22/08/2026
DAY 28/30 — If I had 30 minutes with a hospital staff member, this is what I would do.
I wouldn't start by asking:
"What is your job title?"
I'd ask:
"What is one thing in this hospital that frustrates you every single day?"
Then I'd listen.
Because the person working closest to a problem often understands it differently from the person sitting in the office making decisions about it.
A laboratory scientist might tell me that samples are constantly delayed.
A nurse might tell me that patients get lost during referrals.
A doctor might tell me that patients keep returning with the same complications.
A pharmacist might tell me that essential medicines are frequently unavailable.
And here's where it gets interesting.
I wouldn't immediately ask, "Who is responsible?"
I'd ask:
"Why does this keep happening?"
Because that question takes us from blame to systems thinking.
Maybe the laboratory doesn't have a staffing problem. Maybe the workflow is inefficient.
Maybe the referral system doesn't have a communication problem. Maybe there is no functioning coordination mechanism.
Maybe patients aren't "non-compliant." Maybe the treatment is simply unaffordable.
Maybe healthcare workers aren't failing.
Maybe the system is making it unnecessarily difficult for good people to do good work.
And this is why I believe healthcare is one of the greatest classrooms for leadership.
A hospital teaches you that everything is connected.
The laboratory affects the doctor.
The pharmacy affects the patient.
The referral system affects the surgeon.
The supply chain affects the entire facility.
And leadership sits somewhere in the middle, trying to make all these pieces work together.
So if I had 30 minutes with a hospital staff member, I wouldn't spend all 30 minutes telling them how to do their job better.
I'd spend part of that time asking:
"What would you change if you had the power to change one thing?"
Because I believe some of the best solutions to our healt