Feb. 5, 2026

The 100-Year Journey From Surgeons with Reputations to Robots with Precision

The 100-Year Journey From Surgeons with Reputations to Robots with Precision

Send us a text If you're an engineer trying to figure out where you can create value, this episode shows you where to look: where values themselves are shifting. In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, I take you on a 100-year journey from open surgery to surgical robots through three lenses: First, a sick man in 1910 traveling to New York to pick the right surgeon. Second, Dr. John Wickham, who coined 'Minimally Invasive Surgery.' And finally, Fred Moll, who founded Intuitive Sur...

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Send us a text

If you're an engineer trying to figure out where you can create value, this episode shows you where to look: where values themselves are shifting.

In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, I take you on a 100-year journey from open surgery to surgical robots through three lenses: First, a sick man in 1910 traveling to New York to pick the right surgeon. Second, Dr. John Wickham, who coined 'Minimally Invasive Surgery.' And finally, Fred Moll, who founded Intuitive Surgical, who along with a team of engineers brought surgical robots to the forefront.

Join me and learn how many times before an invention comes along, the values of an industry need to shift to make it the right time for the adoption of the technology to be a benefit. 


Support the show

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

WEBVTT

00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:20.879
You're on the train to find a surgeon.

00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:26.960
Like those guys who use the engineered robots invented to cut you open and fix stuff inside you?

00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:29.519
You don't know what a robot is.

00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.839
What year is this?

00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:34.000
1910?

00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:39.439
Yikes! We must have really switched to the wrong track somewhere along the line.

00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:42.240
Oh well, we'll let you out here.

00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:46.719
We'll catch up with the proper timeline and the invention of those robots later.

00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.840
See you in the future, and enjoy the New York of 1910.

00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:57.920
I step off the train and I look at my watch.

00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.359
It's been ten days since I left on the journey from Texas to New York to the minute.

00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.920
I was seeking a surgeon, and the journey was long and arduous.

00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:17.280
I've had the fear of sinking in a riverboat, being robbed on a train, and I've spent a fortune of time and money all while being sick to get here.

00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:25.439
Surgeons of the 1910s have reputations built from newspaper and radio, but that's not necessarily the same as surgical skill.

00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.959
I braved all that on the journey to New York because that's where people say the best surgeons are.

00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:34.480
On its surface, that could be entirely false.

00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.319
There are a few things that indicate there must be good surgeons here.

00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.359
One, there's a big population.

00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:44.879
Lots of people means lots of sources of talent.

00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.560
Two, there's money.

00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:50.959
And if you're skilled and you like money, you're seeking that.

00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.359
And three, there's a reputation.

00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:58.480
And that reputation draws in those looking for talent, and those customers draw in the talent.

00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:07.040
A virtuous cycle culminating in something that started as a possible fiction, becoming a truth if the reputation persists long enough.

00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:11.280
Now that I'm here, New York City feels louder than it needs to be.

00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.199
Carriages, horns, voices layered on top of one another.

00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.879
Brick buildings rise too close together, as if even the streets are competing for space.

00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:30.159
Everyone seems to be in a hurry, including the men in white coats, indifferent to the sick old man trying to find a hospital in a crowded city he's never been to.

00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:32.159
Of course this city is loud.

00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:33.919
Everyone is selling something.

00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:40.080
Being louder than the other guy is the way some people, like the newsies, for example, survive.

00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.919
Inside the hospital, the smell hits first.

00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:02.479
Chloroform, antiseptic, something sweet and chemical that makes it hard to tell whether this place exists to heal or to harm.

00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:09.680
I sit on a wooden bench, hat in my hands, watching names move through the building before I ever meet them.

00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:18.479
Names whispered by porters, names printed in newspapers, names repeated with confidence by people who sound like they know what they're talking about.

00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.439
One surgeon, Lawrence Ashford, is famous.

00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.400
His reputation even arrives before he does.

00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:28.560
I hear about his confidence, his decisiveness, the speed with which he works.

00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.240
While another surgeon, Samuel Smith, blends in.

00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:33.919
Dr.

00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:35.199
Samuel Smith.

00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:37.599
A name that doesn't announce itself.

00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:40.080
No stories trail behind him.

00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.759
No one lowers their voice when they speak his name.

00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:45.039
Dr.

00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:46.240
Ashford and Dr.

00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.520
Smith, they both seem capable, they both seem calm.

00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:51.599
They both wear the same coat.

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.560
But I don't really know how to tell which one is better.

