Jimmy Johnson is one of only three people to have coached a winning team in both the NFL and the NCAA Football Championships with the University of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys. Some would say that only two people have accomplished that feat. Pete Carroll managed it with the USC Trojans and the Seattle Seahawks.
Barry Switzer won three NCAA Championships with Oklahoma but his Super Bowl win came with an asterisk because he inherited the Dallas Cowboys team that Jimmy Johnson left behind.
However you decide to count the number of people who have accomplished this feat, Jimmy Johnson is in rare company.
Jimmy Johnson – Award Winning Coach
Jimmy Johnson may be best known for his perfectly coiffed hair that looks like it has been plasticized. He is also known to have an IQ in the genius range and was once asked how he was able to find ultimate success in both college and the Pros. He said the key approach for him was to treat all his players differently, which seems nonsensical at first. As managers, we spend a big portion of our time trying to figure out how to create policies that are “fair” to everyone involved. That forces us to figure out ways we can treat everyone the same so no one will be treated “unfairly.”
In the television interview I saw, Jimmy Johnson talked about a defensive lineman whom he coached that was 6’6″ and 300 pounds. This player was apparently very emotional and Johnson said that if he yelled too harshly at him it could possibly reduce him to tears and impact his production. There were other players who would not respond unless he yelled at them. Some players required a cerebral approach. Some players he left alone, and some players required a tremendous amount of attention. At any rate, he believed that to achieve optimum results he needed to treat everybody differently and in a way that they preferred to be treated.
Ideas for Management
I thought that was an interesting perspective and something to remember whether we are talking about managing employees or our patients or residents. The main point is that we are all different and having a “one size fits all” mentality to managing people often leads to poor results. After all, square pegs don’t usually do well in round holes.
Falls are Still a Big Problem for the Elderly
If we follow Jimmy Johnson’s approach, consider modifying our care plans as they pertain to bed and chair alarms. Falls are still a significant concern with the elderly. According to the CDC, over 50% of residents experience a fall in our Long Term Care facilities and 1,800 people a year die from a fall. In Hospitals, approximately 1,000,000 falls happen every year and many of them require medical attention. Clearly some people still need considerable attention to help prevent falls and a wireless and potentially silent notification could help in many situations.
Four Steps to Consider:
- Use alarms only on patients that are at high-risk of falling. Not everyone needs an alarm. However, when they present a high risk of falling, sometimes technology is preferred.
- Find a system that allows you to turn the volume down or even off. When a fall system is tied-into a nurse call system, the staff will be notified of the potential egress without anyone else being aware.
- Find a system that can allow the users to adjust the delay and volume settings.
- Educate everyone in the facility about the consequences of falls with the elderly. There is a lot of objective information on falls on the CDC website: Click Here that can help explain the seriousness of falls.