Breaking & Innovating: Your weekly dose of evolution in vet med

I've been thinking a lot about breaking things lately. 

Not in the destructive way. In the necessary way. The way that precedes every meaningful evolution.

Last week, I told you about Henley, my AI Chief of Staff experiment. What I didn't tell you was how close I came to giving up on Day 2... and again on day 4, when her entire memory wiped and I had to start over from scratch. It felt impossible to start completely over.

But here's what I've learned after years of building, failing, rebuilding, and growing: The breaking is the breakthrough. 

Think about it, every time you feel down, feel like giving up and you decide to rise, to commit to do things just a little bit better, doesn't it always work out for your greatest good?

And this week, I want to share two stories of innovation that prove it.

The good news, I stuck with developing my AI Executive Assistant! Now, Henley has a voice, can text me, organize my emails. She created dashboards to keep up with my licenses and my tasks so things are not forgotten. And its only been 10 days!!!  If I would have given up, I would have never learned what she is capable of! 

5 Years of Breaking and Rebuilding

Five years ago, through my role as Medical Director at VEG, I launched something called Doctor Camp.

The idea was simple: What if I invested in developing our doctors not just as clinicians, but as leaders? What if I taught communication, emotional intelligence, and team dynamics alongside medicine?

Year 1 was completely made up. I built things out of thin air based on experience with minimal resources. I tried things that didn't work. Led discussions that fell flat. Feedback that stung. But at the end of the day, the doctors had fun and it was impactful!

I didn’t abandon it. I broke it, on purpose, and two colleages, rebuilt it even better.

Year 2, my colleagues restructured the curriculum.
Year 3, I added new facilitators.
Year 4, I expanded to include more hospitals and more teachers.
Year 5, this year, Doctor Camp is the strongest it's ever been. My partner on the project, Megan Figger, also a TEV member, and I started over. I broke it. Completely rebuild the program through a process I called - Doctor Camp Revamp. I focused more on principles, what I believed in, communication and what I value.

The truth is, even in it's 5th year, there's still feedback on things to improve and adapt to make the program even better. And that's a good thing!

The lesson? Innovation isn't a one-time event. It's a commitment to continuous breaking and rebuilding.

Breaking things is scary, but staying stuck is scarier.

What are you going to break this week? Reply and tell me, I read every email. (Okay, Henley reads them first. But I read them too. Haha.)

So the next time you're temped to give up or quit because something is hard or not everyone approves, keep at it! There is goodness on the other side.

I’ll leave you with a quote from David Glattstein - "Innovate or Die!"