Robert FrombergEditor in Chief, HFMA
A graphic designer once told me how to draw a straight line freehand. He said you make a point where you want the line to end, then go to where you want the line to start and draw toward that point, never looking at where you actually drawing, just keeping your eye on the point in the distance. Well, I tried it, and I can’t say I drew a perfectly straight line. But it was better than my usual efforts without use of a ruler.
I don’t have much call for drawing a freehand straight line, but I applied that idea to something I do, which is write. And it occurred to me that this same technique is used effectively in all kinds of stories and articles: at the beginning, you let a reader glimpse the end; then you go back to the beginning and write toward that ending.
Last week, I saw many healthcare organizations telling their stories to the capital markets at the Non-Profit Heath Care Investor Conference, and those that, in my opinion, told their story with the greatest success used the point-in-the-distance technique.
Virtually all the organizations presenting began by stating the vision of the organization, followed by the strategic goals, the key activities, and the financials. The best presentations, however, were the ones that did the best job emphasizing the point in the distance (the mission) and clearly drawing a line toward that point (linking each goal, each activity, and the financial results to the mission). None of the presentations was bad, but that ones that were the least effective tended to articulate a mission that was too generic, to present too many strategic goals and/or not link those goals to the mission, and to not echo the mission or strategic goals again until the very end of the presentation. In short, sometimes the components were strong, but they did not connect clearly, and sometimes the point in the distance was not clear enough.
An example of a successful presentation: One organization clearly identified its mission as being the provider of choice in the community and among the best in the nation. It followed that with short video clips of the excellent results of an innovative approach to hip replacement surgery. The presentation continued with external recognitions, including U.S. News ranking as one of America’s best hospitals, Magnet recognition, and others. Next, the executives presented key strategies, all linked clearly to clinical excellence in specific areas, then capital investments designed to support those strategies. A section on today versus the future was especially successful in explaining how the strengths of today would be translated into an even stronger, more unified approach to clinical care excellence. The financial presentation that followed showed strong performance in the usual financial indicators, with the bar graphs clearly supplemented by spoken words that linked financial performance to fulfilling the strategies for clinical superiority. The summary landed squarely on the point in the distance that the presentation established at the outset: being the provider of choice.
With capital such an important ingredient for success, healthcare organizations can learn from the way these leading organizations talk to the capital markets: by drawing a straight line toward their vision for the future.
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