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| Dear Friend,
Want to give up your right to trial by jury?
Let’s talk today about arbitration agreements in a contract setting. Why would you want one? Is it a tool to help you? Or is it a tool to be used against you?
Many people believe that arbitration or some other form of private decision making is better than going to court. Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. And maybe, the question that you must ask yourself in determining whether arbitration is better or worse for you is slightly different: “Would you like to give up your right to trial by jury in a civil action?” Or, “would you like to give up courtroom protections?”
Often times, people think that an arbitration provision is placed into an agreement because it is going to be quicker, easier, more direct, and therefore it’s going to save time and money in the event of a dispute.
But, as any experienced attorney will tell you, arbitrations can go on, and on, and on.
In fact, a colleague was once involved in an arbitration that had dragged on for eighteen months. That would be almost impossible in a courtroom setting. That arbitration certainly wasn’t faster than a trial. Do you think that it was cheaper? No way! It was far more expensive.
Second, when considering an arbitration provision, or inserting one yourself, think about who you will be arbitrating in front of. There are solo arbitrators who are unaffiliated with any arbitration company. There are arbitration companies like JAMS or ADR. Then there’s sort of the “granddaddy” of them all, the American Arbitration Association.
Specifying the arbitration “forum” in the agreement can itself impact the odds that you or the other party will file a claim. For example, the AAA has very formal rules for how an arbitration is conducted and its filing fees can be expensive.
Third, you need to consider discovery rights when crafting, or becoming bound to, an arbitration provision. In other words, what rights to take depositions, require the other side to provide information via interrogatories, etc., exist?”
Similar in some ways to attorney’s fees provisions, arbitration provisions can be used to frustrate the resolution of the case. While they seem warm and fuzzy, the process itself can be more burdensome than trial, as well as more expensive than trial. It can be a disincentive to do what arbitration is supposedly, in popular vernacular, there to accomplish – a quick, simple and inexpensive resolution of the dispute. |
| | | Business Life in the Time of Coronavirus Mini-Series
The coronavirus crisis caused a short term economic crisis for many medical groups. Our mini-series shows you the way out. Plus, many of the concepts discussed are applicable during both good times and bad.
[If you haven't already seen them, follow this link to watch our entire series.] |
| | Watch Tuesday's video here, or just keep reading below for a revised, more polished transcript:
Let’s talk about the most important business lesson you should have gleaned from the first Presidential debate. Now I’m not going to go political here; this is purely a business lesson.
I was looking at some posts on the internet this morning, as well as some letters to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, in which the writers complained that Trump was a bully and that Biden was nasty. Basically, those opining complained that the candidates were two nasty guys who’ve forever ruined the office of the Presidency.
OK. But here’s the point: What do you really think people who are high performers act like? Do you think that, when they are actually put into a situation where they are dealing with each other, that they are nice, polite, sweet, soft, and kind? That their demeanor is filled with rainbows and unicorns?
No.
Sure, sometimes they pretend to be nice and kind, more “feeeeeeling.” But I guarantee you, and this applies not only to politicians, but to businesspeople performing at a high level as well, when push comes to shove, they are as ruthless as two wild animals fighting on a nature show.
What’s shocking to me isn’t that their behavior was “shocking.” What’s shocking is that people are foolish enough to think it was shocking.
Now, I’m not telling you to be an asshole to everyone you meet; however, if you don’t have the self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth to assert yourself, you are going to be run over.
Take it for what it is: tough love.
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| | How to Deploy the Secret Sauce of Opportunistic Strategy
Webinar On Demand
They say that COVID-19 has changed the world, creating the "new normal." Many of your colleagues and many hospital administrators are running scared.
Others, leaders like you, know that crisis means opportunity.
Let me provide you with the strategic tools and insights that you need in order to seize opportunities, whether they’re in the context of your current business relationships, the expansion of your business activities, or the creation of new ventures.
You will learn:
•Defense as a defective default: It’s necessary, but not sufficient.
•Exploiting weakness: Drop the guilt and identify opportunity.
•Flat line negotiation is fatal: Understand its myths and limitations.
•Negotiation reality: Learn to identify and deploy on multiple planes to affect the outcome.
•Maneuver: Harness the power of maneuver, both in overall strategy and in specific negotiation strategy.
Others see a crisis and freeze in fear. Learn how to see the opportunities and obtain the tools to increase your odds of obtaining them.
The price to attend is $479. The cost of not attending is astronomical. |
| | | Wednesday - Satisficing Your Way To Success - Medical Group Minute
Watch the video here, or just keep reading below for a slightly polished transcript:
You’re driving with your family on an interstate highway. It’s past noon. There’s rumbling in your stomach and there’s grumbling over where to stop for lunch. You’re in the middle of freakin’ nowhere.
But then, up ahead, you spot one of those it-could-be-anywhere exits with a few gas stations a McDonald’s and two you’ve-never-heard-of-them-before fast food joints.
