Traditional Healthcare Systems

August 11, 2025

Good morning! Coming to you this morning from Without A Vision Consultancy’s summer headquarters in Starboard Cove, Maine. We marvel at the spectacular sunrise just as California is getting tucked into bed the night before. The recipient of communication is, de facto, the best evaluator of its quality. Have you started to read Harari’s Nexus? If you’re finding it to be overly onerous, get into the habit of reading just two pages per day — and by the time spring 2026 arrives you’ll be done…… and you will have read it much faster than he wrote it.  Give it a try.

• Ratatatotuille!
  • In the movie, the famous French food of the countryside is depicted as some sort of soup or broth, and that’s simply fake news.
  • Ratatatotuille is nothing more than a casserole of fresh vegetables concocted at this time of year with the goal of using as much garden produce as possible.
    • It’s delicious — and French.
  • You build a rainbow medley kebab in a  pottery dish, alternating slices of fresh vegetables drizzled in olive oil and don’t forget about Herb de provence!
  • And garlic, don’t forget about the garlic… combine it with the olive oil and Herb before you stack the vegetables.
  • You then roast it until deliciously and delicately tender; it eats like lasagna.
  • Eggplant — Tomato — Onion — Summer Squash — Bell Pepper (Red and Green) — Zuchine
  • Repeat until you have constructed a gastronomic symphony in your favourite artisan pottery vessel.
    • Salt, Pepper, more olive oil, more Herb… chomp.
    • The flavours of those vegetables combine for a much better than V8 experience.
• Was it something we said — or did?  Probably.
  • By this date one year ago approximately 11.2 million Canadians had crossed over the United States border.  (Stokes)
  • And, as of the same date in 2025 (June 30) only about 8 million Canadians had crossed the border by car.  (No data by plane, boat, train, biking, or hiking, Etc.)
  • That’s a 28% drop in business — and if you’re counting on Canadian tourism/ travel dollars to cash flow your shop…
• Better aligning employment with modifiable drivers of health could unlock years of higher-quality life and create trillions of dollars of economic value.  (Brassey, Etc., et al.)
  • Health can be meaningfully modified by factors outside traditional healthcare systems, including work factors.
  • Employers have considerable opportunities to improve health through six modifiable drivers:
    1. Social interaction
    2. Mindsets and beliefs
    3. Productive activity
    4. Stress (lack thereof)
    5. Economic security
    6. Sleep
  • Globally improving employee health and well-being could create $3.7 trillion to $11.7 trillion in economic value.  (Ibid.)
    • Imagine a world in which employers make evidence-based investments in the health of their employees.
    • In return, they reap a manifold benefit to those investments:
    • Their employees thrive
    • Their business thrives
    • The societies in which they operate thrive
    • Considering that the average person spends a third of his/ her life at work (more than 90,000 hours in a lifetime), 
    • employment can be a critical piece of the puzzle when working toward the goal of improving global health.
  • “Our analysis found that employee self-efficacy, adaptability, and feelings of belonging at work were top predictors of good health,
    • whereas toxic workplace behaviours, role ambiguity, and role conflict at work were top predictors of poor health.”  (Ibid.)
• Wait and See…
  • Waiting can be a dysfunctional choice — or a wise approach to navigating complexity.
  • Leaders facing today’s uncertainty must know when and how to wait.  (Job, Lang, Etc., et al.)
  • From this desk, among my favourite words of wisdom from a mentor:  Is anyone dying?
  • If not, then it’s not an emergency… take some time to think.
• The Five Second Test for the Home Page of your Web Site:
  1. What does this organization do?
  2. Who is it for?
  3. Why should I care?
  4. And, How do I buy?
• If those questions can’t be answered in five seconds, you’ve lost a customer.
• How to fix?
  • Start with a headline that tells exactly what you do.  No poetry.  No word play.
  • Follow with a subheadline that explains your value.  One sentence.  Solve a problem.  Make it about the customer.
  • Use contrast, spacing, and visual flow to guide the reader’s eyes.  Don’t overwhelm.  Don’t be fancy.
  • Provide one clear Call to Action.  ONE