often remain stubbornly static. Like Newton’s First Law of Motion, our educational methods tend to continue along their established paths, resistant to change. But as Adam Bryant reveals in “Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation,” this resistance to change can be our greatest liability.
Through interviews with over 200 CEOs, Bryant explores how successful organizations create cultures that foster innovation and adaptability. His research reveals that culture isn’t just an abstract concept—it’s the driving force behind organizational success or failure.
Real innovation happens when all employees bring their best selves to work every day and freely share new ideas to help the team, knowing that they will be encouraged and rewarded to do so. The formula is simple but hard: innovation is the by-product of an effective culture
Adam Bryant
Key Points and Their Application to Medical Education
1. Values Must Be Lived, Not Just Listed
Book Insight: Bryant emphasizes that organizations must not just state their values but live by them daily and “not tolerate behavior that is at odds with them.”
Medical Education Application: While we proudly declare our commitment to evidence-based medicine and lifelong learning, our teaching methods often contradict these values. When was the last time we applied evidence-based educational theory to our teaching methods?
2. The Power of Upside-Down Leadership
Book Insight: As Ivar Kroghrud of QuestBack notes, “Draw our organizational map upside down, because it’s not the leader and manager who do the work.”
Medical Education Application: In medical education, our learners—medical students, residents, and fellows—are often closest to the evolving needs of modern healthcare. Yet we rarely structure our educational programs to leverage their insights and experiences.
3. Innovation vs. Invention
Book Insight: John Donovan of AT&T distinguishes between invention (creating something new) and innovation (creating something new that works for the customer).
Medical Education Application: We often confuse updating our PowerPoint slides or adding new content with true innovation. Real educational innovation must focus on improving learning outcomes, not just changing teaching methods.
4. The Twenty-Four Second Rule
Book Insight: Tony Tjan suggests waiting “twenty-four seconds before criticizing an idea” and ideally extending that to twenty-four minutes or even a day.
Medical Education Application: How often do we dismiss new teaching approaches with “that wouldn’t work here” or “we’ve always done it this way”? This reflexive rejection of new ideas stifles innovation in medical education.
Action Items for Medical Educators
- Audit Your Language
- Note every time you reference “when I was in training”
- Challenge yourself to replace these references with “current evidence suggests”
- Reverse Your Perspective
- Survey your learners about their ideal learning environment
- Create opportunities for students to design and lead teaching sessions
- Apply the Twenty-Four Hour Rule
- When presented with new educational approaches, commit to considering them for at least 24 hours
- Document potential benefits before listing challenges
- Create Innovation Metrics
- Develop specific measures for educational innovation
- Track and reward innovative teaching approaches
- Create safe spaces for experimentation in teaching methods
- Build Learning Communities
- Establish regular forums for sharing educational innovations
- Create mentorship programs pairing experienced educators with those new to teaching
- Encourage cross-disciplinary teaching collaborations
Making the Change
As Bryant suggests through his interviews, organizations should function like “eight-cylinder engines.” In medical education, we must ask: How many of our cylinders are actually firing? Are we using our full potential to educate the next generation of healthcare providers?
The paradox in medical education is striking: while we insist on evidence-based practices in patient care, we often rely on tradition-based practices in education. Just as we wouldn’t treat patients based solely on “how we’ve always done it,” we can’t continue to teach based on historical precedent alone.
Conclusion
The path to transforming medical education doesn’t require abandoning everything we know—it requires applying the same rigorous, evidence-based approach to education that we apply to medicine. As Bryant’s research shows, creating a culture of innovation isn’t about grand gestures; it’s about daily choices that either encourage or stifle innovation.
The question isn’t whether medical education will change—it’s whether we’ll lead that change or be forced to follow it. The principles outlined in “Quick and Nimble” offer a roadmap for those ready to lead.
