Do you have any mantras for your work? Which statements, quotes, or slogans or words of advice do you find yourself repeating frequently to teams and colleagues?

When I hear people and team's say, "QI doesn't work in real life," or "QI is too complicated," it's probably due to one of several common factors. In this vlog, my friend and colleague, Khalil Hassam, and I will use some of our favorite classic meme images to show you the handful of things you should STOP doing in your QI projects.

This post will describe how to improve constraints with systems thinking and the importance of infrastructure and behavior to sustain improvements. It sounds difficult to focus simultaneously on the synergy of processes on a macro-level while looking for just a few of the things preventing the system from reaching its goal. The idea here is not only to agree to implement a solution, but make the solution the top priority because of negative effects on the outcomes.

You don't have to swim faster than the shark, just faster than the slowest diver. While I originally found this a kind of inelegant advice about avoiding burnout by being just good enough, this analogy has grown on me as a way to explain optimizing systems.

The coaching relationship works best as a collaborative approach to help teams and individuals reach their full potential.

Eating a whale is no easy task. Above and beyond the buy-in and change management necessary to create the right environment for change, actually implementing the change is like trying to eat a whale while avoiding being swallowed by another one.

How do you eat a whale? The old idiom says one bite at time, but the truth is, even if you try your best, work your hardest, and focus on the task at hand, it's just too much. In my work, I've seen this struggle play out in clinics, public health departments, and hospital units alike.

Think big, start small, and learn fast.