The Best CEOs Say These 3 Words: ‘I Don’t Know’

Why It Matters

Admitting uncertainty enables leaders to pivot quickly, foster employee trust, and build collaborative solutions in a volatile healthcare environment, directly impacting financial stability and patient outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• Corewell partnered with Quest, forming 51%/49% lab joint venture
• Humility fosters employee candor and transparent decision‑making
• CEOs admit uncertainty to adapt to reimbursement and workforce pressures
• Dartmouth avoided furloughs, redeploying staff during COVID crisis
• HealthPartners leverages cross‑functional ideas to tackle Medicaid funding cuts

Pulse Analysis

The post‑pandemic era has forced health system executives to rethink the old playbook of top‑down control. By openly acknowledging what they don’t know, CEOs like Tina Freese Decker of Corewell Health are creating a culture where questions are welcomed and solutions emerge from all levels of the organization. This humility‑driven approach aligns with broader industry trends—rising outpatient care, volatile reimbursement models, and persistent staffing shortages—that demand rapid, data‑informed decisions rather than rigid, legacy strategies.

Concrete examples illustrate the power of this mindset. Corewell’s joint venture with Quest Diagnostics reshaped its lab services, shifting from a purely internal model to a partnership that leverages Quest’s scale while retaining local oversight. Dartmouth Health’s pandemic response—shutting down 75% of operations, redeploying nurses as cleaners, and refusing furloughs—showed that transparent communication and employee empowerment can sustain morale during financial shocks. Meanwhile, HealthPartners is proactively soliciting ideas across its network to mitigate looming Medicaid cuts projected to trim federal spending by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. In each case, leaders who admit uncertainty are better positioned to forge alliances, iterate on strategy, and keep staff engaged.

Looking ahead, the “learn‑it‑all, not know‑it‑all” culture will become a competitive advantage. CEOs who model humility encourage teams to surface risks early, experiment with new care delivery models, and adapt when data shifts. This agility not only safeguards margins but also improves patient experience by delivering care that reflects real‑time community needs. As health systems grapple with evolving payment reforms and technology integration, the ability to say “I don’t know” and then seek collective answers will define the next generation of resilient, patient‑centric organizations.