Day 1 Reflection: Lewis Blackman and Systems Culture

Our first day at the Marseille Experience focused on the importance of widespread communication, and the fundamental role leadership and culture plays in ensuring that effective communication takes place. In the first minutes of our lecture, we watched a Youtube video titled “Leadership Lessons from a Dancing Guy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ). While the video first seemed trivial, key lessons from this video permeated throughout the day. This video emphasized that leadership often involves frank vulnerability and that part of leadership is nurturing followers as equals. Through the Lewis Blackman story, we learned that vulnerable leadership and the concept of “leveling the playing field” both are essential in promoting effective communication and preventing patient safety errors.

I had never seen or heard of the Lewis Blackman story before. Briefly, Lewis Blackman was a 15-year old male who presented for elective repair of pectus excavatum. Over the next five days, multiple critical clinical signs… Continue reading →