You might have noticed that I took most of the summer off from writing.  I could blame it on having two hospitalizations for close family members (while those events served as good market research opportunities, it is good to report that both family members are doing just fine now!) but really…I wanted to spend more time just thinking.

We move too fast in our technologically enhanced world.  With our Blackberries in hand, we can check our emails even while vacationing in the mountains.  Or, if email is too slow and phone calls too cumbersome — fear not — we can text, tweet or just move on without completing the communication loop.

A friend of mine thinks it is just the glamour of new technology that pushes us to unfettered limits.  I am not so sure.  Somehow we have to make decisions about the depth of our thoughtfulness and if we are pressed to answer in a nano-second and move onto the next issue, are we even making good decisions?

I am a baby-boomer by demographic profile, so I know what life was like before we could wake up to our email worrying about what we missed in the night.  Isn’t it important for us to help the younger generations keep what is good as we advance?  Isn’t thoughtful consideration, a time hungry endeavor, worthy of our need to hold on to it?

If you agree that you are spinning too fast whether you are at work or can’t relax while on vacation, it is time to speak up.  We need to push for the productivity of thinking.  We need to remember that good decisions about our work are borne out of planning and considering – not check-offs for tasks that get done.  Let’s take another look at that phrase, less is more.

And while we are pulling back to reflect when the need arises, should we, as those who dwell in health care delivery, also spend some time thinking about how we can do our work better?  Is more specialization the answer?  Should we be alarmed when an urologist tells us that he “only focuses on the plumbing” and if we want to know about the impact on Coumadin on radiation cystitis, we better seek out the cardiologist.  Yes, I understand what he meant but isn’t my father impacted by both his bladder and his heart?  Does the coordination then fall to the patient?  In this case an 81 year-old without any clinical awareness?

Okay, this has been the summer of thought.  And, my intent is to continue with this blog as an instructive device but also one that includes thinking fodder to push us and stretch us to do more than get stuff done but to get it done well as game-changing momentum.

Onward!