In keeping with their multi-disciplinary orientation, many Verdant Green leader also strongly recommend lifelong learning and participation in a wide variety of education and training program (McKenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 257):
“. . . [S]eek formal training courses-through professional organizations, universities, and other educational institutions. I’m not an advocate of MBA degrees for everyone, but I do believe many physicians will benefit by attending two to five day workshops in order to learn a particular aspect of business, management, or leadership that you need.” [Ronald N. Riner, MD, Cardiologist President, The Riner Group]
This diversity and multiplicity of perspectives and practices is evident even inside the world of Verdant Green leadership. At the Golden Yellow end of Verdant Green, we find perspectives and practices that are highly rational and systematic. The Verdant Green leaders who are leaning toward the Golden Yellow end of the spectrum tend to look for evidence of effective service throughout the history of medicine: (Mckenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 70)
“I’m a history buff so I enjoy reading about physicians from years gone by. There are so many upon whose shoulders we stand! Understanding their accomplishments shows us how easy we have it today. For example, Icgnaz Semmelweiss, who discovered a way to prevent childbed fever, was ridiculed mercilessly throughout his career. When I began training as a gastroenterologist, none of us really knew what caused ulcers nor did we have any very effective treatment. An Australian physician, Barry Marshall, announced that he concluded from his studies that bacteria can cause ulcers. To say that some of our leaders were skeptical is an understatement. Now we know his insights to be true, and that took place in the 1970s.
The 1988 book Dopors: The Biography of Medicine by Sherwin Nuland, MD – Professor of Surgery at Yale – profiles over a dozen doctors. The book is not exhaustive, but it illustrates clearly what I’ve been saying. For example, the book features a French military surgeon named Ambroise Pare who worked with Napoleon’s Army back when the accepted treatment of large wounds consisted of cauterizing them with hot oil. The patients would spend their nights in agony. One day the supply of oil was exhausted, and Pare noticed that his patients fared better. So he became a ‘minimalist surgeon: performing only necessary interventions. Another good book is The Doctors Mayo written by Helen Clapesattle. I am inspired by reading about these people and their great contributions to the tradition of medicine.” [Monte L. Anderson, MD, Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale]
It is interesting to note that Verdant Green physician leaders resemble Tangy Orange leaders in their interest in history. However, this interest resides among the Tangy Orange leaders in finding quick solutions to the medical problems they are facing. By contrast, the Verdant Green leader is more inclined to look back at the history of their field as a way to inspire their own search for new and better medical treatments.