00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:58.080
How does someone make a life or death decision?

00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.680
Based on reputation, when skill is what matters.

00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.319
No charts line the walls.

00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.840
No numbers are offered.

00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:11.520
There is no ledger of outcomes, no public record of who lived cleaner lives afterward and who did not.

00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.479
There is only reputation.

00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.920
And reputation is unevenly distributed.

00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.600
I notice how people stand straighter around Dr.

00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.199
Ashford, the famous one.

00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:28.480
How his answers to questions are shorter, and how doubt seems unwelcome in his presence.

00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:29.839
With Dr.

00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.399
Samuel Smith, the questions linger longer.

00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:33.839
He listens more.

00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:35.600
He answers carefully.

00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:42.000
Seemingly competent, seemingly thoughtful, but seemingly isn't certainty.

00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.000
And my life is on the line.

00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.800
I make my guess.

00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:48.800
It's not a decision.

00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.879
Those require weighing out facts.

00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:53.360
There are none of those here.

00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.920
As they prepare me for surgery, I wonder if I've chosen wisely.

00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:14.399
As the mass lowers, the smell of chloroform thickens, and who knows what happens next.

00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.600
I have no idea how we've arrived in London.

00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.920
In this place, in this time, you can feel that the values of people are in plus.

00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.480
I'm sure the ships will in the history.

00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.720
We'll see it when we get fully back to the correct timeline, I'm sure.

00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.160
All you've done is get off the tree.

00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:06.480
The hospital's just around the corner, and it's time you see your patients.

00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:08.079
No more waiting.

00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:09.680
Gibble, gibble, gibble, gibble.

00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.240
It's the kind of smell that grows on a man after thirty years.

00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.560
The smell of familiarity.

00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.360
After being paged, I enter the room.

00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:43.199
A patient rests quietly.

00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:50.240
Sheets pulled to the chin, John Wickham hovers nearby, checking the chart, murmuring notes to himself.

00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:54.160
My eyes are scanning the patient and the chart.

00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:54.720
Dr.

00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.959
Wickham points to a column of data that I haven't seen before.

00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:00.560
What is this?

00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:01.279
I ask.

00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.000
I've never tracked these numbers before.

00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:06.800
Wickham glances at me.

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.199
Recovery times.

00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.399
Complications that don't appear on mortality stats.

00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:14.639
Measures of trauma we can minimize.

00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.800
I've spent decades optimizing for outcomes.

00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:21.600
The ones the industry rewarded.

00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:23.279
Mortality.

00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:24.959
Obvious complications.

00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:26.720
Textbook recoveries.

00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:29.839
What was Wickham trying to do?

00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.959
So I ask him, and you care to measure these things?

00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:36.480
Why?

00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.439
Wickham smiles faintly.

00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.000
Because patients care.

00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:47.120
If we can shorten the time it takes to return to their life, isn't that what matters too?

00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.480
I look at the numbers again.

00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:51.279
Unsure.

00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.560
I don't have these numbers tracked for my patients.

00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.480
Do I need them?

00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:13.360
Back in my own office, Jack, my next surgical consult, is asking me questions.

00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.759
Your mortality rates?

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.879
He asks.

00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.519
I present my record.

00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:25.199
Decades of experience, a steady hand, results that have stood the test of time.

00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:29.360
The patient nods, appreciating the history and data.

00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.759
I do nothing without multiple opinions, Jack says.

00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.360
That's wise, I tell him.

00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.840
Many patients return after other consultations because my experience carries weight.

00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:50.720
Later, as I walk past Wickham's office, I notice that he's speaking with Jack.

00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.360
Wickham's voice is calm, precise, careful.

00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.799
He's talking about his own mortality statistics.

00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.759
Slightly higher than mine, but still within safe ranges.

00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.279
Then he moves on to what no one else has measured.

00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.200
My focus is recovery, Wickham says.

00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.919
On average, patients return to normal life two months faster.

00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:19.919
Less pain, fewer complications that linger beyond the hospital.

00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.240
This is what matters to you, isn't it?

00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.240
The patient listens, eyes widening.

00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:30.639
You can tell for the first time he imagines life after surgery.

00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.240
Not just survival.

00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.639
His questions about mortality fade into the background.

00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:39.840
He is drawn to the life he could regain.

00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.240
Not just the life he could keep.

00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.720
Down the hallway, I continue eavesdropping.

00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:50.320
My chest tightening slightly for some reason.

