2020 Medtech Resolutions? Make them a Revolution!

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

There is a lot of controversy over the value of making New Year’s resolutions.  However, there is no question that most people view the transition from one year to the next as a window to new opportunities for personal and professional growth.  Most focus on personal issues like health, exercise, weight, finance, etc.  Most are outcome based.  Outcomes like losing 10 pounds, running a half-marathon or bench pressing 200 pounds. 

Note – I have many links in this blog post.  NONE result in affiliate income for me.  The links are simply a convenience for you. 

James Clear, author of the best-selling book Atomic Habits will ask you to think about making your behavior based on identity instead of outcomes (https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits). One of my favorite paragraphs in his book is:

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity.  It is one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this.  It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this. 

So, what do you want your professional identity to be?  And how will that determine some new actions/habits that you will take this year? When you are successful with this, you will have achieved more than a resolution, you will have started a personal revolution. Here are some suggestions to get your revolution started.

Bend your brain! Read a book related to your profession every 3 or 4 months.  For marketing I recommend Aaker on Branding or David Aaker’s classic Building Strong Brands.  Through David Aaker’s books I learned that there is an important emotional element to communicating value propositions that most medtech companies completely miss.  Another great book if you are involved in a new concept technology is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore.  Be sure to get the latest edition.  This book may save your startup from several common disastrous mistakes.  Are you a sales professional? Do an internet search for best sales books and buy one. There are many great books to stimulate your management, marketing or sales minds. 

Learn something new! There are many online courses covering a multitude of subjects.  Some are very good and not very expensive.  If you are a non-finance person, perhaps you should consider a finance for non-financial managers course.  It will help you with budgeting in your department and better understanding the financial workings of your company whether it is large or small.  Social media is another subject area worth studying because it is always changing, it is inexpensive and many medtech companies do not take good advantage of it.  Maybe you would like to better understand the statistics in peer reviewed medical papers.  Take a statistics and probability course at Khan Academy. You can register as an adult learner.  Finally, look at YouTube for a lot of very good courses. Believe or not I found several good pricing strategy videos on YouTube.

Get involved! Join a professional organization. In the US, joining the American Marketing Association costs $300 for individuals and $50 for students.  $300 is probably a fraction of what your health club costs.  The cost to join the American Management Association is $250 for an individual and $2,495 for a small business. The AMA has terrific management courses on all subjects.  If you are a small medtech business owner, that membership includes two courses valued at $2,495 each.  That means you could send an employee to learn supervisory skills, management skills, project management skills, etc.  A great investment in your company.

OK, so you don’t live in the US.  Are you from India?  Think about joining the All India Management Association https://www.aima.in.  Internet search professional organizations in your country.  

Stay up to date! Sign up for a professional blog or podcast.  There are many.  For a list of very good sales blogs go to https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/best-sales-blogs.  Selling Power Magazine has a lot of interesting features for sales professionals including their Selling Power blog https://blog.sellingpower.com/gg/.  Yes, there are Quality Control blogs. Follow this link – https://blog.feedspot.com/quality_management_blogs/

Start reading a European perspective on medtech with MedTech Engine https://medtechengine.com. 

For US medtech news subscribe to MassDevice  https://www.massdevice.com or Medtech Outlook https://www.medicaltechoutlook.com/news/.

Finally, Network!  This is so important.  Make time to network outside of your company.  Networking has lots of benefits.  You will learn more about what is going on in your segment of the industry.  It may help you explore a different industry.  It always feels good to get to know someone.  And, it will make you feel less dependent of your current employment situation. Set a goal to meet with one person a month.  A great place to network is at a tradeshow.  You won’t be stealing time from your company if you simply have a coffee with a couple of industry colleagues.  Another way to network is to start a like-minded group in your local area via community building platform like Meet Up (https://www.meetup.com/).

Start your 2020 New Year’s Revolution today.  It is never too late. 

No doubt you have some good ideas as well.  Please share!

January 15, 2020