What F1 Racing Can Teach Us About Healthcare

If you watch a Formula 1 race, it looks like…a car race. Drivers are competing with each other through speedy turns, blasting down straightaways, in cars that look pretty similar to each other, engines whining in unison. Maybe you notice the pit crews - and they’re so fast you can barely see what they’re doing - but mostly it seems like a driver-vs.-driver contest.

But that is a drastic oversimplification.

The Grand Prix races are only the visible surface to what is actually a deep engineering competition underneath. For each team, which fields only 2 drivers, there are about 2000 other team members: engineers, mechanics, management, logistics, all working to enable the victories that fans celebrate. This large - and largely invisible - team works tirelessly to put a car on the pavement and give the driver a chance to compete. Their expertise and diligence are necessary for the driver to win the race.

This is an example of an asymmetric team.

The team works around the clock, but on race day, the driver is in the hot seat, winning or losing the race. He has a small support team on the radio and in the pit, but the performance on the track is up to him. His actions make or break the situation at critical moments, but the larger team’s efforts determine the conditions in those moments. How does the steering feel? How sticky are the tires? How responsive is the engine? Based on what the driver learns that day, the entire team will work to make conditions better next time around. But in the moment, the driver is the hero. He is known by many, and his team is known by very few.

Is this starting to sound like healthcare yet?

In a traditional view of healthcare, we might consider the physician the “driver”. Making critical decisions, supported by admins, nurses, lab technicians…this hero wins the day while an invisible team makes it possible.

…but this is another oversimplified, provider-centric view.

The customer-centric view is this: The patient is the driver. They are the hero. And yet they are a part of the larger healthcare team. Their body? That’s the car. It looks very similar to everyone else’s car, and it is an engineering marvel. How it performs on race day (everyday) depends on how it’s tuned by the larger team, and how it’s handled by the driver. It’s an asymmetric team dynamic.

Optimizing Healthcare as the Work of Asymmetric Teams

How do we address the fact that it takes a large medical team to take care of a patient in today’s complex medical environment? The days of the doctor making solo house calls with a black leather bag are over. When we interviewed medical professionals during research for a global pharmaceutical company, we learned that physicians recognize how dependent they are today on their entire medical system.

How do we address the fact that no matter how well a medical team performs, it’s ultimately up to the patient to follow advice, adhere to treatments, and live a healthy life?

In various interviews, including his course on MasterClass, seven-time F1 champion driver Sir Lewis Hamilton had this advice for building successful asymmetric teams:

1. Make sure the hero stays connected to the team.
   As the driver, Hamilton is aware of how big and diverse the team is, and makes sure the team feels seen. When he walks into the garage on race days, he greets every team member there. Everyone on the team feels like a part of the larger effort.
   
   How this applies to healthcare: Make sure the patient is aware of how many people are working hard to help them. “With greater understanding comes greater appreciation,” as they say. For team members who aren’t patient-facing, put a face on the patient for them, so they can empathize and feel the difference they are making. Nobody in the healthcare system should think of patients as just a medical record - they need to think of the patient as part of the total healthcare team.

2. Trust that everyone will do their part of the team’s job.
   Every member of the team has a responsibility. Hamilton makes sure each member is trusted to do their job, and is empowered to do it well. As the driver, Hamilton works with his chief engineer and chief mechanic to make sure all the sub-teams are able to do their best, and understand what the goals are. He knows that this, in turn, enables him to do his best.
   
   How this applies to healthcare: Leaders on the provider side of the team need to make sure the rest of the health system team can do their best. They need to understand and convey the patient’s goals, not just their conditions. The patient (and their caregivers) may need guidance on how to best do their part. Making instructions easy, and clearly explaining the motivations behind the instructions, will help the patient do what’s best.

3. Show how engaged you are.
   Every member of the team needs to express how motivated they are to achieve the team’s desired outcomes. Positive energy counts. Hamilton makes a point of showing up on time or early, as one way to show how committed he is to the team. He also makes sure to learn as much as possible from his failures, so that even failures have benefits. As his role in society broadens with his fame and his role-model status, he never forgets his responsibilities to the team.
   
   How this applies to healthcare: Be proactive. Share helpful information when you can. Even at the most hectic times, where the health system perspective might be focused on efficiency and throughput, remember that from the patient’s perspective, they are the only patient. Continue to treat them as an individual, even when caseloads are piling up.

4. Give each team member the floor.
   Hamilton makes a point of asking his team members how he can help. He asks this in an open-ended way. This gives the members of his team the opportunity to say what they need to say, and ask what they need to ask. It creates space for the team to work together in a more connected way, instead of missing beats because there was no time or no space to communicate.
   
   How this applies to healthcare: In addition to the myriad medical questions that need to be asked, and vitals that need to be taken, take the time to ask the patient open-ended questions. This breathing room allows the patient to express their priorities - to voice their concerns, their aspirations, and their preferences. It might shed light on issues that the team was not aware of - issues that strict protocols would have missed. This space is where relationships are built and opportunities are discovered.

When we recognize that the patient is a member of the healthcare team, by virtue of the fact that they are driving the “vehicle” and are ultimately responsible for their own healthy behaviors, we realize the asymmetrical team dynamic at play. We realize how important it is to be inclusive, connected, visible, engaged, and communicative. We are supporting the patient’s race through life. Our success is their success, and vice versa. Get ready for race day!