00:09:51.440 --> 00:10:01.600
I've been in the upper echelons of surgical prestige, yet here a younger surgeon, less experienced in years, is teaching the patient about things I hadn't considered.

00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.879
Ignoring most of the hellos and Dr.

00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:32.799
Hawthorne attempts at my attention, my mind is fixated on these new metrics.

00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.360
They don't seem right to me, and I can't seem to focus on anything else at the moment.

00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:39.600
I reach the hospital administrator.

00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:43.440
I'm not sure what came over me, but I forgot to even knock.

00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.320
Instead saying, Do you know Dr.

00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.240
Wickham is tracking statistics no one else in the industry measures?

00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.919
And he's sharing them with patients to draw them here.

00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:02.559
The administrator raises an eyebrow, the kind of look you often see from administrators and bureaucrats who don't understand your technical concerns.

00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.440
Yes, and it's wrong.

00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.320
We've tracked mortality rates for decades.

00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:20.000
If optimizing these new metrics starts to affect those rates, or even just appears to, what will happen to the hospital, to our doctors, to our reputation?

00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:23.440
The administrator leans back.

00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:25.120
Dr.

00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.200
Wakeham is trending in the right direction.

00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.759
His mortality rates aren't rising.

00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.759
In fact, he's improving outcomes.

00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.159
Why is this panic necessary?

00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:37.200
I slammed the desk.

00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.360
Because it's uncontrolled.

00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:46.639
We built a hospital with prestige on mortality rates, and now he's rewriting the rules.

00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000
The administrator remains calm, unconvinced by my fear.

00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.759
Most administrators are fed doom and gloom reports all day long.

00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.759
So they're like an impenetrable wall when it comes to emotional pleas.

00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:06.720
Perhaps it's time the rules reflected what patients actually care about, the administrator exclaims.

00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:12.799
Since mortality rates started as a measure, everyone has worked hard at making theirs exceptional.

00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.639
It's now hard to stand out as a hospital on that alone.

00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:19.679
We need something else to bring patients here.

00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.600
Rather than choosing to just go to their nearest hospital.

00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.120
In my opinion, Dr.

00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.679
Wickham is on to something good here, and his work is leading to lower costs for the hospital too.

00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.279
Less readmittance, less blood transfusion cost.

00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.919
I leave flustered, my chest tight, my mind racing.

00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.080
Am I a relic of the past?

00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.480
Is Wickham the future?

00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.840
Is my career hanging in the tension?

00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:59.840
It's been ten years since that day in the administrator's office.

00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:06.480
My career has reached terminal velocities since that day, and I've become a dinosaur.

00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:07.600
Dr.

00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.559
Wickham, on the other hand, is a star.

00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.960
He coined the term minimally invasive surgery.

00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:29.679
He's opened an institute to train others, creating culture where patient-centered measures drive practice by tracking data that matter to patients, not just what the industry measured.

00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.799
He has reshaped surgical priorities.

00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:39.440
And following that shift in value, he's reshaped the techniques that are used.

00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:46.080
Laparoscopic surgeries guided by cameras are now the norm rather than open surgeries.

00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.120
Training programs integrate these new methods.

00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:58.480
Mortality rates remain excellent, but recovery time, patient comfort, and long-term quality of life have become metrics surgeons cannot ignore.

00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.200
The field itself has bent.

00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.399
Most experienced practitioners are following reluctantly towards the values Dr.

00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.240
Wickham has championed.

00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:13.519
In fact, I'm stepping on a stage to present to a medical conference.

00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.799
Fifty surgeons seated in a medical theater designed for knowledge share.

00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:24.960
I've reached the tail end of my career and I have some lessons for those with decades left to go.

00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:29.120
Up on the stage, I begin my talk, opening up the conference where Dr.

00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:30.879
Wickham will speak later.

00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.360
While I'm a bit envious of Dr.

00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:45.120
Wickham, I'm also humbled that even though he was my junior and relied on my expertise at the beginning of his career, I had a privilege of working with a man who changed the entire industry.

00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.200
The lights dim and my presentation begins.

00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:51.039
I'm Dr.

00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.720
Reginald Hawthorne, 40 years as a surgeon.

00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.840
I should have seen this coming.

00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:00.240
I've been a doctor for decades.

00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:08.639
I've seen the evolution of surgical practice, recovery care, anesthesiological developments, diagnostic tooling developments.

00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.600
Nothing stays the same in this field forever.

00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.639
It's likely I should have been the one who saw what Dr.

