Last Wednesday, as previously reported, I was a guest speaker at a meeting hosted by Fresenious in Fort Worth Texas. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a light form of indoctrination to a group of about sixty people facing dialysis decisions and/or their support members. Four of us provided an overview of the dialysis experience from our viewpoint. I posted on Friday’s blog the poem one of the panel members wrote as his input. The following is my takeaways plus more.
As I blogged some time ago, US Navy SEALS in presentations often use the Rule of 3. This rule states that no more than three main points should be covered or the audience will go into fade-coast with information overload. I used this Rule. I implemented the rule by employing Borton’s Reflection Model from the seventies. This model provides a simple methodology of addressing the Past, Present, and Future with What, So What, and Now What which further maps to Identifying, Understanding, and Planning actions.
For the What I explained how I ended up on dialysis via being exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, thus diabetes, thus dialysis. In the So What area I discussed how my wife and I had, years before actually going on dialysis, purchased our home and outfitted it to support dialysis needs. For the Now What I continued driving home the preplanning aspects of dialysis preparation.
For US Navy SEALs, the AAR, or After Action Reporting is a crucial element of any operation. AAR is a debriefing process conducted after a mission to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. It serves as a tool for learning, refining tactics, and enhancing operational effectiveness. Whenever my wife attends one of my presentations, we also engage in an AAR afterward so I can improve. We did so after this presentation.
AAR: I need to spend less time on my background in the Navy and get right to Agent Orange. Lengthen Now What to include what takes place after dialysis like Labs, number of visits to the clinic, when and why, and support team interfaces.
I need a stronger close. Next time, if there is one, I’m going to use the “There are three kinds of people. Those who watch what happened, those who wonder what happened, and those who make things happen.” To be successful in dialysis, you have to make things happen. You can’t just sit back and expect the medical community to make all life-changing decisions for you.
In general, the audience had a “deer in the headlights” look full of FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Their questions reflected this ranging from “What happens on the Cycler when the power goes out?” to “How clean does the dialysis room have to be?” to “Just how much room do supplies take up?” and everything in between.
It was an experience worth sharing again and I will if invited.
I liked your self-critique. I wasn’t there but your new closing sounds great. You have a good wife and you can tell her I SAID SO. Jerry