CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
Richard C. Friedberg, MD, PhD
October 2015—As I mulled over the best way to begin my first column, two classes I had taken long ago came to mind. The first was part of an intensive undergraduate philosophy program at Stanford in 1978. The second, on organizational behavior, was part of a master’s program in health care management at Harvard 20 years later. In each case, I expected little more than a series of fuzzy discussions. Instead, the components I thought would be the lightest were the deepest.
From the philosophy program, I learned to identify one core principle and keep it front and center. From the business course, I learned that successful organizations keep their members engaged by fostering honest communication.
To those ends, I would like to suggest three premises for our discussions over the next two years: