Latest Blog Posts

By Gerrit Van Wyk. Changing health care as a complex social system. Karl Weick said ignorance and knowledge go together. Wise people know they don’t fully understand what is happening in a constantly changing...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. Flip flopping. In North America, one is supposed to make up your mind and never change it, otherwise you are a flip flopper and a loser. It’s said when Maynard Keynes was accused of...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. There is a God. No, wait, there isn’t. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant argued we can’t know anything without starting off with some basic assumptions. Kant’s time was dominated...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. Peptic ulcers. When I was at medical school, we were taught high acid levels in the stomach caused peptic ulcers. Lifestyle activities like, smoking, obesity, coffee, and spicy foods...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. One mouth and two ears. There is a saying we have one mouth and two ears which should be used in proportion. Here in North America, communication seems to be a big issue and I’ve attended...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. A map is not the territory. Korzybski said a map is not the territory. What did he mean by that? Maps are representations of physical areas but never perfect copies of it. Despite that...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. The USS Benfold. When Michael Abrashoff took over as commander of the USS Benfold, it had a reputation as the worst ship in the US navy. Within months he turned it into the most exemplary...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. We don’t have enough doctors. There is a common refrain from the Federal Government, Provincial Governments, Ministries of Health, health planners, academics, etc., that Canada...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. As Rich as Croesus. There is a myth about Midas washing his hands in the river Pactolus to rid himself of the Midas Touch, which turned its sand into gold. King Croesus later became...

By Gerrit Van Wyk. Operation Cat Drop. In the 1950’s, villagers in Borneo had a problem with malaria carrying mosquitoes. Eventually they had enough of being sick every so often and did what people do,...