The Journey to Improve Experience is Just “Beginning”: Reflecting on 5477 Days

Today is my last day. Well at least the last day of my first 15 years in working to establish and grow The Beryl Institute . I stepped into this opportunity 15 years ago tomorrow – April 12, 2010 – with an idea, a belief, and a relentless commitment that if we could create a safe, neutral space for shared learning and collaboration we could help elevate and sustain a commitment to experience excellence for healthcare organizations around the world.

The power of a space like this, of our global community, isn’t found in a name, but rather it is created through the actions and commitments of so many, of each of you, to something greater. Our community, while sparked by an idea of what was possible, has been built on the choices of tens of thousands of you across the globe who chose to show up, to be vulnerable in our personal and organizational challenges, to share our lessons learned, to give with generosity, to lead with compassion. That may be the greatest accomplishment we have seen and built together in the last decade and a half.

And our shared success hasn’t simply been the power of this community we created together because so many people showed up and gave of themselves to one another. What we have also done is create a powerful shared statement that has elevated the voice of experience from patient to human experience, that has stressed and proven the strategic importance and real value of an experience focus for healthcare organizations across the continuum of care, and that has been able to sustain this commitment, even in the face of occasional individual set-backs, and through some of the most challenging times faced by our generation.

That is a true spirit of transformation. That while we each work to address the issues we face locally, we continue to contribute globally. And while we can share our ideas globally, we continue to acknowledge all actions must be local. This flow of give and take, try and learn, share and grow, has been the breath that has filled the lungs of our community and sustained our movement. But most importantly what has carried us forward is that you showed up and continue to do so every day.

This flow of give and take, try and learn, share and grow, has been the breath that has filled the lungs of our community and sustained our movement.

Over 15 years from the initial roots of the definition of patient experience, to the foundational guiding principles, the integrating lenses of the experience framework, to the declaration for human experience, we as a community have continued to evolve together. We have worked with an unwavering intention to transform the future of healthcare. And even in the headwinds of the current moment we do not (and WILL NOT) stop.

As a trained diplomat, a researcher of organization culture and change, a radical catalyst for sustained excellence in healthcare, I often turn to a model I long studied and applied about change and transition and the journey we have travelled (and one I taught a lot in my grad school faculty days). William Bridges' model of transition teaches us we are in varying state of movement in any part of our lives. I believe movements live in this idea of ebb and flow. What Bridges described as Endings, Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings. At any given moment we can be in one or all of these states, meaning to progress there are things that must end, we spent a lot of time in the uncertainty and excitement of the neutral zone and as we progress, we establish new beginnings, opportunities for progress, intention and hope.

Our experience movement can be found in all of these states. The 15 years I look back on help us see them as well. We have had to give up old models and mindsets together, we have had to determine what we do, who we are, and what is possible as we live in the neutral spaces, and yes, as we continue to move forward, we set ourselves out on the journey of new beginnings. It is this mindset that has me suggest our journey is just “beginning.”

This is not to overlook all we have done, but rather look forward with anticipation, excitement and hope for all we will do. As I have often said, experience efforts are NOT initiatives. Nor should they be. The journey for experience excellence never truly ends as we must not nor should we ever give less to the person that comes next than the one that came before, be they our patients and their care partners, our peers in providing quality care, or the communities we are privileged to serve.

But that is what this community has given of itself in all we have done over these last 15 years. And that is all I know it will in the many years to come. Our work is far from over, our purpose is clear. In a world where we MUST be human beings caring for human beings and where that is more important than ever, I am grateful for all who have decided to walk this journey with me, with us, with each other.

Now I ask each of you to think about:

• Where are your new beginnings?
• How do we support one another in pushing forward?
• How will we each lead? and,
• What impact do we each seek to have?

Each of those individual answers are catalysts and amplifiers for all in our community, as the ripples of our own actions, in mixing with each other’s, creates a positive wave of sustained change that will ensure our conversation does not fade from view.

Yes, today is my last day of my first 15 years, but it is not my last day at all. While I have been on this journey for 5477 days, I look forward to thousands more ahead and reflect on the words of Robert Frost who reminds us simply this:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.[1]

[1] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening