Two Simple Leadership Tools

The last nearly sixteen years, my life has revolved in four year terms. I have learned that four years is not long when one is working on big complex problems that have existed for decades.

I was elected three times as Governor of Utah. Some of the things I consider accomplishments were initiated in my first term, but fully matured in my third. Likewise, the fruit of some initiatives started in the 3rd term are only now beginning to flower.

Living in four year cycles has taught me to choose priorities and to impose urgency from the beginning. At HHS, two of the tools I use to keep us focused are quite simple. The first is a 5,000 day vision with a 500 day plan.

The 5,000 day vision is an expression of what we aspire for the world to look like, a decade or so from now, in the areas HHS influences. The 500 day plan is a more granular listing of the things we can do in the short run to bring that vision about. It is a rolling 500 day plan. Every 250 days, I review the vision and recalibrate the 500 day plan.

The second tool is a small countdown clock I gave to each of my leadership team. I call it our urgency meter. All our major projects have timelines which align with the time remaining. Time passes so quickly.

We are just a little more than a month away from the 250 day point in the administration. A lot needs to happen during that period. There is nothing like a last minute deadline to make things happen.

Naturally, I have begun to narrow my focus to those matters on the 500 day plan not yet complete. Because this is the last 250 day period, I have to take a steely eyed view of what can and can’t be finished, so we can make best use of the time.

Many different considerations go into what moves up the list and what goes down. For example, legislative opportunities are rare at this point in the cycle, though those that remain are critical.

One of the personal objectives I have is to write a series of papers/speeches that will frame up the 5,000 vision that has evolved; the steps we have taken toward it and what I think should be done in the future to follow on our work. As those develop, I will, of course, post them here.

Comments

Secretary Leavitt,

Thank you for posting your leadership tools. You call your tools 'simple' because (I assume) they are easy to understand. And yet, as I see it, your tools are deeply profound. They drive you to find things you can do now that will have positive effects in the future.

Too often in business and government the tendency is to focus on the next quarter or what it will take to get elected the next term. Planning for the long term seems to get left behind.

As a citizen of the great state of Utah I have seen the results of your long-term view of leadership. Now, having read your "5,000 day vision with a 500 day plan" I understand better why Utah is doing so well. Thank you for your leadership!

Thank you for sharing your practical tools for planning for the long-term by focusing on today.

Michael

Posted by: Michael Ray Hopkin | April 10, 2008 at 09:45 AM

Dear Secretary Leavitt:

As you are winding down your term, tying up loose ends, I think you should see this.

HIPAA is a terrible fit in the dental profession. I performed a limited survey of 18 colleagues and put together a paper illustrating the absurdity of the Rule for dentists. Here is the abstract from the study, which is published on Dentist.com in its entirety. http://dentistcom.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/the-hipaa-rule-and-dentistry-a-survey-of-dentists-%e2%80%93-a-pilot-study/

Thank you for your time. Sincerely Darrell Pruitt DDS
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The HIPAA Rule and Dentistry: A Survey of Dentists – a pilot study

Abstract

A survey of 18 dentists was performed using the Internet as a platform. The volunteer dentists’ anonymity was guaranteed by the dentist conducting the survey, Darrell Pruitt, D.D.S. The dentists were presented with ten HIPAA compliancy requirements followed by a series of questions concerning the dentists’ compliancy as well as the importance of the requirements in dental practices.

The range of compliancy was found to be from 0% for the requirement of a written workstation policy to 88% for that of password security. The average was 49%, meaning that less than half of the requirements are being respected by the dentists in this sample.

Frustration with the tenets of the mandate, as well as open defiance is evident by the written responses. In addition, it appears that a dentist’s likelihood of satisfying a requirement is related to the dentist’s perceived importance of the requirement.

Even though this is a limited pilot study, there is convincing evidence that more thorough investigation concerning the cost and benefits of the requirements needs to be performed before enforcement of the HIPAA mandate is considered for the nation’s dental practices.

Posted by: Darrell Pruitt | April 10, 2008 at 02:12 PM

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and actions. I too am a citizen of Utah and really appreciate all the hard work that goes into making this state a more beautiful place to live in. The future is bright with you around. Thank you!

Posted by: Michael New Jr. | April 10, 2008 at 04:04 PM

Secretary Leavitt: I am appreciative of your candid way in dealing with politics. The 5,000 day vision with a 500 day seems to be an excellent way to achieve the tactical goals in order to obtain the overall strategic objectives. I applaud your efforts. Makes these 250 days count!

Posted by: Chad Nichols | April 12, 2008 at 11:54 PM