Win by losing

“He’s a pinball wizard, there has to be a twist.

A pinball wizard’s got such a supple wrist.

…

How do you think he does it?  I don’t know.

What makes him so good?”

The Who

Think back to when you were in EMT or Paramedic class.  You were clumsy, slow, and deliberate.  The instructor and the FTOs were smooth, effortless, and proficient.  What made them so good?  Why were you so bad?

It’s what you couldn’t see that made all the difference.  The subtle movements that transition one action into the next.  The anticipation of what’s to come.  The feel from doing it over and over and over.

But, here's the secret to today's lesson:

You learn by failing.  You learn what doesn’t work.  You add by subtracting.

Let's take this far away from EMS for a minute: 

If you’ve learned how to bake, you learned the hard way about how much to work the dough. How much flour to changes sticky into dry. You learned the fine line between golden brown and blacked. Each time you made a mess, you learned.

Back to EMS

When you learned to intubate, you didn't position the head well. Didn't move the tongue well. Advanced too deep. Too shallow. Didn't see the cords. Placed the tube in the esophagus. Over and over.

Here's the second lesson of the day:

Continuous improvement is all about learning by failing. 

Plan, Do, See, Act. 

Test and adjust.  Practice and adjust. 

Improved

Smoothed

Suppled

Improve your agency, improve retention, and improve patient care by failing.

Be failure to be a winner.

When you're tired of not learning from your failing, I'll be here to talk.

#EMS #ContinuousImprovement #WinByLosing

h/t to Herb "Coach K" Kieklak ☛, CES, CSCS, UMCC, USATF's recent post about the kinetic chain for the inspiration.