Fix the System

The results are not the problem

Every system is perfectly designed to produce the results it gets.

I used to think about that mostly at work.

In the ER, we’re constantly being measured—wait times, length of stay, all these different metrics. And when something isn’t where it’s supposed to be, the first instinct is to look at the person.

This doctor is too slow.

That nurse isn’t doing this right.

But the longer I’ve been doing this—especially in more of a leadership role—the more I’ve realized that’s almost never the full story.

Because none of it exists in isolation.

Wait times depend on staffing.

Staffing depends on volume.

Volume depends on things you can’t control.

Boarding affects everything.

It’s all connected.

So instead of asking who’s the problem, you start asking:

What system is creating this result?

And once you see it, it’s hard not to see it everywhere.

Including in your own life.

Because the life I have right now is the result of a system I’ve built—consciously and unconsciously.

Not luck.

Not randomness.

My habits.

My routines.

The way I think.

The decisions I make every day.

It all adds up.

And that realization is uncomfortable at first.

Because it means I can’t just blame the outcome.

Or blame other people.

Or blame circumstances.

If something isn’t going the way I want, it’s usually because of something I’m doing.

But that realization is also freeing.

Because it means I can change it.

Now, when something feels off, I try to pause and ask:

Is this actually the situation?

Or is it the system I’ve built around it?

If I’m not improving at something—

Is it really that hard?

Or is it how I’m practicing?

If something in my life feels off—

Is it just bad luck?

Or is it a pattern I haven’t looked at closely enough?

The same is true for how we think.

I see this a lot working with patients struggling with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Two people can go through the same experience and end up in completely different places.

And a lot of that comes down to how they process it.

The story they tell themselves.

The patterns they reinforce.

That’s part of the system too.

So instead of getting frustrated with outcomes, I’ve been trying to look at them differently.

Not as failures.

But as feedback.

Because if the outcome isn’t what I want, there’s always something upstream that can be adjusted.

Something small.

A habit.

A routine.

A way of thinking.

A lever I haven’t pulled yet.

And that’s really the shift:

Stop staring at the result.

Start looking at the system.

Because the result isn’t random.

It’s built.

And anything built—

can be rebuilt.