Amanda Sammann: have deep conversations - Creative Confidence #15
Amanda Sammann is a surgeon who joined IDEO as a medical director.
Coming off a night shift, she had her scrubs and badge on when she joined her teammate for an interview with a young patient.
She asked about the condition, when her teammate gently stepped in, took a seat next to the boy, and started to engage him in a casual conversation about the game he was playing on his phone.
As Amanda watched, the boy opened up, eventually talking not only about his disease but also about his family, his day-to-day life, and how he felt about his doctor and his medication.
Amanda realized that she usually conducts a completely different conversation, one that builds patient histories and treatment plans rather than establishing empathy.
Her next patient was an elderly woman who had broken her wrist three weeks earlier. Yet when Amanda saw her, the wrist was still swollen and purple. Normally after Amanda had examined an injury and recorded the treatment history, she would recommend to follow up with a hand surgeon.
But she sensed that something else in the room was broken besides the patient’s wrist. So, she asked the patient about herself, and learned the woman was an energy healer. Her friend had performed energy healing on her wrist, and she had seen some improvements, which is why she hadn’t gone to the doctor.
Amanda adjusted what she said next in a way she never would have done without that insight into her patient’s reasoning.
Acknowledging that energy healing has a role to play, Amanda explained that in the case of fracture, a medical doctor was necessary because she risked losing flexibility in her wrist, which would prevent her from practicing energy healing in the future.
Switching her thinking led Amanda to connect with her patient in a deeper way. Doing so allowed her to understand her motivations and enabled her to frame the treatment in context.
Lesson:
Think about how you approach clients or customers. Ask questions and go deep with conversations.
Don’t be fooled by what you “know for sure” about your customer, yourself, your business, or the world. Seek out opportunities to observe and update your worldview.
[Creative Confidence Newsletter: 15 of 25]
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