PUBLICATION EXCLUSIVE: Accommodating progressive and conservative ownership styles in the same practice

These differences can weaken a practice or help partners reach a new level of alignment.

“A widely held, but rarely articulated, belief in our society is that the ideal self is bold, alpha, gregarious. Introversion is viewed somewhere between disappointment and pathology.”
— Susan Cain

“Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.”
— Thucydides

This month’s column is a shout-out to one client’s frustrated administrator — and many others like her — who operates in a boardroom environment where half of the owners are progressive, bold and developmentally vanguard and the other half are conservative, reticent to advance the business and itchy when it comes to change and improvement.

These style and personality differences can cleave along various fracture planes in practices where the partners are less than perfectly aligned.

A classic fracture plane is the difference between old and young doctors. Older doctors commonly see things differently from younger ones, and not just because they have more experience. A 45-year-old surgeon sees a new building as an opportunity for expansion and personal wealth management in a career that is less than half over. A 60-year-old surgeon can see the same building as a financial albatross and a drag on partner profit distributions for the 5 or so years remaining in his career.

Partner styles can differ based on early life experiences and class differences. Doctors who grew up poor (or who are behind in their retirement savings today) can be expected to view money and business risk differently from partners who grew up in affluent homes (or who have a cushion of family wealth to fall back on).

Although we are talking here mostly about differing partner positions on business development, partner-to-partner conflicts are not limited to this domain. Clinical care pathway differences of opinion can exacerbate differing business philosophies.

Ten areas of differences

There are 10 prominent domains in which partners can differ. Alone or in combination, differences in these areas can weaken a practice to the point of dissolution or, with effort and empathy for each other’s position, be the catalyst for reaching a new level of partner alignment.

1. Planning horizons: Some practice owners are comfortable thinking in 10-year strategic planning terms. Others feel uncomfortable making plans that are more than a year or two out.

2. Service scope: All practices have important decisions to make in this area. Should we remain a subspecialty referral center, add limited primary eye care or shift to a full-service practice?

3. Growth pace: The demand for eye care is rising 4+% per year. Some partners want to exceed this growth pace and build market share, while others would prefer to halt growth and work on operations polishing or increasing personal time off.

Click here to read the full publication exclusive, By the Numbers, published in Ocular Surgery News U.S. Edition, February 10, 2017.