In 2006, Jos de Blok turned the Dutch healthcare market on its head. With a heartfelt conviction:
We can trust nurses to know what’s best for their patients.
A thought that’s so obvious, but apparently also very frightening to most healthcare leaders. At de Blok’s Buurtzorg community care organization, nurses work together in teams of 12. Without a manager.
Instead of having their work dictated to them, the nurses have enormous freedom in making decisions, big and small.
It’s a revolutionary approach to healthcare, built on a simple idea about how choices should be made in healthcare. But before we get deeper into that, let’s contrast Buurtzorg with what other organizations do.
They build strategy around a very different idea: Control.
No matter
→ how skilled the team is,
→ how motivated they are,
→ or how much they care …
… without strict oversight, management believes the job won’t get done right.
So, their strategies are to
→ “optimize caregiver workflows.”
→ “standardize care plans.”
→ “provide effective healthcare at a reasonable price”
Which sounds professional. But it’s also hugely demotivating for the people doing the actual work.
Caregivers are trained professionals. Yet their decisions are always filtered through layers of management and channeled through strict procedures. As if those working directly with patients can’t be trusted.
There’s no space for freedom.
No room for passion.
No place for trust.
The thinking behind this is clear:
More control means better efficiency.
But does it?
And, perhaps more importantly, does it provide better care?
De Blok said “no, it doesn’t”. Therefore, he used a very – very – different strategy. And he stated the essence of it in just 11 words:
Always start from the patient’s perspective and prioritize their best interests.
De Blok believed that the individuals best positioned to do so, are those who directly interact with them. They can – and should – be trusted to make decisions in the best interest of the patients. Here’s the crucial difference:
Where others bet on directives from the top, de Blok trusted each team member with …
→ feeling,
→ understanding,
→ and most importantly: being passionate about
… the choices that need to be made.
Other businesses essentially (try to) force the team to make the right choices. To them, more rules means more control over the choices.
Micromanaging is the result.
Buurtzorg, however, trusts that the team will make the right choices if they believe in the choices.
Fewer but more heartfelt rules are the result.
It has led Buurtzorg to achieve staggering results. The company boasts the highest satisfaction rates among any healthcare organization in the Netherlands.
And it’s also more efficient: A KPMG study has found that if all home care in the Netherlands was provided using Buurtzorg’s model, it could save the Dutch healthcare system around 40 percent.
But make no mistake! That was only possible because de Blok precisely captured what drives the team: caring for patients! Their nurses don’t show up to follow a corporate mandate. They engage in a mission they deeply believe in.
Caring for patients is why they applied for the job in the first place. With every choice, they’re reminded of the difference they make in their patients’ lives. A continual source of motivation.
Pay attention to what a difference the wording makes. Buurtzorg’s strategy wasn’t to “provide effective healthcare at a reasonable price,” it was to “always start from the patient’s perspective and prioritize their best interests.”
The former is what businesses might care for; the latter is what nurses care for.
It speaks to their heart.
At the same time, it’s
→ plain and simple,
→ actionable,
→ and transformative.
Imagine if your team had that same passion and the impact that enabled. Every team member, in every situation, would be trusted to make choices that make a difference …
Want to learn how the right words can make your strategy heartfelt? Check out my new book, “The PATH to Strategic Impact.”
