An experienced nurse-manager in a busy hospital told me she stopped a new young nurse from administering the wrong medicine by intravenous drip to a patient. The manager pulled the young nurse aside and explained emphatically how serious a mistake she almost made. "I explained that this is how patients die unnecessarily. I told her, 'You need to check the wrist bracelet, then the patient's chart, then the charge list, then the IV bag. Then you need to check them all again.'" Before she was finished, the young nurse interrupted her. "Actually, you are doing this conversation wrong," she told her boss. "You are supposed to give me some positive feedback before you criticize my work." What did the manager respond? "Okay. Nice shoes. Now, about that IV bag..."
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A group of executives in the U.S. Peace Corps reported that program administrators receive e-mails on a regular basis from parents making suggestions and requests about the living accommodations and work conditions of their children stationed on missions around the world. One of the Peace Corps executives told me, "I just got an e-mail from a parent saying the meals being provided don't meet his kid's dietary needs. Could we get this young man on a nondairy diet?" The funny thing is that generals in the U.S. Army have told me similar stories about the parents of soldiers.
**
From several people at a large insurance company: Barry had been given a temporary assignment for several months—and a BlackBerry to use during this assignment. But when the temporary assignment ended, Barry was asked to turn in his BlackBerry. Barry ignored those requests. Not long after, Barry found himself in a meeting with his boss and several senior managers (all of them armed with BlackBerrys because of their senior positions). An important question came up before the group that fell into the purview of Barry's boss, who demurred, saying he would have to look up the answer after the meeting and get back to everybody. Meanwhile, Barry began researching the question in earnest, tapping away on his BlackBerry. Before the meeting ended, Barry raised his hand and offered a detailed answer to the important question that had been put to his boss. As one person in attendance at the meeting said, "We were all very impressed. Suffice to say, we decided that Barry could keep that BlackBerry."
