He wrote the 9th Symphony.
One of the most acclaimed pieces of music in the world was written by a deaf man! How?
Actually, Beethoven wasn’t deaf when he wrote the 9th but he was profoundly hard of hearing.
Nonetheless, how on earth did he manage to write such a wonderful piece of music with such a condition?
Well, a popular myth is that he knew the sounds each instrument made in his head and could feel how they all sounded when put together.
He also had somebody to write down the musical score for him.
A bit similar to running a business really.
It is well to remember by the time he wrote the 9th Beethoven had been playing and writing music for over 40 years so his experience alone (with more than a little talent thrown in) equipped him well.
But he was smart enough to realize his limitations and have someone help him.
Yet many times when starting and running a business, it is assumed that talent, determination, and knowledge alone are enough.
Take running a medical practice for example. All consultant surgeons are, without a doubt, talented, determined enough to go through 20 odd years of training and extremely knowledgeable.
However, just as it would be fairly dangerous to ask Beethoven to remove your appendix, it would be equally unwise to ask a surgeon to write a symphony.
You need the right kind of training, experience, and knowledge to be a consultant surgeon. You need the right kind of training, determination, and experience to run a business too.
The training may not be as highly skilled and crucial as a surgeon but you still need it. If you haven’t got it, you go out and get someone with the right skill set.
Nonetheless, there are many people who think running a business or a medical practice is simple.
They think they don’t need to understand some things and, crucially, are not prepared to find someone with the right skills who do understand.
Sometimes a consultant surgeon thinks because of their talent, determination, and knowledge, they too know how to run a private practice. Some do; some don’t.
Please do not misunderstand me some clients in addition to being very successful surgeons are seriously switched-on business people.
There are others however who aren’t.
Consequently, many times I’ve been asked what makes an obviously highly skilled consultant surgeon so successful in their business endeavors.
Others aren’t quite so successful.
The really successful business ones are those smart enough to realize they don’t have the talent and knowledge to run their practice as a business.
Some of them are, however, more than capable of running a business.
Both however realize, and perhaps more importantly, that their knowledge, experience, and skills are best employed when seeing a patient. So they outsource the issue to someone who has the specific skill set to achieve high-level results.
Just the same as Ludwig Van did when he wrote the 9th Symphony.
Beethoven may have been able to overcome his hearing problem but he was also smart enough to get other people to write the numerous scripts out for the 100+ musicians needed to perform the 9th Symphony.
Very successful consultant surgeons go out and get help too!
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk