The American health sector is full of flaws. According to the Journal of Patient Safety, medical errors accounted for about 251,000 deaths, making it the third highest cause of deaths in the whole of the US after cancer and heart-related problems. This is an excellent point of concern to all participants in the medical field. Worse is, it’s the patient who bears the cost of medical errors. He gives an analogy whereby a person goes to the garage to have his or her vehicle repaired. One finds that the garages give up to a month or two guarantee whereby any possible mechanical repair needed is done for free. He contrasts this to the medical sector where such a warranty is non-existent, and the patient gets billed anytime he/she walks to the hospital. The pharmaceutical industry is therefore far too expensive. Fredrick finds this unfair. He feels that medical errors should be reduced, at least to give patients worth for their money. Because of these reasons he tries to find possible solutions to reducing healthcare errors. This paper discusses the possible causes why the health care system may find Southwick’s project appealing. It further addresses at least one leadership competency that the reason would raise.

Fredrick’s project aims at reducing healthcare errors. If implemented, this project would make people feel much safer and confident seeking medication from the health facilities. His primary mission was to come up with and study protocols that were set to improving the quality, efficiency, and safety of systems that offered care to patients. He felt that by studying the ‘Toyota Production System'(TPS) and other management techniques, he would succeed in his work. He modified the TPS into a robust system that he felt would serve the need. It is worth noting that the TPS system made Toyota develop very fast to become among the world’s top automobile producers. By introducing this system into the medical system, Southwick was helping in many ways.

TPS system would ensure that there is a waste reduction mechanism in health care systems. We realize that waste is a terrible problem affecting healthcare. Up to 60% of all that is done in the healthcare facilities amounts to wastage without any value gain. The use excess diagnostics, delays and wrong diagnosis are some of the most common areas where wastage is witnessed. He, therefore, strives to make diagnostics simple, quick and efficient. Stakeholders in the medical sector are bound to adopt this system because of its benefits. When implemented, it would make the medication process cheaper and effective and hence bringing confidence in the industry. Fredrick shows a great sense of resilience in making this work. He does this by engaging all healthcare stakeholders into his work. He believes that involving the whole team is the only way he is going to succeed in his work. He knows he has to fight with a lot of resistance from people. He identifies culture as the probable main source of this resistance. Because he is focused on success, he goes to study more about handling cultural resistance to change.

We are told that he did a lot of work to make his work a success. We are told that he went as far as auditing a course ‘Leading Teams’ offered by Harvard Business School. While at Harvard, we are told that he established the relationship between what he was learning and his medicinal skills. He then went out to the Chief of Medicine working in a Boston Hospital. He wanted four teams from his college to go to the hospital and make an observation of medical teams on rounds. It was regrettable that all the four teams found that there was no element of teamwork at the hospital. The situation he observed prompted him to include collaboration into his project. It worked, showing outstanding results. He got very pleased with the success of his pilot project. He saw his project sailing to victory.

Another benefit that could be derived from the use of the Toyota Production System is because it ensures safety environment for working. Using this system provides a clean environment free from equipment that would pose a danger to both medical officers and patients alike. TPS system achieves his kind of situation through developing regular cleanliness and reducing wastages. A safe working environment is what every person would strive for. TPS also ensures that standard measures are put in place to check on the quality of service delivery. Fredrick Southwick uses adaptive leadership to ascertain the medical staffs to get into his system of work. He knows this way they will slowly adapt to the new changes that are being put into place. It makes every member accountable for his or her work. He ensures that this system is put into place. By making people responsible for their work, Southwick indirectly makes people responsible for what they’re doing. Teaching a strong sense of responsibility among his people is what makes Southwick’s work outstanding. While building a sense of accountability among his people, Southwick realized that there was an urgent need to shift his people’s philosophical view of leadership. He felt it would be more effective if each member of the team adopted the role of a team leader and a coach to the group. By working in groups and assuming the role of a leader, he released that everybody got motivated to participate in the group work. Just like a group leader would strive to see the group thrive, Southwick noticed that each team member was developing that urge to assume leadership. A new inculcated leadership skill would help them meet their goals.

A combination of safety, efficiency, standardization and group work made Toyota Production System an ideal way of reducing healthcare risks. These let to immense success in Southwick’s project. His research-based study and leadership skills provided a basis on which his work could be founded. With proper foundation, he was destined to nothing less than success. Indeed, we have to accept that his success in solving medical quality-related challenges is unrivaled. He was the best in what he did.

Question 2.

Change is not welcome easily. Some people are so much into the conventional way, and that is what they want to protect. If anything, why turn to new when old is still serving just fine. Southwick acknowledges that people get uncomfortable when change is introduced into the system. He develops strategies that will make him attend to people’s discomfort. This question answers why people prefer to remain conservative rather than adopt change.

People resist change because they are not sure of the possible outcomes the change will bring upon them. Some feel that they might lose their jobs or job status in the organization. Fear of the future unknown is the main reason as to why many people reject transformation, making them frustrate any advances of change forwarded upon them by the management. Sometimes organizational changes come with poorly aligned rewards. People usually want to see the rewards a change has to offer them before they consider adopting. A move that does not present its rewards directly to the staff is likely to be fought. Peer pressure can also make an employee reject change, for example, the employee will seek to know how many of his colleagues have accepted that system change before he/she can adopt it. Another reason people find to reject change in the organization is internal organizational politics. It is seen where an individual wants to prove that the change was ill-fated. Southwick understands that a shift in organizations strategy would bring a lot of discomfort amount the individual involved. He, therefore, advocates for adaptive leadership to address this problem of change. He feels that a follow-up strategy should be used to test the adaptability of his/her performance.