I have been reading about the communication styles “Preacher, Prosecutor, and Politician” in Adam Grant’s book, “Think Again.” I quickly realized that I frequently observed those behaviors in discussions.
It took me a little longer to realize that I had in fact exhibited all of those behaviors.
In this sense Preacher, Prosecutor and Politician are not job titles. They are descriptions of three mindsets people slip into for a variety of reasons. In preacher mode we tend to deliver sermons. In prosecutor mode we look for flaws in other people’s reasoning. In Politician mode we campaign for approval.
In preparing for our November workshop, “A Team Approach to Whole Health Dentistry,” I realized how easy it is to fall into those patterns, and how it can cause us to miss opportunities to be truly helpful to our patients and more effective as a team.
When I am honest with myself, I can acknowledge that I have preached eloquently to patients about the relationship between good oral hygiene and their overall health. I have searched for the flaws in co-workers’ ideas for organizing the practice when I thought I had a better plan. And I have given patients “permission” to not act in their best interest when I wanted them to like me. None of these approaches are inherently bad or wrong, but if they are the only tools we have we may continually reinforce our own views and miss opportunities to rethink them from another perspective.
No matter our profession, we all fall into these modes at times. When beliefs I cherish are challenged, I can easily fall into preaching about my beliefs. When something makes perfect sense to me, I find myself looking for the flaws in another’s reasoning. In times when approval or “fitting in” is most important to me, I will sometimes say what I think others want to hear. None of these mindsets are conducive to opening my mind to new ideas.
Grant’s book suggests that if we more intentionally embrace the mode of Scientist we may think more openly. (This is true even for actual scientists who can also get attached to their own viewpoint.) When we think in Scientist mode we think in terms of hypotheses, experiments, and theories. There is an element of discovery present in our relationships that enlivens curiosity and engagement.
There are several aspects of dental practice that could use more curiosity and engagement and less preaching, prosecuting, and politicking.
- What if you thought of your Treatment Plan for a patient as a hypothesis? A hypothesis is a prediction of an outcome that by its nature is known to be a starting point, a place to begin to explore. What if you saw the treatment plan as the beginning of a process to discover what is in your patient’s best interest? Your patient is much more likely to invest in the success of treatment they have been a part of creating.
- What if you saw suggestions for change in the practice as experiments? An experiment is a way to test ideas in a measured, thoughtful, systematic way. What if, instead of judging a suggestion as good or bad you asked how it could be tested to learn more about how it works? Your team is more likely to commit to change they have been a part of evaluating and developing.
- What if you thought of all your clinical knowledge of research as theories about what might work for a particular patient? Theories are suppositions based on general principles. They are suppositions that can be proven, rejected and/or improved upon. No matter how overwhelming the research there will be outliers; people who do not fit the model. What if you assumed any given patient might be that outlier? What if you were open to all possibilities for what might work best for that individual patient? A patient whose experiences and opinions are taken into consideration is much more likely to join you in exploring new approaches to care.
In helping patients make choices about health today there is a degree of complexity that is not served well by an authoritative model. We cannot just preach or persuade with logic alone. It does not match well with patients’ experience about their own health. When we embrace the notion that everyone truly has a unique set of experiences, beliefs, habits, and hopes, we make it easier on ourselves and easier for our patients to choose health. We can walk side by side with them on their journey and enjoy the view along the way.
Leave a Reply