Page 81 - The Power to Change Anything

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die? Were they expected to die? What could have been done
to prevent the deaths?” Finally, Dr. Berwick asks leaders to do
their own detective work (they can’t assign someone else the
task) and return to tell the stories they’ve uncovered.
Many from the audience bring back their own Josie King
stories. Berwick describes a group of senior executives (each led
entire health-care systems) reporting back their results at a
Harvard round table. One after another, they told their stories
and broke down in tears. They described their personal expe-
rience as “life changing.” For the next decade some of these
executives became leaders in the effort to improve safety within
hospitals.

CHANGING MINDS WORLDWIDE

As a way of pulling together everything we’ve discussed, let’s
return to The Carter Center’s Guinea worm eradication pro-
gram and watch how use is made of both stories and experi-
ences as a way of changing minds at a global level—one village
at a time.
Consider what the team did in Nigeria. To begin with, for-
mer President Jimmy Carter recruited General Gowon to join
the Nigerian team. Former President-General Gowon is
beloved by Nigerians for bringing stability and democracy to
their country, so the day the general visits a village is one of the
most important in its history. After dances, songs, and a tour,
General Gowon explains that he brings great news! He asks
how many in the village suffer from the “fiery serpent.” He then
explains that he has come to teach them how to rid themselves
of the serpent forever.
The general then asks the villagers to bring him water from
the pond. They bring him a clay jug full of water. He pours
water into a clear quart bottle for all to see. This is a new expe-
rience for most villagers who carry their water in buckets or
pots. Now they’re examining their murky water for the first time.