In this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast, we’re joined by Heather McGowan, a keynote speaker, author and future-of-work strategist. McGowan is set to close MGMA20 | The Financial Conference with a general session presentation titled “The 4th Industrial Revolution: A New Leadership Imperative.”
Click here to read McGowan's recent article for Forbes titled "10 Books For The Future of Work—And An Experiment," or click here to pre-order her upcoming book, The Adaptation Advantage. You can also browse her other articles at linkedin.com/in/heathermcgowan.
Don’t quite have time to listen to the entire episode? No worries. We’ve compiled a handful of highlights from McGowan’s interview for your convenience:
- (6:38) “I think the preparation for work, as we’re doing it in the U.S. for the most part, is setting us on the wrong path. We’re asking young kids what they want to be when they grow up. We ask university students to pick a major before they step foot on campus. And then the first thing we ask each other is, ‘What do you do?’ And that really focuses your identity on your expression of skills and knowledge at a moment in time – and that moment in time’s getting faster.”
- (8:29) “Only about 27% of people ever work in the field of their undergraduate major, yet we myopically focus on it. And those 27%, I would argue a good percentage of them are faculty. So, most of the people who are telling you about your future are telling you about their own experience, which probably won’t be yours.”
- (9:07) “If you think of all the things you do in a day, how many of them can you point back to because you were good at that in high school? Very small percentage. What we should be focusing on instead is, what are you interested in? What are you curious about? Because you’re going to have to learn and adapt for life.”
- (19:16) “I learned through making things. I learned through trying things out. I learned through proposing the questions myself. There’s something about that kind of education that I think we need much more widespread. And we need more pathways and dignity in the trades and the paraprofessionals, because not everybody needs to go to university. It’s a great solution for a lot of people. We all need to learn more, but it isn’t necessarily we all need to get four-year degrees.”
- (35:29) “If you think about that person you had on your team or the person you interviewed who kind of irritated you because they asked you a question you hadn’t thought about, hug that person. Hire that person. They’re checking your blind spots.”
Here are some links and references related to this week’s show:
- What If The Future Of Work Starts With High School?
- Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare & The Fourth Industrial Revolution
- What Do The Australian Fires Illuminate About The Future Of Work?
- Can We Save The American Dream?
- Future of Work: Learning To Manage Uncertainty
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We love hearing from listeners about the show. If you have topics you’d like us to cover or experts you’d like us to interview, email us at podcasts@mgma.com or reach out to MGMA Sr. Editor and podcast host Daniel Williams on Twitter at @MGMADaniel.
MGMA Insights is presented by Decklan McGee, Rob Ketcham and Daniel Williams.
Thanks to Biome, Midmark and Solutionreach for sponsoring this episode of MGMA Insights.
To learn about how the Biome solution, powered by artificial and augmented intelligence, can improve your cardiovascular service line’s performance today, visit biome.io/solutions.
For more on how Midmark is transforming healthcare delivery through their real-time locating system, visit midmarkRTLS.com. You can also visit MGMA.com/store to check out Midmark’s recent on-demand webinar titled “Outpatient Design: Using Data to Improve Patient Access and Satisfaction,” which is eligible for ACMPE, ACHE and CEU credits.
To explore how Solutionreach can help improve your organization’s healthcare communication, visit srhealth.com.
