What about regular professionals, who just want to do what they do as well as they can?
Atul GawandeSometimes we can offer a cure, sometimes only a salve, sometimes not even that. But whatever we can offer, our interventions, and the risks and sacrifices they entail, are justified only if they serve the larger aims of a person's life. When we forget that, the suffering we inflict can be barbaric. When we remember it the good we do can be breathtaking.
Atul GawandeJust using a checklist requires [doctors] to embrace different values from ones we've had, like humility, discipline, teamwork.
Atul GawandeWhen I do an operation, it's half a dozen people. When it goes beautifully, it's like a symphony, with everybody playing their part.
Atul GawandeAs economists have often pointed out, we pay doctors for quantity, not quality. As they point out less often, we also pay them as individuals, rather than as members of a team working together for their patients. Both practices have made for serious problems.
Atul GawandeDeveloping a skill is painful, though. It is difficult. And that's part of the satisfaction. You will only find meaning in what you struggle with. What you struggle to get good at next may not seem the exact right thing for you at first. With time and effort, however, you will discover new possibilities in yourself-an ability to solve problems, for instance, or to communicate, or to create beauty.
Atul Gawande