I like to read just about anything but when a friend sent me an article titled “Understanding Academic Medical Centers: Simone’s Maxims I thought that might be more than I could stretch. However I looked at it and discovered any number of principles and maxims that are useful in almost every field. These are not just truisms or material for motivational posters. They are thought provoking learnings from the experience of a seasoned medical director. I want to encourage you to read a few and then go to Joseph Simone’s site and get the original which was presented at Medical Grand Rounds at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas.

http://www.simoneconsulting.com/PDF/understanding.pdf

Institutions Have Infinite Time Horizons to Attain Goals But an Individual Has a Relatively Short Productive Period. An institution will always outlast an individual. Therefore when the institution’s realistic time frame for change is so long as to seriously threaten one’s productivity or momentum a change of job or focus must be contemplated.

Leaders Are Often Chosen Primarily for Characteristics That Have Little or No Correlation with a Successful Tenure as Leader. Choosing leaders is not a science but it is surprising how often management skills interpersonal skills and experience are undervalued. Instead we pick people based on institutional longevity ready availability a willingness to not rock the boat or to accept inadequate resources.

With Rare Exceptions the Appropriate Maximum Term for an Academic Leader/Administrator is 10 years Plus or Minus 3 Years. Fresh ideas energy and resources are needed for vital creative organizations and it is easier for a new leader to redress mistakes adapt and restructure the organization and clean out deadwood.

The “Fit” in a New Job Often Is Not Apparent for at Least 18 Months. This is true because it will depend on the opportunity actually delivered by the institution and the energy focused on it by the individual both of which take some time to assess.

In Recruiting First-Class People Recruit First-Class People; Second-Class People Recruit Third-Class People. Some hesitate to recruit a person who is smart enough and ambitious enough to compete with them. If that approach continues for long the third-class people will eventually dominate in numbers and influence and eventually chase away any first-rate people that remain.