If you’re like most people, you’ll soon find yourself pulling into McDonald’s. In fact, the reason is the key to their success.
Why the McDonald’s? It’s not because the food is great, but because, of the choices available, you and your family know that at least McDonald’s doesn’t suck.
Herbert A. Simon, the eventual Nobel laureate, named that decision-making strategy “satisficing.” It’s the cognitive heuristic, the quick decision-making tool, that allows you to filter quickly through alternatives and then accept the one that is acceptable enough. [Satisficing is a portmanteau of “satisfy” and “suffice.”] It explains decision-making in the real world in which perfect information is unavailable and conditions are confusing
and intertwined.
That’s one of the secrets of brands like McDonald’s, Brooks Brothers, and, perhaps, your medical group or facility.
The precondition, though, is, at a minimum, not to suck in the eyes, for example, of the hospital administrator or the community from which
you draw.
Take the example of a hospital-based group, say a radiology or anesthesiology or emergency medicine group. The object is to become a brand at the facilities at which you provide service so that those consuming the brand, that is, those making the decisions to contract, and to continue to contract, with you, have a degree of familiarity with you. They know that even if you are not the best, you are acceptable. You may have warts, but you are their guy or their group with warts.
With all due respect to Dr. Simon’s legacy, this concept, culturally, is hundreds if not thousands of years old. Think of the saying “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”, which has been traced back to at least 1539.
Note that I am not speaking of cutting short your goal to provide the absolute best medical care. And I’m not telling you to cut corners.
What I am telling you is that what is key to the longevity of relationships and to being seen as someone or some entity with whom to initiate and continue a relationship, does not involve a need to optimize, which is impossible, but the need to satisfice. You have to focus on sufficiently satisfying, that is, satisficing, the needs and expectations of your customers and on reminding them of that fact.
You know this is true about McDonald’s. What’s hard to understand is that the same rule of behavioral economics applies to you.
Right now, off the top of your head, can you name me 30 places where you could get a much better hamburger, but none of them sold billions and none of them is recognized around the world?
Think about it. Actually, how much do you actually need to think about it? |
| | | Listen to the podcast here, or just keep reading for the transcript.
A tiny fleck of dirt was all it took to stop it from working.
I have a plumbers torch that I use to get kindling started. You've probably seen them; it's a moderately heavy brass nozzle that fits on the top of a small propane tank. It's worked for years – that is, until yesterday. It just wouldn't light for more than a second; the flame would just blow itself out.
When I took the thing apart, I discovered a small fleck of dirt, almost the size of half of the period at the end of this sentence. I cleaned it away, and voila, good as new.
Sometimes, a relatively small fleck, one person, that is, inside a large organization can stop the organization from working. One disruptive individual. One imagined victim. One complainer. All it takes is cleaning him or her away to bring the entity back to health.
It's not the people that you have to fire that ruin your organization; it's the people you should have fired but didn't.
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| | | Calibrate Your Compass
Read our exclusive RedPaper to guide you through this evolving situation.
The coronavirus crisis caused a short-term economic crisis for many medical groups. Our RedPaper shows you the way out. Plus, many of the concepts discussed are applicable during both good times and bad.
|
| | Help Us Help You With Helpful Content
What tailored content would you most like to see during this
time? How can we focus on solutions to your most pressing strategic concerns?
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| | | | We all hear, and most of us say, that the pace of change in healthcare is quickening. That means that the pace of required decision-making is increasing, too. Unless, that is, you want to take the “default” route. That’s the one is which you let someone else make the decisions that impact you; you’re just along for the ride. Of course, playing a bit part in scripting your own future isn’t the smart route to stardom. But despite your own best intentions, perhaps it’s your medical group’s governance structure that’s holding you back.
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| In fact, it’s very likely that the problem is systemic. The Medical Group Governance Matrix introduces a simple four-quadrant diagnostic tool to help you find out. It then shows you how to use that tool to build your better, more profitable future. Get your free copy Free.
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| | | | | | Whenever you're ready, here are 4 ways I can help you and your business:
1. Download a copy of The Success Prescription. My book, The Success Prescription provides you with a framework for thinking about your success. Download a copy of The Success Prescription here.
2. Be a guest on “Wisdom. Applied. Podcast.” Although most of my podcasts involve me addressing an important point for your success, I’m always looking for guests who’d like to be interviewed about their personal and professional achievements and the lessons learned. Email me if you’re interested in participating.
3. Book me to speak to your group or organization. I’ve spoken at dozens of medical group, healthcare organization, university-sponsored, and private events on many topics such as The Impending Death of Hospitals, the strategic use of OIG Advisory Opinions, medical group governance, and succeeding at negotiations. For more information about a custom presentation for you, drop us a line.
4. If You’re Not Yet a Client, Engage Me to Represent You. If you’re interested in increasing your profit and managing your risk of loss, email me to connect directly. |
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