11/14/2025
At Aviva Health, we know we’re at our best when we stay grounded, keep learning and truly listen when our community tells us where we can improve. In his post below, KC shares why being honest about our mistakes and staying focused on the standards that matter is so important. His message guides the way we show up for our patients every day.
My senior leadership team and I have a monthly professional development session, curated and led by me. I do this personally for several reasons: the most important is that I can weave organizational priorities into what we focus on, and the second is that helping others tap into their full potential brings me joy. (Gotta have some fun too, right??)
I launched it about a year ago, and we started with using Jim Collins' "How the Mighty Fall" book as the common thread of topics for a while. The book presents a cautionary tale of organizations that fail to adjust to market realities, ignore institutional rot, and eventually cease to exist as companies. If I had to single out only one danger zone to avoid or be mindful of from this book, it would be organizational hubris after a period of growth. Or, put another way, buying into one's own hype as a company is a known precursor to a precipitous fall.
This organizational minefield is front and center in my thoughts lately, particularly as we enter the season when a few entities in the state hold their annual "Favorite..." public voting. One of the lessons I learned as a young Army officer was that good and great units don't compare themselves to other units, but rather to the standard. The "standard" is not self-generated but is set against a benchmark, usually overseen by an external party. In the for-profit world, an example would be ending the fiscal year in the black, or a positive operating margin. For outpatient primary care in Oregon, one such yardstick is the tier the state auditors assign when they assess the clinic against patient-centered medical home standards.
I want to acknowledge that we don't always get things right at Aviva Health. Some of our challenges are revealed in posts on various FB groups, and I occasionally personally address them and apologize for not meeting patients' needs and expectations for their care at Aviva. I believe my weighing in helps to legitimize the concern and helps those involved to feel they are seen and heard. I don't know about you, but I distrust any organization that acts like they are operating perfectly. Or gaslight my experience when interacting with them because they are super awesome, and they couldn't possibly have made a mistake.
To help me stay grounded and in the proper frame of mind, I have one of those "live, laugh, love" things in my office window. It says "Stay Humble -- Work Hard -- Be Kind". I try to live these words at home and in my leadership of Aviva Health. We hope you'll help us stay true to these beliefs and provide feedback when and where we fall short of that standard. KC
