Riot Point Radio Episode 12: Oh, Doctor can you help me?
Come with me to the mid-1800’s.
You’re a doctor, a surgeon and fine one too. You’ve a reputation for speed.
It’s just as well, because anaesthetics have yet to be discovered.
Most amputations, extractions or gouging out of tumours are finished in game-on, pain-on excruciating sprint lasting anywhere between 30 secs and 5 mins.
But the agony for the patient doesn’t end there. Fifty percent of patients die of post-surgery infections and, annoyingly, that plays havoc with your accounts receivables system. The dead patient market segment contributes less gross margin than others.
And one day into your surgery comes a sales rep offering you the choice of anaesthetics or antiseptics.
You can’t have both. Which would you choose?
Find out what choice most surgeons made and how the answer can help boost your next product or service innovation.
Welcome to this episode of Riot Point Radio.
The power of solving a visible and immediate problem
On 16th October 1846, surgeon Henry Bigelow performed the first recorded operations under anaesthetic at Mass General in Boston. A young woman, who’d undergone tumour removal, awoke and claimed to have no recollection of pain or the procedure.
In mid-November Bigelow published his experiences in the Boston Medical Surgical Journal.
By mid-December, surgeons in Paris and London were using anaesthetics. By February the following year, anaesthetics were being used in most of the capitals of Europe. By June, you’d find the anaesthetics in use around the world.
Anaesthetics went from trial to commonplace in 7 months.
Contrast this with antiseptics.
The weakness of solving a invisible and delayed problem
In the 1860’s, one in two patients who’d undergone major operations such as fractures or amputations died from sepsis-infection. But Joseph Lister, a surgeon in Edinburgh Scotland, noted that these numbers greatly reduced if a stinging dose of carbolic acid was applied to wounds, surgeons hands, instruments and swabs.
Surgeons were requested to perform operations under an irritating mist of Carbolic Acid.
Nursing staff had to endure washing their hands and soak bandages in burning solutions before applying to open wounds.
All time-consuming and sometimes painful new activities.
In 1867, Lister published his findings in the British medical journal ‘the Lancet.’
Now you might predict a similar frenetic rate of adoption as anaesthetics, but no. It was laborious and unenthusiastic
Twenty years later, a surgeon at Mass General, home of the first operation with anaesthetics, noted, “the use of washing hands by surgeons is perfunctory.” In other words, done without much effort or interest.
So what’s the difference between the uptake of the two.
Firstly, anaesthetics solved immediately a visible (and audible) proble. Secondly, resolution of this immediate problem was to the benefit of all participating parties. Everyone involved got something out of it. The patients less pain; the doctor more time (and less stress) in order to accomplish a better job.
In contrast antiseptics solved a problem which was neither visible nor immediate. The gap between surgery and sepsis was days or weeks; not the seconds or minutes gap of anaesthetics.
And with antiseptics, benefits were accrued by only one of the two participating parties, the patient. Yet delivery of this benefit was reliant on a significant change in protocol and behaviours by medical who received little in return other blistered hands and personal satisfaction.
So what can we learn from this
Well, if you want rapid uptake up of your products, services or ideas you should hit these 3 points,
Solve an observable (and ideally big) problem
Resolve it rapidly and
Benefit of all participating parties.
Even if you’re solving a huge problem, such as climate change or social responsibility programmes, break it down and dig out some visible and immediate wins.
Be a little more anaesthetic and a little less antiseptic.
Finally, a goodbye and thank you to an outstanding anaesthetist, Laurence who is no longer with us. A kind friend to many and holder of great a sense of humour.
This is for him.
Question: How many anaesthetists does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: Ten…Nine..Eight..Sev