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Leadership
GOST Framework
The GOST (goals, objectives, strategy, and tactic) Framework helps answer the two primary
questions that are part of a strategic plan:
What are you
trying to
achieve?
How will you
achieve it?
{
{
G
S
T
Goals are what you are trying to achieve generally. Goals are
qualitative and long-term.
O Objectives are what you are trying to achieve specifically. Objectives
are quantitative and measurable.
Strategy is how you will reach goals and objectives generally-a
high-level plan for achieving your goals.
Tactics are the specifics of how you will reach your goals and
objectives.
" We should all have a plan for our day, for our week, for our month, and for our quarter, and
that plan should answer those two questions simply and concisely, " Horwath says.
Leaders sometime confuse strategy and tactics. Strategy is abstract, Horwath explains. " You
can't reach out and touch it, but it provides the guard rails for the direction you want to go. "
Continuing the road analogy, he says tactics are " the vehicles you use to move down the road
towards your goal. "
Reiter says nurse leaders are good at tactical thinking because it is what nurses are trained
to do in their daily clinical work. " Tactics are more task oriented, and strategy is more visionary
and long-term focused, " she notes.
nected to the strategic plan. "
Making this happen requires an effort
to break barriers to strategic thinking,
such as time and mindset.
Breaking strategic thinking
barriers: Time
" Leaders today are just
trying to get through
the day, like a game of
whack-a-mole, " Sherman
says. " Taking
time for reflection is
difficult, and staying
abreast of all the changing
news that could impact
healthcare is even
tougher. "
Strategies for breaking
the time barrier include:
* Carve out time for reflection by
scheduling it in a calendar can ensure
it is not usurped by other tasks.
* Manage the number of transitions
from one task to the next. Transitions
can eat up significant time
because they require a change in
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OR Manager | Nov/Dec 2024
focus and deplete energy. Horwath
suggests leaders track the number
of transitions (including the number
of times they check their phones for
messages) in a day or week.
Rose
Sherman,
EdD, RN,
MEA-BC,
FAAN
* Track time. Similarly to tracking transitions,
tracking activities in 30-minute
intervals for 1 week can help
identify nonproductive work. Leaders
can see where they are spending
their time and how the time
spent aligns with goals and priorities.
Using this information to batch
tasks can improve attention and energy
levels.
* Minimize interruptions. Having " office
hours " can be a useful tool to
accomplish this.
* Be mindful about meetings. Ensuring
all meetings are " effective, efficient,
and generate new learning "
can not only make them more valuable
for leaders, but also increase
the morale of attendees, Horwath
says (sidebar, Ramping up meeting
effectiveness). Additionally, a series
of shorter meetings is likely to be
better for strategic
planning than one or
two long ones, says
Mary Anne Douglas,
MS, RN, CNOR,
nurse executive for
surgical operations
at
Intermountain
Health, Canyons Region.
" We start by
Mary Anne
Douglas, MS,
RN, CNOR
batting ideas around and don't plan
on making a decision at that first
meeting, " she says, which allows
space for informal conversations between
leaders over lunch or when
driving between facilities. Subsequent
meetings are used to identify
key performance indicators and put
structure to the plan.
* Think and write down ideas. A simple
journal provides a means for
leaders to record and review their
thoughts, a process that builds valuable
expertise. " We may associate
experience with greater levels of expertise,
but studies show that over
time, people tend to lose their hunger
to get better and to learn new
things. Sometimes, people coming
right out of school are actually more
effective, " Horwath says.
Breaking strategic thinking
barriers: Mindset
For some leaders, a desire to be a
team player could create a tendency to
say " yes " to everything that comes their
way. However, Horwath points out if an
air traffic controller had this mindset,
then all the planes would attempt to
land at the same time. As managers,
" our goal is not to please everyone at
the same time, but instead to bring
the most value we can to the situation
we're in at the moment and to consciously
determine where we can be of
the most value, " he says. Identifying
and delegating lower-priority tasks can
help prevent the risk of " spending time
on things that are urgent, but not necessarily
important. "
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