“Sacred Cows” — things an organization does that everyone knows does not work or has no value.
By Steve Moran
I can’t even remember exactly which book this idea came from, but the author suggested that organizations need to be aggressive about killing their “sacred cows” . . .
They defined “Sacred Cows” as being those things an organization does that everyone knows does not work or has no value. My definition is a bit broader including what I think are largely dumb or untrue ideas or just things we tolerate that we should not.
I got to wondering what the senior living sacred cows are. I made a list then asked for suggestions on my feed at LinkedIn and in the Senior Living Leadership Group on Facebook (which we would love to have you join). What follows is my list based on my own thinking and input from others.
I apologize in advance to those of you who love one or more of these “sacred cows” and acknowledge that I might be wrong about some of them. Let me know what you think; let me know what else should be on the list.
I have written about some of them and will write about some that have gotten little or no airtime in the fast.
Sacred Cows That Need Slaughtering
-
Employees who are “good at their job” but are unpleasant to work with
-
That you need a salesperson plus an executive director
-
That senior living communities can only afford to pay a little more than minimum wage
-
That the increasing average age of entrance suggests we are only picking the low-hanging fruit
-
That residents cannot be trusted to be employees of the communities they live in
-
That no one wants to work in senior living
-
That working in senior living is hard
-
That we need to serve three big meals a day
-
That workers are changing jobs for $.25 or .50 an hour more
-
That more policies and procedures are the way to fix problems
-
That when something bad happens more training will fix the problem
-
That we don’t provide new team members enough initial training
-
That there is no money in low-income senior living
-
That 90% occupancy is the norm
-
Big bosses who come in from the outside think they know everything but all they create is storms, frustration, and chaos
-
That we are behind the times in what we do, particularly with technology
-
Top-down execs who believe they have all the answers and don’t need to ask their staff for ideas and solutions
-
That memory care units must be secured
-
Staff uniforms are a must
-
That we should hire only young attractive people to be EDs, regardless whether they know anything
-
That we refer to the sales staff as “sales and marketing” even though they do NO marketing
-
That having salespeople create a false “urgency” to get seniors to decide to move in is a good way to increase occupancy
-
That the current business model of senior living is sustainable
-
That the way we do dining is the only way to do it (– I will tackle this one very soon)
-
That panel discussions at senior living conferences are a good way to transfer valuable information
-
That as a vendor you need to exhibit at a trade show
-
Painting the community bus to look like an advertisement with silly pictures of seniors and big letters that says assisted living and memory care community is a good way to attract residents
-
Keeping team members who have been around for years, can do their job well from a task perspective, but have a crappy and negative attitude
-
Wearable tech can’t be improved in design and comfort
-
That we should not publish rates online
What would you add to the list? Which ones are wrong?
