Celebrate Everything, Part 3 of Defining Culture
October 23, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Herb Kelleher, Founder of Southwest Airlines Playing Doctor
Fortune Magazine stated in its 1995 Corporate Reputations survey: “There is a growing concern that companies cannot live by numbers alone. The one thing that set the top ranking companies in the survey apart is their robust cultures.” I would agree.
The one thing that I try to do almost every single day with as many staff members as possible is to share with them our success stories. Oftentimes, we tend to focus so much on how many units of Botox to draw up, did we get the proper medical clearance for next week’s patient, did the patient get the proper follow-up visit assigned, etc. that we forget why we are doing what we are doing.
I believe that my entire staff believes that we are here to “change and transform lives.” That in essence is another credo that we have. Along those lines, when I get a patient testimonial (written or video) back or a beautiful before and after photograph or a verbal testimonial, we stop all the presses and we celebrate for a moment why we are who we are and why we do what we do.
Southwest Airlines is perhaps the paragon of culture. They celebrate everything. There is always a party going on. Although we make it a point to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other milestones, we celebrate why we are here every day every waking moment when we see how a life has been touched and transformed. I had a patient say to me at the consultation last week, “I hope you are as good as how much your staff says you are. It is unbelievable.” I just smiled.
Having Perspective (Part 1 of 2)
September 8, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
I just got back from Montréal and had an absolutely wonderful time and much needed repair of my soul after 3 continuous and arduous months writing my 5th textbook, Aging Face: The New Paradigm, which I just sent to my publisher in London last week. Hurray! Over this past week, an idea has been mulling about in my head that will take about 2 blogs to explore fully.
When I was in Montréal, I tried Poutines (gravy-soaked Belgian fries), tried Bavette de Boeuf, had lunch and dinner during which time all I spoke was French (that was tiring), walked through the Vieux Quartier of the city that reminded me in many ways of Soho in New York (the juxtaposition of 4-storied, old architecture with very new, modern interiors of hip restaurants and galleries) including a stroll along a rainy St. Lawrence River, a bowl (not cup) of café au lait (that reminded me in a Proustian way of the time I spent in France drinking those large bowls with fresh baguettes and jam for breakfast), etc.
What I am trying to get at is that travel can provide an individual with perspective. In the U.S. we tend to be very insular in our perspective (and don’t get me wrong, I love America!), where English is assumed and we don’t bother to learn another language or think in the manner of another culture. Having been born in Hong Kong and starting out in my infancy with another language, i.e.,Cantonese dialect of Chinese, provides me with a sense of perspective on life of others and of my own.
My aesthetic is truly informed by my time that I spent in New York, as I have developed a cleaner, understated, almost linear style when it comes to what I love. (I will be doing a series of blogs on artists who have influenced me and my perspective on art either later this week or next week or so.) When I built the 27,000 sq.ft. wellness center, I spoke with Gary Williams the architect and really conveyed my love of the Modernist era, specifically, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, etc. He got a sense of the clean lines and rich use of natural materials (limestone, wood, etc.) that I wanted without any reference to “Texas” or local architecture. That is not to say my building is somehow better than the architecture around me but it does reflect as a natural extension of who I am.
When I spent 6 weeks to study French during my Freshman summer in college in Provence, France, I stayed first with a wonderful family that had a grandmother, 2 daughters, a son, and a dog in a tiny home and they were fanatical Socialists in Avignon, France. I love them and loved seeing they had no dishwasher and really none of what Americans would now really take for granted. After that I studied for the remaining month in Nice, staying with a very wealthy director of a company who lived on a mountain and took in many visiting students from Europe and U.S. who wanted to learn about French culture. I had many long discussions with him in French about philosophy and politics. Needless to say, he was on the right of things. Regardless of political affiliation, the time that I spent in France opened me up to a new culture and way of thinking, especially since the entire 6 weeks was spent in another language and fully ensconced with the people who live there. Compare that time when I traveled with my sister and Americans in the hostel system in Europe: not full immersion but still immensely rewarding and wonderfully enlightening in its own way.
I then traveled about 7 years ago for 5 months throughout Asia to learn more about Asian cosmetic surgery. Having studied Tokugawa history at Princeton, I was fascinated with that era in time and saw the old castles of the Edo period, went to Deshima in Nagasaki, the only trading port that Japan had during the 250 rule of the Tokugawa and really only contact with the world during that time. I walked through the Hiroshima museum and was greatly affected by that experience. I traveled through China, Korea (visited the DMZ), Bali, Hong Kong, etc. It was an eye-opening experience.
When we travel, we can get a better sense of ourselves and who we are. I took all my staff to New York a month ago and I think they got a better sense of perspective, as NYC represents such an incredible melting pot of cultures. If you can’t afford to travel or don’t have the time anytime soon, think about going on the Internet (I assume you have a connection since you are reading this text), and try to explore another culture including their language, customs, idiosyncrasies, contributions, etc. I think it will help open your eyes and ears and perhaps give you a better perspective on life and yourself. Tomorrow we will consider another aspect of perspective.