Semmelweis Reflex? Ever heard of it? This condition seems to be the reason why today’s challenges can’t be understood, solved and resolved.
So, what is the Semmelweis reflex? It is the seemingly reflex reaction that organizations and people have to new ideas because it contradicts established paradigms, norms, ideas, or ways of doing things.
A little background may help. Semmelweis was an Austrian physician who believed that childhood fevers cold be drastically reduced by simply washing hands with a chlorinated solution. This idea was fairly radical in the mid 1800’s. Even after multiple scientific studies, his ideas were not accepted and even ridiculed by his chronological peers. He died in an asylym a broken man. Visit wikipedia for more information at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis
Our inability today to understand, study, and accept new ideas and paradigms is a huge risk for us personally (think of job changes), for organizations that need to adapt to new market realities (think globalization), countries that have changing economic paradigms (think US fiscal cliff) and the planet that’s going through new cycles (think global warming).
Bio:
Greg Hutchins PE and CERM (503.233.101 & GregH@QualityPlusEngineering.com) is the founder of:
CERMAcademy.com
800Compete.com
QualityPlusEngineering.com
WorkingIt.com
He is the evangelist behind Future of Quality: Risk®. He is currently working on the Future of Work and machine learning projects.
He is a frequent speaker and expert on Supply Chain Risk Management and cyber security. His current books available on all platform are shown below:
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