The Long View

As a culture, we are well known for our inclination to apply quick fixes to problems. Whether the challenge is energy use, education reform, an ailing economy, or a broken health care system, we often don't have the patience, wisdom, or tenacity to tackle these issues in a comprehensive, sustainable manner.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This issue of Creative Nursing focuses on embracing new and different approaches and strategies with the aim of attaining change that is both transformative and enduring. Generative Leadership, as described by Joanne Disch, is based on a new set of tools and strategies that enables leaders to create new approaches to old problems. It requires an understanding of complexity-chaos theory, emotional intelligence, and systems thinking, and prepares leaders to embrace creativity, risk taking, and diversity. JoEllen Koerner elucidates core concepts of complexity science and stretches our understanding of the possibilities that exist when we apply this knowledge in our decision making. Toni Eason makes a strong case that effective leadership goes hand in hand with emotional intelligence—a successful as well as a critical combination.

Applying new science and generative leadership principles in real-life settings is where the rubber meets the road. Terri Zborowsky explains how this approach is enabling health planners (designers and architects) and health care professionals to create optimal healing environments. My essay on environmental leadership and advocacy is a call for Whole Systems Healing based on the understanding that the health of individuals, communities, and the environment are inextricably linked, and that climate change is the number one threat to health around the globe. Sharon Franquemont advocates for new forms of staff development that help people acquire new knowledge and skills while creating ongoing learning communities, through Ways of Knowing Symposia. Group health care delivery as described by Sharon Rising and Colleen Senterfitt, new generations of partnerships cited by Barbara Greene, Healing Presence as practiced by Shelli Nelson, and Heidi Gallart's description of best practice bundles for quality improvement are new paradigms for addressing the complex issues we face.

Why do I describe this issue of Creative Nursing as the long view? I recently had the opportunity to hear Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy . Founder of Green for All, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Jones spoke about the need to apply systems thinking to the complex problems facing our nation. We won't solve the economic crisis without addressing health care and energy and we won't lift people out of poverty without focusing on education and jobs. In other words, we need long-term, comprehensive approaches to these problems; we cannot solve them by thinking in silos and trying to fix one thing at a time. He gave example after example of how short-term thinking and quick fixes don't produce sustainable change.

We urgently need generative leadership and the application of new science. As we think about the myriad issues facing us in health care, we need creative, comprehensive, bold, and innovative approaches that will produce health reform, not just health care system reform.