Published!

I had great expectations for this month's issue of ASDA News and rightfully so! I submitted my first book review for the publication back in December and it's been published! Pretty excited. I really want to do this again. Here's the text:

If there has ever been a time to blaze your own path, take risks, and change the way we think, now is the time. In Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? Seth Godin inspires his readers to pursue their passions wholeheartedly. He asserts that this passion is not simply an option, but a requirement for success in a changing society. The former model of being trained to simply do a job is obsolete. Professionals as well as nonprofessionals are being called to solve unique problems. As dentists, we must not only be manually and intellectually adept, but also serve as team builders, community leaders, and more. The way I see it, the nature of the profession demands that we become linchpins. 

A linchpin is a pin placed through an axle that keeps the wheel in position while it rotates. Godin defines a linchpin as one who successfully combines passion with art. Great organizations and ideas arise from these types of people. Through historical anecdotes of his own life, artists and corporate leaders, Godin illustrates that we are all artists with gifts to share; and to not share them would be a disservice to society.

He describes art as, “the ability to change people with your work, to see things as they are and create stories, images, and interactions that change the marketplace.” We already see this in dentistry today where dentists are challenged to provide care in the face of barriers such as anxiety, or costs.  The innovation and evolution of sedation dentistry has changed the marketplace and brought care to those who may have been emotionally out of our profession's reach before . Moreover, dentists in Michigan are demonstrating linchpin qualities in reaching the underserved. They‘ve created a system where community service can be done in exchange for dental care. Dental related ER visits are down and patients who previously could not afford dental care, now have dental homes.  

All health professionals are required to do the “emotional work” that is one of the tenets of Godin’s linchpin. Godin rejects the idea of scripted courtesies and calls for genuine compassion in our interactions. He explains how JetBlue built their brand not by training attendants to be friendly, but by seeking out individuals with the qualities they wanted and encouraging them to make connections with customers.  “ The act of giving someone a smile, of connecting to a human, of taking initiative, of being surprising, of being creative, of putting on a show…we do for free all our lives.” These “emotional gifts” as Godin puts it, are essential to creating value in our interactions.

Linchpins are those who have conquered the “lizard brain”.  This lizard brain, better known as the amygdala plays a key role in anger, arousal, hunger and fear. Virtually all dental students can relate to the excited anxiety of our first operative procedure. Imagine the fear of failure in starting your own practice. We are wired to resist; but with some effort, we can be rewired. The first step is the decision not to feed your anxiety. Godin explains how simply acknowledging it, but not rationalizing the feeling eventually leads to its dissipation.  Realize anxiety is practicing failure in advance, it doesn’t protect us or help accomplish but rather inhibits progress. Banish procrastination, as this is the lizard brain keeping us stuck. Develop a “posture of challenging the resistance”; good habits can be fashioned just the same as we fall into bad ones. Conquering the resistance comes back to believing in your cause, “When you set down the path to create art...the path is neither short nor easy. That means you must determine if the route is worth the effort. If it’s not, dream bigger.”

Most importantly, Godin reaffirms us that,  “All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to you.” As future health care professionals we have the incredible opportunity to create valuable change in those around us. Linchpin encourages its readers to view your art as a gift; to be generous, bold, and creative. Health care is changing, and “Our passion for contribution and possibility, the passion we’ve drowned out in school and in the corporate world – that’s the only way.”