00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.519
Wickham saw, and perhaps I did it one time.

00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:26.720
I just didn't care enough to experiment, to be a champion for the patients, and then once I had my data, campaign it across the industry.

00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:27.360
Dr.

00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:28.720
Wickham did.

00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.440
In fact, it's likely because I was focused in the wrong place.

00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:39.919
I was spending most of my available time honing my hands further, trying to make them legendary.

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:53.919
Unfortunately, due to my bullheadedness and not realizing there is a plateau on the mortality metric beyond which hands have no further influence, I spent decades focused on the wrong problem.

00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.600
Rather than my hands going down in the history book as a surgeon, Dr.

00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.879
Wickham will be known as the man who changed surgery.

00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:14.240
Focusing on getting us all to understand, for two doctors with the same mortality rates, the one who has patients recovering the fastest is the most skilled.

00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.639
He's an admirable man, Dr.

00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:17.440
Wickham.

00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:23.519
You all are in attendance to hear from him, and it's my great honor to open for him.

00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.200
But before that, I want to share something honest with you.

00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.480
Years ago, before all of this caught on, Dr.

00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:32.639
Wickham was working on this alone.

00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:37.600
When I found out about these metrics he tracked, I was distracted and I was upset.

00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.399
My mind wouldn't get off of why.

00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.679
My frustration all those years back is gone.

00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:46.559
I'm too old to change what I focused on.

00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:51.360
However, I would let this be a lesson to all those pursuing fields like medicine.

00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.440
Values shift.

00:16:53.759 --> 00:17:00.320
Keep your eyes open on ways to do things better rather than following the same metrics as everyone else.

00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:14.160
If you hear of a doctor doing something that gets you fixated, angry, or otherwise emotional, sit with it longer, calm down, rationalize, try to understand whether they are correct.

00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.720
I didn't do enough of that.

00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:17.920
Dr.

00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:28.400
Wickham is an anomaly, a man so focused on how to do things right, to track things that matter to patients, yet also a risk taker and a change maker.

00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.519
This industry needs less Dr.

00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:35.279
Reginald Hawthorns, and it needs more Dr.

00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:36.640
John Wickham's.

00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.039
And that was it.

00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:49.519
I stepped off the stage, considering it an honor to even be in the same event with my protege, my colleague, my friend, John Wickham.

00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:50.559
Dr.

00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.839
John Wickham.

00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.640
And that was the last bit I ever contributed to the medical field.

00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:01.920
I couldn't help but wonder who out there is the next Dr.

00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:02.799
Wickham.

00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.680
And how could they possibly change this field in the same way?

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.960
Well, we've arrived in California in the 1990s.

00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.440
I'm not sure how we keep bouncing around like this.

00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.680
We need to get all these train lines fixed.

00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:22.079
Anyway, we're drawing we're in the top of the digital age now.

00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.799
Computers, robots, it's changing everything.

00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.359
Every business magazine is full of this stuff.

00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.400
Oh look, we've arrived near another hospital.

00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:36.400
Anyone heading there for work?

00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.319
Please head out now.

00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.519
The hospital looks different than it used to.

00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:43.599
I used to work here as a surgeon.

00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:44.160
Dr.

00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.480
Mole, the patient is ready to see you.

00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.200
That used to ring a familiar sound here.

00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:53.680
The walls are smoother now, less color, less ornament.

00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.680
Technology hums everywhere.

00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:57.839
Monitors, carts, elevators.

00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:00.400
But the place still smells the same.

00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.039
Clean, sharp, faintly metallic.

00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:05.119
I've been here before.

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.079
Excuse me, Fred.

00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.599
Yes, I respond.

00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.680
They're ready for you now.

00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:13.680
I'm nervous.

00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:17.680
These people used to be my peers, but now we feel opposed.

00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:23.440
I take the stage and start the presentation not loudly, not forcefully, but carefully.

00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:29.039
These are smart, educated, dedicated professionals who have spent decades honing their craft.

00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.240
They won't take likely to change without reason.

00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:37.680
I'm here to describe the work of my company, Intuitive Surgical.

00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:44.240
We're working on building surgical robots that help surgeons become superhuman in their hands abilities.

00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.680
This presentation is to give a state of technology.

00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:55.119
It feels like there are 50 of them in the room, all peering into my soul, and I feel a bit weak, but I continue anyway.

00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:58.799
My name is Fred Mole, the founder of Intuitive Surgical.

00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:04.480
I'm a former surgeon who saw an opportunity for technology to augment surgical abilities.

