[MASTERY] The Value of Values

THE VALUE OF VALUES

The Mastery Company and a group of leading-edge dentists met in Scottsdale in March 2009 for our Annual Conference. These conferences are highly unique in that Dr. Cooper brings together successful, thoughtful and entrepreneurial dentists to work on emerging models in practice management. "Put dynamic and successful practitioners in a room for three days, have a clear purpose and specific intended results, facilitate an inquiry about some aspect of practice management, and you will produce a breakthrough every time."

The purpose of this conference was to fully develop an innovative staff compensation model, "Pay for Performance." The intended result was to produce a model whereby staff compensation was based on the individual, team and practice performance, not solely on tenure or title.

This conference took place against the backdrop of the worst recession in more than 70 years. And this recession, unlike any others in history, was global in nature. This time, the United States couldn't just import its way out or strategically bail-out key industry stakeholders and turn the recession around. This recession is going to last a very long time and change a lot of things about our country and ourselves.

Something remarkable occurred at the conference, one far beyond our expectations of a working model for staff compensation. Something much more powerful, much more generative. Something that would enable dental practices to not only survive but even thrive, no matter what the external conditions, recession or no recession. The result was a breakthrough practice management technology.

We know that generating a concept is one thing. However, proving the validity of the concept and producing the intended results is another. The ensuing 120 days were focused entirely on "proof of concept." The original conference participants began instituting elements of this technology into their practices. And the results were immediate. As a result, a new program was developed, the Remaster Your Practice Program, in which dentists immediately enrolled and registered. The program was designed to implement this new breakthrough technology. We were at full throttle and "betting the ranch" it would work.

Now, six months later, we can declare that The Mastery Company and these remarkable clients have developed a breakthrough practice management technology that enables dental practices to succeed based on their own individual commitments, intentions and most critically, their values.

Where We Begin

What is the core of your practice?

You are.
How is your core expressed?

It's expressed as values-core values, a direct expression of who you are. Without core values clearly and solidly at the heart of a dental practice, the practice is limited in its performance.
When core values exist as platitudes, neither honored nor upheld, the essence of the practice is weak and shallow. The practice lacks the necessary energy to effectively confront challenges and take authoritative actions. It is fundamental and critical for practice success that the dentist and staff respect and faithfully adhere to the core values. That they value the values.

Begin by asking yourself, "What are my core values?" The answer to this question is found through self- reflection and contemplation. You can't find these values outside of yourself. No consultant, advisor, book or blog can give you the answer. There are no "right" core values. They are at the heart of who you are, determining how you live your life. They shape your thinking and action, and your relationships. They provide a rigorous system of guiding principles and tenants that determine your philosophy of practice and of life. They decide how you decide. They are those values you hold inviolate.

In this new practice management technology, we ask the dentist and the staff to begin by completing our online core value inventory (1) to identify their core values. Then we ask the dentist to test the values he or she has selected to determine that they are true core values. We instruct the dentist to run each value through our core value test which is a modification of the one created by Collins and Porris (2). If a value makes it through, it's a core value.

CORE VALUE TEST:

If you were to start a new practice, would you build it around this core value regardless of the location or type of practice?

Would you want your practice to continue to stand for this core value 100 years into the future, no matter what changes occur in the outside world?

Would you want your practice to hold this core value, even if at some point it became a competitive disadvantage-even if in some instances the environment penalized the practice for living this core value?

Do you believe that those who do not share this core value-those who breach it consistently-simply do not belong in your practice?

Would you personally continue to hold this core value even if you were not rewarded for holding it?

Would you stop practicing before giving up this core value?

If you awoke tomorrow with more than enough money to retire comfortably for the rest of your life, would you continue to apply this core value to your productive activities?

After the dentist and staff have completed their core value inventories, we aggregate the data and send the dentist a report, the Core Value Assessment Report, which clearly demonstrates the depth of alignment or misalignment with the staff. The next step is to align the entire team around the same core values. This alignment process will be the topic of our next newsletter.

It's very straightforward, when a practice honors and operates consistent with its core values, it succeeds. We've known this for decades, but we've been able to develop a strategic implementation process which allows them to actually do it. How cool is that!

REFERENCES
The Mastery Company's Core Value Inventory

Vision Framework: Core Ideology Breakout Session: James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras; Harvard Business Review; 1998.

! ANNOUNCEMENT !
Late next month, Sahalie Press will launch a new book by Drs. Marc B. Cooper and Mark E. Silberg. This book, entitled Valuocity (R), is a 'fable for dentists.' An eBook Preview is available by contacting info@masterycompany.com

Copyright © 2004-2010 Dr. Marc B. Cooper & The Mastery Company - All Rights Reserved.

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