Episode #410: The Key to Calling Out Real Issues, with Jenni Poulos

Don't just band-aid your problems — get to the root of it! And to help you identify and solve the problems in your practice, Kirk Behrendt brings back Jenni Poulos, one of ACT’s lead coaches, to reveal the steps to calling out real issues together with your team. Be proactive in resolving problems so they don't become a crisis! To learn how, listen to Episode 410 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

• Step back and take a holistic view.
• Pause and ask what the real issues are.
• Identify the problem behind the problem.  
• Get good at asking, “And, what else?”
• Prioritize your most important issues.
• Fixing the real issues will save time.

Quotes:

• “It’s so devastating for doctors and team members to band-aid and patch, and band-aid and patch, and talk about the same things over, and over, and over again. It kills momentum. It kills meetings. It can kill trust too.” (2:04—2:22)
• “There's no greater fatigue than mental fatigue. And if you diagnose the mental fatigue, what you're going to find is we’ve got to get to the real issue. And when you get to the real issue and you can diagnose it and do something about it, your life will actually change. It'll change over and over again.” (2:55—3:12)
• “Our minds tend to go to all of the obstacles, to all of the reasons that something won't work. And then, we get into this putting-out-fires mode and dealing with one little thing here, and one little thing there, and one little thing here, and we just don't look holistically at things so we can pause, change our thought process, and think about, ‘Okay, what's really affecting this? What is this really going to affect? How do I need to think about change on a whole?’ We just don't step back to look at things in a way that can help us really understand what's going on.” (3:53—4:39)
• “The first thing, really, is just to pause. What is the real issue? We talk in circles. Are we run, run, run, run, run about something that we’re frustrated with? And sometimes, just asking a team member, pausing during a team meeting and saying, ‘Okay, let's just take a second here. In one sentence, can we say what is the real issue? Let's try to bring it in a little bit and identify what is the issue, not talk about what are all of the effects that I'm seeing. What are all the things that are circling around here? Let's bring it in. What's the real issue?’ Because it’s easier to work with one thing versus a million things that are going around.” (6:14—7:08)
• “Here’s a question that'll add to the real issue. Is this person a good core values fit for your practice? And if the answer is no, there's nothing you're going to say, there's no formula, there's no wisdom, there's no motivation that will ultimately fix this. We just don't care about the same things, and eventually it’s going to fall apart. So, you have to identify the real issue. Because people that fit your core values on your team, they’ll be willing to listen. They understand, and at least they’ll be open to the conversation.” (7:21—7:48)
• “The problem is rarely the first thing that is stated. There's always something behind that that's causing it. We’re looking at the symptom. We want to know what's the actual cause. A great and very simple example, I was working with a team and they're like, ‘The data’s wrong! The data’s wrong. We don't know this. We don't know that. We can't figure it out.’ The root cause is they had no idea how to actually use the software. So, the problem wasn't that the data was incorrect. The problem was that they didn't have the training to understand how to use it. So, rather than spending all this time analyzing the data and where it’s wrong, it actually was an inability to use a software. So, a very simple explanation. But so often, we don't look past what's happening to say, ‘What's causing this? What is the root cause?’ And if we want to actually solve a problem, we need to go to the root cause.” (12:49—13:55)
• “Another way to look at this is, is there a problem behind the problem? Or what's the problem behind the problem?” (15:07—15:18)
• “[Finding the problem behind the problem] is particularly helpful when we’re talking about E – R = C, or this idea of expectations minus reality equals conflict. So, what's the problem behind the problem? Why do I have the conflict? I want to really go all the way back to the expectations because, usually, that's where my actual problem lives, is in the expectations.” (15:29—15:55)
• “Problems that aren't addressed with the root cause, they create bigger problems. Unresolved conflicts always become a crisis.” (16:56—17:09)
• “Having a coach, having outside perspective, having someone that can ask questions and even just say, ‘What's the problem behind the problem?’ can help you pause and think, and can help you get there.” (17:58—18:09)
• “If you only got really good at asking one question, in every area of your life, I would love it to be, ‘And, what else?’ Because the real answer is rarely the complete and true answer. The real solution is rarely the final and complete solution. This is something that people don't often ask, but it makes us pause and think, ‘Okay, we got here. And, what else?’ It makes me think a little bit deeper. It makes me think about the answer that I just gave and is it correct. It makes you think about, ‘Okay, was I totally honest, or is there something else?’” (23:43—24:21)
• “If you're talking about something too long, if you're going on, and on, and on, and on, maybe you're not at the real issue. You're not solving the real issue, or people aren't being open and honest. There could be politicking going on, or there are tangents. So, sometimes, even saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to give ourselves 10 minutes to discuss and solve this,’ this is Parkinson’s principle in action. ‘We've got 10 minutes. What's the real issue? What's the root cause?’ And discuss it and try to come to a solution. You'll be surprised what you can get through if you're really intentional like that.” (26:44—27:22)

Snippets:

• 0:00 Introduction.
• 1:22 Why it’s important to diagnose the real issue.
• 2:26 Look at things holistically.
• 5:44 Pause to identify what the real issues are.
• 7:50 Identify your limiting beliefs.
• 10:07 You need a coach to tell you the truth.
• 11:53 Get to the root cause to find solutions.
• 15:06 Find the problem behind the problem.
• 17:41 Have outside perspective to find the problem.
• 18:50 Changing mediums can change perspective.
• 20:16 Peeling the onion.
• 23:29 Ask the question: And, what else?
• 26:27 Use Parkinson’s law to problem-solve.
• 28:52 Prioritize your issues.
• 30:54 Last thoughts.

Reach Out to Jenni:

Jenni’s email: [email protected] 

Jenni’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenni.poulos

Jenni’s social media: @actdental

Resources:

ACT Dental To The Top study club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt

Jenni Poulos Bio:

Jenni brings to dental teams a literal lifetime of experience in dentistry. As the daughter and sister of periodontists and a dental hygienist, she has been working in many facets of the dental world since she first held a summer job turning rooms and pouring models at the age of 12. Now, with over 10 years of experience in managing and leading a large periodontal practice, she has a firm grasp on what it takes to run a thriving business. Her passion for organizational health and culture has been a driving force behind her coaching career. She has witnessed firsthand how creating an aligned and engaged team will take a practice to levels of success that they never believed possible!