Allow me make a clarification.

Some readers and friends have accused me of “throwing Big Ortho under the bus”.

I understand this perception. I often write about the lack of innovation coming from inside the Big Orthos.

The problem is with “The System” not “The People”.

The People

To clarify, my general statement about Big Ortho has nothing to do with the people, how hard they work or how smart they are.  Heck, I started my career in Big Ortho at S+N, one of the great companies.

The majority of talented people work in the larger established orthos. The Big Orthos hire the best trained and the best educated people in the industry. Big Orthos hire the best of the best.

The System

The System is the problem. The System in Big Ortho is made up of a bureaucracy of layers and reporting matrices, that incentivizes incremental growth. Slow growth means avoiding risks to protect sales and earnings every 90 days. This short-term “risk avoidance” System holds the most talented people back and they usually cannot see it from the inside The System.

One of my favorite quotes is… “Fish don’t know they’re in Water”.

As a parallel, I would offer… “Talented Orthopedic professionals don’t know that they are in The System.”

I don’t hate Big Ortho.

I just believe that the super-talented people can flourish and accomplish more with their careers in Small Ortho.

---

Read also:

The Tale of Two Orthopedic Careers – one BIG, one small

Why good people get stuck in big Ortho companies

The real R&D inside the Big Orthos

Why the Big Orthos don’t need internal startups.

What drives the leadership behavior in a Big Ortho?

What do we need the Big Ortho companies for?