It was in the wee hours of October the 17th, 2008 when I heard coughing from the adjoining bedroom. Within the few moments that I took to get out of bed and run into the room I heard commotion – little did I realize that my father had had a heart attack? No sooner did I see his face contorted with pain, anguish absolutely soaked with sweat dripping from his brow, I saw him sinking into silence – his last words “I’m feeling uneasy” faded into the background as he slumped onto his bed. His face instantly prompted me to act – calling the doctor, the ambulance and the hospital etc etc.
Over the next 23 days that I was at the hospital with my father hosted at the intensive care unit it was a traumatic experience. It is during these times that I made a significant observation. Every time I heard the siren of the ambulance my eyes would look out over to the episode that unfurled. I noticed that the paramedic staff/ doctors sometimes raced towards the ambulance and at times they acted fairly slowly.
Viewing this regularly I wondered if this was due to fatigue or over-confidence or lack of sensitivity that prevailed during the times they responded slowly. But on close observation I noticed that the paramedics looked at the face of the driver of the ambulance and acted on its expressions. An extremely tensed face of the driver influenced them to act rapidly and if the driver’s face did not express tension or concern then they acted at ease. Their actions were not dependent on the complaint of the patient or the patient’s accompanist or the accompanists’ expression at all. On subsequent observations I gathered an understanding on what could be the reason for this.
The ambulance drivers were experienced transporters of the ailing patients and their accompanists. They had a perfect understanding of the time frames within which they patient was required to be transported called “the golden period”. When the driver made it within the golden period his face did not express tension or concern which gave a clear indication to the medical staff that there is still time. But when he couldn’t make it within the golden period the face clearly expressed it and hence prompted the doctors to act instantaneously.
Later I began to observe this at my work place and found its wide presence. During the quarterly press meets when the faces of senior leaders showed tension it influenced the press to question them in those specific areas - the generalized questions now became focussed/ pin pointed. The worried lines on the face of the manager prompted the junior to enquire on what was troubling him and what needs to be done. Disappointed faces indicated more to be done. Happy faced indicated celebrate success. Although these were indicators but nothing like the face of the ambulance driver who, rather than indicating, resulted in influencing people to act. Is there a way that such things can ever come into the corporate world – yes if we raised our sensitivity, then actions would be equally profound. Expressive faces can definitely enable unrelated people to act.
Over the next 23 days that I was at the hospital with my father hosted at the intensive care unit it was a traumatic experience. It is during these times that I made a significant observation. Every time I heard the siren of the ambulance my eyes would look out over to the episode that unfurled. I noticed that the paramedic staff/ doctors sometimes raced towards the ambulance and at times they acted fairly slowly.
Viewing this regularly I wondered if this was due to fatigue or over-confidence or lack of sensitivity that prevailed during the times they responded slowly. But on close observation I noticed that the paramedics looked at the face of the driver of the ambulance and acted on its expressions. An extremely tensed face of the driver influenced them to act rapidly and if the driver’s face did not express tension or concern then they acted at ease. Their actions were not dependent on the complaint of the patient or the patient’s accompanist or the accompanists’ expression at all. On subsequent observations I gathered an understanding on what could be the reason for this.
The ambulance drivers were experienced transporters of the ailing patients and their accompanists. They had a perfect understanding of the time frames within which they patient was required to be transported called “the golden period”. When the driver made it within the golden period his face did not express tension or concern which gave a clear indication to the medical staff that there is still time. But when he couldn’t make it within the golden period the face clearly expressed it and hence prompted the doctors to act instantaneously.
Later I began to observe this at my work place and found its wide presence. During the quarterly press meets when the faces of senior leaders showed tension it influenced the press to question them in those specific areas - the generalized questions now became focussed/ pin pointed. The worried lines on the face of the manager prompted the junior to enquire on what was troubling him and what needs to be done. Disappointed faces indicated more to be done. Happy faced indicated celebrate success. Although these were indicators but nothing like the face of the ambulance driver who, rather than indicating, resulted in influencing people to act. Is there a way that such things can ever come into the corporate world – yes if we raised our sensitivity, then actions would be equally profound. Expressive faces can definitely enable unrelated people to act.
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