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Awareness or Action? Turning Knowledge into Change

Awareness or Action? Turning Knowledge into Change

A short, practical newsletter for Courageous Clinicians

April 23, 2025

WHY THIS MATTERS

Many of us already know the system is broken, but knowing alone doesn’t fix it.

Change shows up when we act together.

This issue explains, in plain language, how action spreads and provides you with quick tools to move from knowing to doing.

LET’S LEARN MORE →

THE CORE IDEA (GROUNDED IN DAMON CENTOLA’S NETWORK SCIENCE)

Simple vs complex contagion. Facts and opinions (“simple contagion”) hop quickly from person to person. New behaviours (“complex contagion”) need at least two confirming contacts before we feel safe enough to try them.
Tight clusters speed adoption. In Centola’s 2011 web‑lab study with 1,500 participants, healthy behaviours spread three times faster when people belonged to small, densely connected groups instead of broad, loose networks.
Visible repetition matters. Seeing the same action from several colleagues—on the ward board, in chat, or during hand‑off—signals “this is normal” and lowers personal risk.
Design for low‑stakes practice. Make the first step quick, low‑risk, and public (e.g., co‑sign one request). Repeated proof builds confidence and keeps the momentum going.

Big takeaway: Put people in small, overlapping pods, make the starter action quick and public, and let repeated peer signals turn awareness into routine practice.

Feature Story

A STORY FROM THE FIELD

Dr. Rivera’s Quick Win

Dr. Rivera was tired of prior-auth delays hurting patients. Instead of another rant, she invited three coworkers to form a tiny “action pod.”

Ask: They posted in the ward chat, “Who else wants to fix prior‑auth delays?” Four more clinicians joined.
Act: The pod co‑signed a request for a 30‑day ‘fast‑track’ trial and put progress notes on a hallway board.
Result: Admin agreed. One month later, approval times dropped for 40 common meds.

Why it worked: Seeing several teammates act together made it feel safe and doable for others to join.

TRY THIS WEEK

Day	5‑Minute Action	Why It Works
Monday	Grab two coworkers (ideally from other units) and share one problem you all face.	New links spread ideas beyond your usual circle.
Wednesday	Post the chosen problem in your smallest chat group (≤ 8 people) and ask, “Who wants to test a fix with me?”	Seeing several names together makes joining feel safe.
Friday	Run a one‑week mini‑test with the volunteers and share a daily one‑line update.	Daily nudges keep the group united and show others it works.