What Have You Failed At Today?

I caught this story on ABC last night about entrepreuners.  It made an interesting point about the need to fail and learn from your failure.  In summary, it was basically saying that people who took risks, failed, and spent the time to learn from their failures ended up more successful.

I think that is very relevant to the world of healthcare communications.  Any program should have a test plan of ideas that are constantly being varied to see what works best.  Each micro-niche of the population is going to respond differently.  If you aren’t out there trying different things, you won’t optimize the success of your programs.

Of course, this is easier said than done. You need a culture that believes in failure.  You need a way to learn from your mistakes.  You need people that are willing to admit they were wrong.  You need a measurement tool to document the success of one attempt versus the other.  And, you need to understand what can be varied to drive change.

Let’s take a simple example here.  In the world of automated voice communications, you can vary dozens of things:

• Which voice should you use – gender, age, accent?
• How should the voice speak – casually, formally, authoritarian, consultative?
• What speed should the voice be at – normal pace, fast, slow?
• What time of day should you call?
• What day of the week should you call?
• Should you leave a message or call back?
• How many times should you attempt to reach the patient?  Within what window?
• How long should the call be?
• Should the call be complemented by letters or other outreach?
• Should the call offer to connect them to a live agent?

I could go on, but I think you see the point.  Experimentation is key and makes a difference.  I am not even getting into the thousands of variables in the messages. 

So, go out and fail at some new program to communicate and engage with your patients.  Learning faster is your best way to succeed.