As absurd a question as this may seem, you have to wonder if most people, including physicians, know the answer. Dr. Alicia Conill, a clinical associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, recently wrote and read an essay for NPR’s This I Believe series that confirms the need for physicians and caregivers to take the advice of philosopher Epictetus and listen twice as much as they speak. She speaks of a study that noted that on average a physician would interrupt a patient talking within 18 seconds. Click here listen to Dr. Conill tell her story.

Now, more than any time in history, we have the ability to communicate faster, more frequently, and with a much larger audience. Our communications can race around the virtual autobahn called the Information Super Highway with no speed limits. With the technology we have at our disposal, it is easy to understand why our attention spans are shorter and our minds race at light speed. Still, when a patient is in their physician’s office it’s usually for a reason that they would like to talk about. It is at those points of contact that the microwave life of a physician collides with the crock-pot concerns of the patient and the trouble begins. Just as Dr. Conill learned through her experience, better care comes to the patient if the physician will stop and carefully listen to the story of the patient rather than their own. That’s why we were given two ears and only one mouth.

Union Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut was commanding the USS Hartford on April 5, 1864, in the Battle of Mobile Bay.  The monitor, USS Tecumseh, had struck a mine (then called torpedoes) and sank. Other ships in Farragut’s fleet started to pull back in fear. When Farragut asked what the trouble was the reply was simply, “Torpedoes!” Not content with that response, the aggressive commander told his men to forget the torpedoes and charge full speed ahead. At the command the majority of the fleet succeeded in defeating enemy forces at the last major port of the Confederate army.

I know what you’re asking yourself – what does this have to do with a recession? Well, what made Adm. Farragut successful was that he chose to zig when other were zagging. With all the bad news and reports that bombard us about our economy, we fear what lies ahead and subsequently start to fall back. However, it is in this very moment that we must have businesses and consumers alike to rethink their retreat, ignore the negative thinking, and charge full speed ahead to fix our economy. We need the common people and business to stand up and zig while others zag. But how? Let’s take a cue from the tycoon of chocolate, Milton Hershey, and simply spend money.

Milton Hershey was definitely a man accustomed to zigging when others zagged. He had a roller coaster ride building the Hershey empire. It was no easy path to success. However, Hershey worked and reworked and developed an affordable chocolate for the masses. And the masses did come, much to Hershey’s delight. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, most businesses were either laying off workers or closing their doors, and consumer confidence shrunk to nearly nothing (sounds familiar).

However, strange things were happening in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where the smell of chocolate wafted in the air. Milton Hershey knew that in such dire times the way to save money was to spend it. So against conventional wisdom, Milton Hershey began some very ambitious projects. As the Hershey, Pennsylvania’s, Web site reads, “Many of the town’s impressive structures were built … as part of Milton Hershey’s ‘Great Building Campaign,’ to provide jobs. It was then that monumental structures such as The Hotel Hershey, community center, theatre, sports arena and stadium were constructed, transforming the town into a major tourist attraction that continues to grow in popularity each year.”

Milton Hershey knew how to zig when others zagged, and we need more businesses and consumers to step up and charge full speed ahead, turning the tide of our economy. Our United States were not built by the sweat of one man or one woman’s brow but by the efforts of a united group controlling their own destinies. It will be by that same attitude and spirit that we alter the course of our economy in the days that lie ahead.

A recent visit to my dentist for biannual cleaning found me sitting in the lobby staring at a Starbucks machine. There sat a machine capable of producing two varieties of coffees, hot water for Tazo teas, hot chocolate, and who knows what else. The dissonance in my mind was titillating as I thought about that nice cup of branded joe warming me up inside and having one of those needle-sharp dental instruments scraping away at my six-month accumulation of plaque. As I snapped back to reality, I thought I couldn’t leave my dentist’s office without asking, “why?” I mean, aren’t coffee and tea sworn enemies of the dental community? I smelled a marketing move, and I had to know more. So I asked the hygienist what would make them put such a machine in their office. She simply said that their patients liked it, and it’s been a big hit for them. We later quipped about how they should actually go ahead and put hard candy out as well. What became a big draw for my dentist was founded in something that disrupted traditional dental rules.

When I think about the constant beating of the healthcare reform drum, I can’t help but believe more people should lay down the drumsticks and challenge the traditional rules of healthcare head on. Healthcare is the 1,000 lb. gorilla that you don’t just reform in a day. Healthcare is a series of cogs that attempt to spin together to make the whole system function. Not every cog is great and not every cog is evil. As with any machinery there are parts to replace while others simply need a little greasing. Like my dentist, that may require doing what goes against the establishment. It may mean challenging the status quo and doing something that doesn’t seem normal. It means those with the inspiration in healthcare must talk to those doing the perspiration. Only then will the answers emerge. Only then will true healthcare reform take place. Ask yourself, are you part of the inspiration or the perspiration?

Remember a time when the world wasn’t so busy? We had time for friends and neighbors to stop by and visit with us on the front porches of our homes. We would sit and talk about things happening in the world, country, state, or even just down the street. Unfortunately, along the way we lost that connection in favor of a more rapid-paced lifestyle. The front porch has become more of an ornament than a place for quality communication. However, social media has the potential to take us back to a much larger virtual front porch.

Facebook – The Rocking Chair of Old Friends

Facebook is allowing old friends to reconnect and new ones to be formed. I’ve seen Facebook provide a means for people to care for another who is down and rejoice with others who have reason to celebrate. Whether you’re throwing virtual snowballs at another Facebook user, seeking support for a favored charity or cause, or simply letting people know that you are fighting off a nasty cold, there is always something to talk about on Facebook.

Twitter – The Rocking Chair of New Friends

Twitter takes 140 characters and invites people to sit together and think, talk, and reflect on anything and nothing all at the same time. No matter the industry, no matter the topic, you’re sure to find a kindred spirit on Twitter. Information in the form of “tweets” and “retweets” is spread at amazing speeds. Have a question? Throw it out to your followers and you’ll have your answer in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Need a focus group for your idea or thought? Throw it to Twittersphere and you’ll get all the feedback you could want. Do you just want some friendly banter with a colleague? Fire up Twitter. Someone will play along.

LinkedIn – The Rocking Chair of Colleagues

While not always the easiest of the chairs to rock, LinkedIn is all about business. It connects the passions of colleagues and like-minded individuals who can explore opportunities that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.  Information about job opportunities, questions about industry happenings, and even announcements of available products and services make up the bulk of LinkedIn. Groups have formed within the LinkedIn platform that allow for more collaboration on industry-specific topics.

These are just a few of the virtual “rocking chairs” that are spurring more discussions through more connections by more people. As fellow Tweeter Dana Lewis (Twitter name:@danamlewis) said in Twitter reply to my front porch analogy, “I like the idea of communication being approachable, [it's] more 24/7 vs. [Monday through Friday] 9-5.” Social media, however you choose to use it, is about people talking to people. It’s not that the world has gotten smaller – the front porch just got bigger. Here’s to more rocking chairs and good people to fill them.

Love to see you on the front porch. Follow me at http://twitter.com/TalstoneDJ.