letter from the editor: life’s pitfalls
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Letter from the Editor: Life’s Pitfalls
Jannette Collins MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR
PII: S0037-198X(14)00013-3DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.03.002Reference: YSROE50467
To appear in: Seminar in Roentgenology
Cite this article as: Jannette Collins MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR, Letter from the Editor: Life’sPitfalls, Seminar in Roentgenology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.ro.2014.03.002
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Seminars in Roentgenology
July 2015
Letter from the Editor: Life’s Pitfalls
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Henry Ford
Pitfall is defined as “a danger or problem that is hidden or not obvious at first” [1]. Other words
used to describe the same phenomenon include booby trap, land mine, snare, trap, and trip wire. That
a pitfall is “hidden” is important to understand and recognize. We don’t know what we don’t know.
Only by learning about potential pitfalls will we be in a position to recognize when one crosses our path.
The articles in this and the next two issues will focus on imaging pitfalls, how to recognize them, and
how to avoid them.
This Letter from the Editor is about life’s pitfalls. Imaging pitfalls can jeopardize a radiologist’s
performance. Life’s pitfalls affect everyone and can undermine their personal development. Someone
can be doing terrific things, but at the same time unknowingly (back to the “hidden” characteristic) be
doing something to sabotage their efforts to achieve their goals.
A common pitfall in personal development is focusing on blame. Blame is a bottomless pit. The
only way to get out is to figure out the root of the problem and if at fault, take full responsibility [2]. I’ve
learned through personal experience that there is often no one person or one thing on which to place
full blame. People and processes work interdependently. As a department chair, I’m ultimately
responsible for everything that occurs in my department. If someone makes a mistake, I ask myself if I
assigned that person a task he/she wasn’t ready to take on or if I neglected to provide the proper
support for that person to be successful. When I was an elementary school teacher I often wondered
how much I was to blame when a student didn’t succeed. But overemphasizing personal blame is just as
bad as blaming others. The energy it consumes could be spent analyzing the problem and finding a
solution.
Related to assigning blame is making assumptions about other people’s motives. When
someone receives a performance evaluation that includes a compilation of ratings and comments, they
often focus on any negative comments. There’s a natural inclination to wonder who wrote the
comments. If someone is perceived as not liking a person, or being generally overcritical, it is tempting
to assign the negative comments to them. That’s unfair, and again, the energy spent making such
assumptions could be better spent on self‐reflection and whether the evaluation was accurate. If
someone is not chosen for an award or a promotion, they might think they aren’t liked or that they’re
seen as undeserving. The real reason may be related to the sheer number of deserving people and
ability to award only one. Or choosing someone else may have been a better strategic move for the
organization. Sometimes being chosen is a matter of timing more than ability or how deserving one is.
Saying “I can’t” is often an excuse for “I choose not to.” One of the most important skills of any
leader is the ability to focus on “can” instead of “can’t” and convince others to do the same. Negativity
is a knee‐jerk reaction and often a result of a lack of understanding and/or communication. Asking
someone to move from a 150‐square‐foot office to a 75‐square‐foot office may seem impossible if the
first thought is “how can I fit everything I have in my current office to one that is half as big?” An
analysis of the situation may reveal that much of what is in the current office could be condensed,
scaled down, or eliminated, and optimal utilization of space and furniture might create more usable
space in the smaller office than was available in the larger office. Or not. But the point is not to
automatically rule something out without considering the potential benefits to oneself and the
organization. Maybe the new office is right next door to the cafeteria, the parking lot, or one’s personal
secretary.
Competition is good when it drives a person to achieve their goals and that person feels good
about their efforts, whether they win or lose. Competition at the cost of cooperation is unhealthy. I feel
like I win every time someone I work with succeeds if I supported their success. If I analyze my own
success I feel good about my accomplishments and realize that I won’t get everything I want in life. I
understand that all of us want some things that we don’t have. These aspirations are part of what drives
us to achieve [3]. Negotiations should not be about someone winning and someone losing. They should
be about relationship building because winning today at the cost of someone else losing may mean
never being able to negotiate with that person again.
A department chair once lamented to me that a faculty member was “part of the problem and
not part of the solution.” Focusing on problems, like focusing on blame, is an inefficient use of energy
that creates a negative, self‐defeating mindset. People flock to those who are positive and create
happiness, not to those who depress the moods of those around them. Most people fall victim to this
pitfall at one time or another. It’s often easier to participate in negative discussion than to think of
creative solutions. But the latter may be the only way to eliminate the problem. It’s also easy to
assume the problem is not ours but someone else’s to solve. It’s this kind of thinking that results in no
one taking responsibility. Many radiology departments have successfully implemented “lean” or Six
Sigma practices to solve operational inefficiencies that involve multiple people and multiple steps,
emphasizing the concept that some problems can’t be solved by one person alone.
Personal development is a process, not an overnight metamorphosis [2]. It’s something that
lasts a lifetime. Ignoring one’s health or telling oneself there isn’t enough time for a healthy lifestyle is
one of life’s most dangerous pitfalls. A pitfall is something “hidden”, remember? High blood pressure is
a silent killer. Regular exercise and a healthy diet can stave off illnesses and chronic disease. This
requires being proactive and taking one’s health seriously before it costs an arm and a leg in hospital
bills or insurance costs. Or until it costs an arm and a leg [2] or other irreversible losses that negatively
affect one’s quality of life. It’s easy for most people to brush and floss their teeth twice a day because it
doesn’t take much time and the results are a nicer smile and teeth that function better and longer.
Figuring out how to routinely work exercise and healthy eating into one’s life requires greater effort and
a higher level of commitment. But the payoff is huge.
A person has only so much time to live. Some say time is life’s greatest gift. But how many
people budget their time? People budget other things in life, like how much gas is in the tank. Would
you drive cross‐country in a car without a working fuel gauge? Thinking about how we want to spend
our gas, our money, or our time allows us to use limited resources the way we’d like to. Procrastination
is a pitfall that results in lost opportunity. Not everyone needs to accomplish things at the same speed
and some people perform better under conditions of stress and last minute deadlines. But
procrastinating to the point of never doing can sabotage the ability to achieve one’s goals. The easiest
way to get ahead is to get started. With this in mind, I’ve found that taking a small first step can help to
overcome the inertia of getting started. After thinking about drafting a will and end‐of‐life documents
for several years and not doing it, I finally decided to ask someone to recommend a good lawyer and
made an appointment. I put it on my calendar. It was easy after that.
I could list many more of life’s pitfalls, like becoming complacent, harboring grudges, or
stressing over things that can’t be controlled or changed. My aim is not to provide an exhaustive list but
bring awareness to the existence and “hidden” nature of life’s pitfalls. Awareness is the first step
towards prevention.
Jannette Collins, MD, MEd, FCCP, FACR
Editor‐in‐Chief
References
1. Merriam‐Webster dictionary. http://www.merriam‐webster.com/dictionary/pitfall. Accessed
2‐24‐14.
2. Advanced Life Skills: 67 Personal Development Pitfalls to Avoid. Jonathan Wells.
http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/67‐personal‐development‐pitfalls/. Accessed 2‐24‐14.
3. Creating Better Lives: Avoiding Pitfalls in Life. http://www.creatingbetterlives.org/p/avoiding‐
pitfalls‐in‐life.html. Accessed 2‐24‐14.