Orthotown April 2020 - 10

embrace progress

A few months back, I reviewed the seven
deadly sins and tried to relate them to the
practice of orthodontics. Because seven
is often a lucky number, and I received
many positive comments on that column,
I decided to share some summaries of the
book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen R. Covey.
The three main ideas are summarized
by the Quick MBA Management group
and available online. The first involves the
differences among a personality ethic and
principles and values, which combine to
make a character ethic. The three phases of
personal growth, the second idea, are defined
and described, and the seven famous habits
round out the list of ideas.
Covey argues against the personality
ethic, which is what most business books
preach in their texts. Personality traits
contributing to this ethic would be things
such as "work harder, get up early and beat
the other contenders." Kind of the typical
nudge you'd get from an inspirational book
or lecture. Principles and values, meanwhile,
are universal traits that underlie most
people's behavior. Principles are rules or
laws that govern one's performance, while
values are subjective to the individual and
will ultimately decide the outcome of the
endeavor. Character ethic, the result, is a
collection of habits we have learned. Some
of those habits include:
*	 Knowledge, which is what we
have learned and perfected.
*	 Skill, which allows us to perform
based on the knowledge.
*	 Desire, which will ultimately decide
how motivated we are to get it done.
Before he identifies the seven habits, Covey explains the three phases of

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performance that we pass through as
we work toward success in our various
endeavors: dependence, independence and
interdependence.
Dependence is the period of time while
we are learning and have things done for
us. The seven habits are really not in play
during that time.
Independence is achieved gradually, by
applying the first three habits:
*	 Being proactive instead of reacting.
Work on things you can actually
do something about, rather than
reacting.
*	 Beginning with the end in mind and
having a clear picture of the ultimate
goal. Being principles-focused and
attacking or performing first things
first.
The ability to strike a balance between
just production and production capacity
is a strong trait that needs to be kept in
mind. The key turning point we realize
is when we see the advantage of leaving
the period of independence and becoming
interdependent. This transformation is the
benefit of the seven habits.

Here are the next steps:
*	 Think win-win. When negotiating
with others, find a division that's
acceptable to all parties.
*	 Seek first to understand, then to
be understood.
*	 Synergize. Understand and value
differences in another person's
perspective.
*	 Sharpen the saw. For growth, focus
on renewal.
Now for the takeaway that we as orthodontists and dentists need to absorb: We
need to strike a balance between immediate
production versus the learned and practiced
ability, so we can learn to increase or improve
production. In orthodontic terminology, that
means sometimes placing a patient on recall
for treatment in the future can benefit the
business and practice in the long run more
than reaching the immediate monthly goal.
So as you wander and explore the various
business options that may help you or your
enterprise, don't be limited to those that
claim to be only for orthodontists! You may
find that many other businesses grounded
in solid principles may fit your bill. n

APRIL 2020 // orthotown.com

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3/26/20 11:21 AM
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Orthotown April 2020

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