Changing focus, staying relaxed

It was a great Tuesday. I had been to the gym that morning, then went for a run. I enjoyed a coffee shop visit with a few of my friends before going home, eating breakfast and processing my inbox. I packed for the upcoming trip, planned an afternoon bike ride, and read some of the book that's on my plate these days. Then, I moved into making lunch...

While preparing our afternoon meal, I "un"focused and the knife I was using slid through the food I was cutting, easily slicing through the top of my left hand. Within minutes, my hand wrapped in a wet towel, we were driving to the emergency room of the Ojai Hospital.

I remember thinking, "This was not part of today's plan."

When things go weird, when surprise shows up and rapid decisions have to be made on the fly, I count on models, methods and proceses to see me thorugh. What was fascinating to me was to learn how "medical" this reponse is.

Upon arrival to the hospital, the EMT (Chris) looked at my wound. I passed my ID and insurance card to the woman at reception, then I was led to another room.

A well-rehearsed process began. Chris placed the heart rate and blood pressure monitors, and began preparing me for the next few minutes.

Dr. Nelson entered the scene. While I looked away, a series of fundamental prcesses ensued. Over a period of moments, he cleaned the cut, numbed the finger [a finger block, he called it], placed 7 stiches and cleaned the wound.

Looking back days later, I realized something important:

He only told me what he was doing "now."

This put me at ease. He obviously had a plan, and knew there were several steps to take to get there. However, his patient [me] who was holding a low heart rate, and dangerously low blood pressure, didn't need to know everything that was going to happen. At each point that there was something new, he'd tell me...

"...now I'm going to..."

This kind of "project planning" was very impressive. It was Successful Outcome and Next Action management elegantly - and expertly - applied.