Triage– Nine Critical Questions
Frazzled in your job and your life? Take a lesson from medicine.
Dominique Jean Larrey was a surgeon in Napoleon’s armies and understood that no military could ever have enough medical resources to care for every wounded soldier. Wanting to apply his limited resources to save the most lives possible, he developed a protocol known as triage. This meant sorting each new arrival into one of the following categories:
* Likely to survive whether treated or not
* Unlikely to survive whether treated or not
* A case where immediate care might make a difference in outcome
By making these hard but essential choices, Larrey was able to focus his limited resources on those soldiers where his efforts might make a difference in outcome. Harsh as it may seem, triage results in a significantly higher survival rate than random selection or “first come, first served”.
While you and I may not be battlefield surgeons, the demand on our time and resources always exceeds what we have available. If we are not careful, we put at risk our professional safety, our sanity, and our sense of accomplishment. We all need to practice the art of triage.
Drawn from my upcoming book, here are nine questions that can help decide whether or not to commit to solving a problem. They apply equally to sizing up a task before we agree to take it on. Here they are:
1. Is this really my problem?
2. What is the likely outcome if I don’t attempt to solve this problem?
3. What is the likely outcome if I don’t solve this problem?
4. Realistically, how much time do I have? Is this enough?
5. Do I know enough to solve this? Can I learn it in time?
6. Do I have the financial and other resources to solve this?
7. Do I need help from others, and if so, will I get it?
8. Do I need technology to solve this, and if so, do I have it or can I get it?
9. If I commit, will there be an escape hatch? If not, am I OK with that?
By asking these questions before you commit you will find that your success rate will increase dramatically, you will practice more safely, and you will have a greater sense of satisfaction.