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Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

sebastianmarshall.com

1–10 of 22 posts

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#2
If only there were a cheap, easy way to automatically send appointment reminders in Mandarin. ;)

(Sadly, HIPAA -- American health privacy legislation -- means that there is a lot of uncertainty about whether they can actually use it or not, and since I'm not a lawyer and don't have an extra $100k lying around I can't resolve that ambiguity at the moment.)

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#3
This is exactly what happened to me 2 days ago at my haircut. My barber and I enjoy talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers (American football). Somehow, our discussion turned into my nonstop complaining...

"I hate when they run up the middle on first down!"

"The referees call too many penalties!"

"The kicker should go back to bagging groceries!"

"The announcers don't understand the game!"

"Instant replay ruins the experience!"

"They should just pounce on fumbles instead of trying to pick them up and run with them!"

Finally, he said, "Well then, what are you going to do about it?"

I answered the only way I could, "I'm going to drink more beer and yell louder at the TV. Maybe, just maybe, someone will hear me and do what I say."

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#4
post #3

This is exactly what happened to me 2 days ago at my haircut. My barber and I enjoy talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers (American football). Somehow, our discussion turned into my nonstop complaining... "I hate when they run up the middle on first down!" "The referees call too many penalties!" "The kicker should go back to bagging groceries!" "The announcers don't understand the game!" "Instant replay ruins the exp…

Yelling at the TV is a long-established American tradition. :)

Sebastian's got a great article here -- he's really been on a roll lately. The only thing I'd add is that sometimes you can't do anything. When I read that book on stoicism last month, one of the key points was that you need to sort out the things you can change, the things you can't, and the things you have some bit of leverage with. Ignore the things you can't change, act on the ones you can.

The ones in the middle -- the things you can change but only a little bit -- you internalize, separating the parts that you own and the parts you don't. For instance, you can't make yourself win a sports match. But you _can_ make sure you play the game as absolutely the best as possible.

This is such a simple observation -- almost stupidly simple -- yet we keep getting the three categories mixed up, worrying about stuff we can't change, and giving up on things we can.

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#5
post #2

If only there were a cheap, easy way to automatically send appointment reminders in Mandarin. ;) (Sadly, HIPAA -- American health privacy legislation -- means that there is a lot of uncertainty about whether they can actually use it or not, and since I'm not a lawyer and don't have an extra $100k lying around I can't resolve that ambiguity at the moment.)

AFAIK you're good to go as long as you don't reveal any patient information (called PHI in the HIPAA world). So instead of leaving a message like, "Calling to confirm John Doe's appointment at Johnson Health Institute" it would need to be "Calling to confirm an appointment at Johnson Health Institute". That way if the number is incorrect for some reason there hasn't been a breach of privacy.

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#6
Great post. This is similar to the idea of a site my friend and I put together called Lessons Learned (http://lessonslearnedby.us/).

We've only just started coding on it again after focusing on ramping up another more easily monetizable project with investor interest, but even in its simplest form we found that it makes a huge difference when walking away from a situation to say not just "well that rocked/sucked" or even "won't do that again" but to ask ourselves "what lesson can I learn from this?"

It seems being mindful and asking the right questions, consistently, pays immense dividends.

I'm adding this question to my list. One could even say I've "learned" a "lesson" :)

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#7
I have come across this in my city--lots of people complaining and fewer people changing things (almost all of whom are quieter than the complainers). The easiest thing to do is complain and it's very rarely helpful. The reason why things aren't optimal (for you) isn't because no one has had the opportunity to complain.

Re: Okay. So what are you going to do about it?

#9
post #3

This is exactly what happened to me 2 days ago at my haircut. My barber and I enjoy talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers (American football). Somehow, our discussion turned into my nonstop complaining... "I hate when they run up the middle on first down!" "The referees call too many penalties!" "The kicker should go back to bagging groceries!" "The announcers don't understand the game!" "Instant replay ruins the exp…

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