Live the values
In creating the Armstrong Institute, we reviewed the Johns Hopkins Medicine values, trying to see if these were sufficient for our new endeavor and considering if we might need some new ones. Much to my surprise, no one among the 50 people in the room - myself included - could state the values off top of our head. So we looked them up:
Johns Hopkins Medicine Core Values
- Excellence and Discovery
- Leadership and Integrity
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Respect and Collegiality
We then realized that the words themselves were not important. What was important was what the words meant to each of us. We asked everyone to describe how they would behave if they lived these values. The answers, understandably, varied whether the responder was a researcher, a community physician, a nurse, a member of the patient safety staff, an administrator, a house keeper. Yet, if Hopkins is to advance patient safety, all of us must live these values in our own way.