It was curious to spot an article titled "Can you become a creature of new habits?" in the Business section of the New York Times last Sunday. Kind of squishy topic for a business person to get a hold of, don't you think?

Turns out, it's an article on creativity and innovation.

What gave it lustre for me was the neuroscience about neural pathways that I've been increasingly aware of, and that very much pertains to coaching:

'... it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

... “The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”'

I emphasize the phrase in the last paragraph to highlight just how our brains are trained to work as physicians. In our quest for a diagnosis, and an explanation for a set of signs and symptoms, we effectively kill of all differential diagnostic possibilities until we get to the One Answer that explains our observations and the patient's experience.

In effect, we are necessarily "anti-creative" in our trained medical thinking.

The challenge for entrepreneurial physicians then is to overcome the tendency to be reductive thinkers. Entrepreneurship demands significant creativity. We physician entrepreneurs need to see more opportunities, not fewer. To generate more ideas, create a greater number of options, or ways to skin a cat.

According to the article, researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At puberty, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life. (emphasis all mine)

We are stuck with how we were encouraged and naturally inclined to think.

The good news is that we can still innovate and create, despite our inherent limitations. It seems the trick is to push ourselves out of our comfort zones.

This interesting article goes on to describe:

"...three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs."

When we stretch ourselves and expand our possibilities is when we feel truly alive. That belief lies at the heart of a great coaching relationship.

Markova, a PhD executive change consultant and author of "The Open Mind" is quoted as saying:

“You cannot have innovation,” she adds, “unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.”

I couldn't agree more.

What do you think?

Howard Stark MD's guiding principles seem to be driven by two questions: "What if...?" and "Why not...?"

As a busy internist and gastroenterologist with a curious and observing mind, he questioned why it wasn't possible for his patients to use the Internet to schedule appointments and reserve time with him, when it was so easy to make an airplane reservation online. What difference was there, really?

So starts his story into his latest, almost accidental, entrepreneurial physician venture.

His original goals: make life in practice a whole lot easier AND make a mobile traveling life outside practice possible.

Listen to Dr. Stark share how his inquisitive mind and able partnerships have spun a highly useful home-grown web-based interface for his practice into a full-blown business, at DoctorsOnTheWeb.

Dr Ken Corre has found a way to relieve his stress as an ER physician - he writes medical mysteries. And his first book, The Victim Donor, has been published and well-received.

In a prior post earlier this year, I shared a snippet of the interview I had with Dr. Corre about his journey into authorship. Here now is the full interview, to inspire and caution all you wannabe writers.

The road to getting published is bumpy with obstacles - finding the time to write, corralling your personal discipline, selecting an editor in a timely way and opting for self-publication versus finding an agent and publisher. But, according to Dr. Corre, it is also strewn with rewards - the satisfaction of creation, the opportunity to redefine Self, and the recognition of your merits outside of the title of "MD".

Enjoy this week's Entrepreneurial MD's Podcast with a physician who is having some fun outside the ER!

Increasingly, web searchers and surfers are accessing videos as a means of finding the information they want.

An article titled Medicine on Demand in USA Today reveals how lay people are using video. But even more revealing are the current stats from the Pew Internet & American Life Project that are highlighted in a side column:

• 74% of all adults and 51% of people who have chronic health problems are Internet users.

• 79% of all adult users and 86% of those with chronic conditions seek health information online.

• 69% of all adult users and 65% of those with chronic conditions have high-speed service, which is essential for easy video viewing.

• 57% of adult users have watched or downloaded videos; 22% have chosen educational videos, and 3% do so on a typical day.

Putting the facts together, it's logical to predict that our generation of future clients or patients raised on a steady diet of TV (and YouTube!) will be increasingly drawn to visually-presented information. Especially with our rising rates of illiteracy!

Here's my interpretation of this knowledge:

• To educate, you will have the edge over traditional businesses or practices if you use video to convey your ideas and concepts. For example, present a short video on how to use an asthma inhaler, inspect the feet of diabetics, control food portions, assemble a "rainbow colored" healthy meal, prepare for a mammogram or colonoscopy etc.
• To market your business or practice, you will set yourself apart using informative videos that specifically address the needs of your potential clients or patients. An example for practitioners might be showing how to fill out paperwork before coming to your office, what your office looks like, an introduction to your staff etc. For other businesses, it might be a "talking head" of you addressing some of the biggest headaches your prospective clients are facing, and then hinting at the solution you provide (followed as always by a specific call to action - tell the viewer what the next step is they should take!).
  You might even go so far as to video the short testimonials of your company's "raving fans" if they are willing to speak up about you.
  (PS: Imagine creating videos in another language for your multicultural audience that struggles to read your pamphlets written in English)

Creating and sharing the videos is not as complicated as it sounds.

1. You can shoot a video using a webcam, a digital video camera and now days even a regular digital camera that should give you 5-10 minutes of video.
2. Pay attention to background, lighting, and your own appearance. Having that "home-made look" is okay as long as it isn't really shaky or tacky-looking.
3. Don't forget Craigslist or a similar community bulletin board if you want to find a local videographer - get prices as well as references. This does NOT have to be an expensive proposition!
4. Upload the video from your computer to a video-sharing site such as YouTube or Veoh. I see there is a new health-related video-sharing site called Icyou.com that looks interesting as well!
5. Copy the little piece of code that you are given on the video-sharing site (ask your kid to do it for you if this is unfamiliar!) and paste it to your website - your webmaster can do this easily if you are not comfortable working on your website. This will appear to "host" the video on your site.

In what creative ways are you using video in your business or practice?

And what do you think of this idea?

What does it say about our healthcare system that young physicians, many not more than 5 or 7 years out of residency, are experiencing burn-out and disappointment and shame - and dropping out of medicine?

It's one of medicine's dirty little secrets.

One physician with such an experience, Dr. Ryan Flesher, has decided to go public with his journey from idealistic medical school graduate to deeply frustrated and angry ER physician, by baring his soul on camera.

The camera he is talking into is his own, and the creative expression he is involved in is writing, directing and producing a documentary. His saving grace has been his passion for film.

Dr. Flesher's intent is to capture his personal emotional turmoil and the dawning realization that he is not alone in this. His ultimate quest is to generate the understanding by the lay public of what is at stake - their own medical welfare, as seen through the eyes of the physicians they love to envy, at times criticize and, above all, need!

In this week's Podcast, listen to the very articulate Dr. Flesher share his 28-minute story. Hear how his burn-out ignited his other interest, that of film-making, along with his passionate plea for an improved healthcare system that takes care of its own, the doctors, and allows them to do what they are best at - practice medicine!