One, two, three! That’s how long it takes a Formula 1 team to change the tires and get back on the track. But can this strategy be used in other fields?
In 2001, doctors in London asked themselves that very question. It takes a Formula 1 team three seconds to change tires and get set. Could this be applied to the hospital and the surgery room?
Their problem was the moment when children had to be moved from intensive care to surgery. It was disorganized, there was no clear vision, and above all there were errors and accidents. How could they limit that?
The doctors then called Ferrari and asked them to observe what was happening in the surgery room. And the result was unequivocal. No organization, no leader, no defined roles. Plenty of problems that kept things from going as well as they could.
Following that, they applied the same strategy used in racing. Assigned roles, assigned positions. Everyone knows what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
The results were published in 2007. More than a 67% improvement in lives saved during those critical steps. Simply by looking at what others do and applying it to the medical field, we can save many lives.
What the doctors discovered is more or less what we already do with Scrum. Key roles, key events, always in the same place, to create routines and build habits, with elements of inspection and improvement. That’s what Scrum offers us, and what we do every day.