The One Million Splotz of Glue Campaign

In which I attempt to respond to Siel’s comment by sharing a story about nurses in a small rural hospital. Siel writes:

On a sidenote, do we really need a million different ideas to get going? I say find a few good ones, then start working on those.

My story about nurses in small rural hospitals.

I love small rural hospitals. You can get the best care at a small rural hospital and quality study after study proves that. You may not be able to get a heart transplant there, but they will nurse you back from a hip replacement with professionalism and heart.

In my previous life one of the cool things I got to do was convene a Medicare conference for small rural hospitals in Hawai`i. It was held in October at the Waikoloa on the beach of the most beautiful island in the world. We had the best program not because I was a talented convenor, but because I went to the big national conferences and asked the very best presenters if they would like to do a presentation and workshop in Hawai`i. In October. In a conference room steps away from a beautiful white sand beach.

The administrators and nurses were interested and engaged. The presenters were brilliant and accessible and conversations spilled over from the conference room to the banquet room to the bar. And then I noticed something very interesting. The directors of nursing were huddled in a corner during every intersession in serious and animated (and hurried) conversation.

They were problem solving and sharing real world solutions. They were translating what they were learning in the sessions into changes that would fit into the reality of a small rural hospital. They were sharing experiences and they were learning. From each other. I learned something. As a nurse in a small rural hospital you do not have the resources or the networks of a large hospital. You wear a lot of hats and oftentimes your best ally is not the nurse executive mentor from the system hospital.

I try to make a point.

While, I am making this up as I go and it is an incomplete idea, I am not looking for a million new ideas about how we can build community. Rather I want to shine a spotlight on the people doing the community building. Learn from their implementation and their translation and talk about it with you and others. I want to connect them with other ideas and translations. I want to connect them with other allies and mentors.

And, on a personal note, I want to meet them. I am the biggest fan of people who act and make a difference in their community.

I am not looking to “discover” a million new ideas. They are already out there. I am just curious about them and interested in meeting them (the idea and the person). I also anxiously await the fusion and riffs that happen when really cool people meet each other and talk and share ideas.

Does any of this makes sense?

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Posted on March 5th, 2007 by Lloyd Y. Asato
Filed under: Backstory