Death by numbers

I wonder if you can remember the ash cloud eruption in Iceland? 

I was flying to Finland, and like most planes on that day, we were grounded due to the intense ash cloud covering a considerable part of Northern Europe. 

Stuck in my hotel and having seen the clients that I wished to see, I was then faced with a further eight days of being trapped, wondering when this would end and how on earth I could get out safely.

Old Friends

Fate intervened, and as I was trawling through my contacts, I noted a client's name whom I hadn't seen for many months, so I decided to break the boredom and arrange to meet him for coffee.

The meeting took place and finished with him informing me that he was due to go into hospital on Monday as he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was having surgery so that he would be out of commission for a few months.

Strangely, this client's age and birthday were a few days apart from mine, and both being aged 55, we started to discuss the challenge that he faced. 

Great advice

On leaving the meeting, he recommended that I test my PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) score, which I thought was interesting and curious.

On my eventual return to the UK, I approached my doctor for my annual MOT and, on doing so, boldly asked him to test my PSA score. His face showed it all, asking me the question as to why I felt the need for such a test. 

Was I feeling okay, as this was out of character? 

It suggested that I might be becoming overly sensitive and maybe a touch of a hypochondriac. That I forced the issue was an understatement, and he reluctantly agreed to the test.

Cutting to the chase, my results came back confirming that I, too, had a PSA score, which suggested some form of abnormality, possibly even cancer. A second test ensued six weeks later, and to everybody's amazement, including mine, I was diagnosed as having prostate cancer on the outside of the prostate and not, as is more common, on the inside. 

This diagnosis meant that I was many more times at risk of this cancer spreading to other organs, and no time was wasted in starting the appropriate treatments.

A clear bill of health

The good news is that 10 years on, I am still alive, and all seems to be okay, but here comes the rub!

You see when you have such an illness and take into account that as a consequence, I also ended up with Type 2 Diabetes (I exercise, and I am not overweight).

You start to become curious about the stats, you become serious about the numbers, and more importantly, you become very aware of both fate and the need to take responsibility for your well-being and not always trusting others, no matter how qualified or well-meaning they are.

10 years later

Over the last 10 years, I have had my diabetes, blood, and PSA regularly checked, and I am fastidious about understanding the numbers and, therefore, the trends.

 Now, a PSA score of less than 4.2 is considered to be okay and as I am a Type 2 Diabetic on Metformin with an HbA1c score of less than 55, which is considered to be satisfactory. 

However, these numbers, supported by those who are in the know, are most likely to lead to my premature death.

So, what do I mean when I say the numbers are killing me? 

Every time I have my blood checked and phone for my results, I am told that I am normal, all is okay and well within the recommended numbers. 

The absolute truth is that my PSA score is not a number. It doesn't matter what the number is. The critical fact is the trend. This trend will indicate early enough that there is potentially a return of cancer as it climbs from 0 to 4.2 or above, and yet, as long as statistically, I am below 4.2, all is okay! 

The same goes for my diabetes, which should, as a matter of interest, be less than 48. However, this has been steadily rising over the years, but because the number is less than 55, it's considered satisfactory. 

So what?

The numbers themselves are irrelevant. It is the slow but steady increase in these numbers and the trend over an extended period that tells the true story; my PSA is steadily rising, my diabetes is steadily getting worse and yet no one apart from myself is sounding the alarm bells because the magic numbers have not been hit. 

Relating to business

In relation to business, I believe the same traits are prevalent.

We have become very used to the norm. We take targets and performance as some magically conjured-up number, which is often never challenged because we look for incremental growth, which is considered normal. 

Managers have a duty of responsibility, just like my doctor and his professional staff, to not accept the norm but to become curious and challenge the expected parameters of performance. 

We need to break free from the limiting paradigms of the associated numbers through previous experience. We need to encourage individuals and teams to break the limiting beliefs regarding performance and not see the targets as a ceiling but as a platform through curiosity and expectation for taking control and achieving what might be impossible. 

Limiting Yourself

A recent company I have had the pleasure of working with launched a new drug and set the ceiling at 100 new patients. When challenged and encouraged to be curious as to why this was 100 and not 200, the answer was rooted in experience rather than curious engagement as to what stops them from outperforming the norm.

Outcome

My message is clear: figures, statistics, and targets have a terrible habit of creating a normality that encourages us to continue with our neocortex's automatic thinking. 

It's not until managers and leaders alike stop and consider the numbers and decide for themselves to take back the responsibility and opportunity of achieving 'Truly Amazing' results. 

My fate and the effect of saving my life was 'Truly Amazing'. 

Now, I must ensure that others do not inadvertently kill me through the automatic limiting expectations of their artificial numbers, which are considered the norm.

As leaders and managers, we must (in the face of averages) re-engage with a new belief and drive to expect the impossible through curiosity, expectation and belief in the impossible.

Here's to the next 10+ years of life, which will only be possible through my modified behaviours, thinking, attitudes and beliefs. It is about taking responsibility, believing we can do much better, and not accepting the norm.