00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.079
I left my role as a surgeon and became an entrepreneur.

00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:21.599
I raised funding, hired engineers, and guided by my experience as a surgeon, we built robots to help surgeons make cleaner incisions, have safer operations, and provide quicker recovery for their patients.

00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:27.680
Here's how the robots work a culmination of multiple different technologies.

00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.720
First, our engineers worked on tremor filtering.

00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.640
Every involuntary movement is detected and removed.

00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:37.359
Only intentional motion passes through.

00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.920
Next, they built micro motion scaling.

00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:50.960
Large hand movements become sub-millimeter actions inside the body, granting precision beyond what normal hands can do.

00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:01.200
Then we worked on having articulated instruments, ones that can operate at angles the human wrist can't reach without massive strain.

00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:08.079
And then, of course, we've been worried about redundancy and fail-safes.

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:11.759
If something goes wrong, the system stops before damage occurs.

00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.200
Surgeons all listen, but then then they resist.

00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.079
One surgeon doesn't raise his hand to his voice.

00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:19.839
He doesn't need to.

00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:23.359
His reputation fills the room before he speaks.

00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.279
He says, My outcomes are excellent.

00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:37.039
What he doesn't say, I don't want to relearn my craft.

00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:39.119
I don't want my advantage diluted.

00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:42.880
I don't want a machine standing between me and my identity.

00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:45.200
What he says instead?

00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.000
What happens if it fails inside a patient?

00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:56.960
I again describe the fail safes that I had just mentioned moments earlier, but it doesn't seem to be getting through.

00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.200
Perhaps because they don't care to hear it.

00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.480
The surgeon nods and then says, I don't see the problem that you're solving.

00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.720
And that's the end of it.

00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:14.319
They are all busy and they decide to go back to their planned operations, office hours, and normal day-to-day stuff.

00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.240
How could they not see the problem?

00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:20.079
Patients want small incisions, quick recovery, few complications.

00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:21.599
None of them see that?

00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:22.880
I was them.

00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:25.359
Am I really so different?

00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:40.480
I leave the meeting and go back to my teammate at the intuitive surgical headquarters.

00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.079
We refine the pitch, clarify the message, and adjust the language.

00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:45.200
Weeks pass.

00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.240
I meet another group of 50 or so surgeons.

00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:52.160
Same objections, different phrasing, exactly the same outcome.

00:22:52.400 --> 00:23:01.599
A committee wants more data, an administrator wants liability frameworks, marketing reframes the pitch, engineering iterates the system, money goes out, nothing comes in.

00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:06.400
Two months later, my financial investors ask, How are we doing?

00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.279
I have no answers that they want.

00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.640
Only that understanding of the market has improved.

00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.480
Which it has.

00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:20.559
But unfortunately, actual interest in the product has not.

00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.440
I asked for more time.

00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:30.880
They're obviously frustrated, but creation enough to provide more funding to continue.

00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:36.559
I go home that night, the looming failure weighing on my soul.

00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:43.680
At these conferences, it seems like the largest egos speak for the entire group, and I'm not certain whether their words are representative.

00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.559
I decide to meet with some surgeons one-on-one.

00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:09.119
And some ones which haven't heard about the technology yet.

00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:13.200
The initial meetings with the conference attendees aren't fruitful.

00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:23.359
It appears the opinions have been painted by the group already, aligning with what was already stated at the conference by the singular most vocal surgeons who resist the robots.

00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:24.799
But then there's Dr.

00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:25.599
Alvarez.

00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:33.119
My team had called his office and he was interested in talking because he likes to keep up with the technology.

00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:35.119
I do some research on him.

00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:40.319
His hands are steady, reliable, not legendary.

00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:43.599
I give him the same explanation as the conferences.

00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:51.759
Word for word, I talk about tremor filtering, micromotion scaling, articulated instruments, redundancy, and fail-safes.

00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.720
At each technology introduction, Dr.

00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.359
Alvarez leans forward and asks questions.

00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.440
How does it distinguish between a tremor and a small movement?

00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:04.960
Can the scaling be changed, or is it a set number?

00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.160
What sort of range do these articulated instruments have and what are their applications?

00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.799
The fail-safes are the most important.

00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:14.559
Make me feel good about them.

00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.680
Dread and fear race over my body.

00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.519
It seems like more of the same.

00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.559
I explain the fail-safes again, but then Dr.

00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.400
Alvarez says that's great.

00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:29.759
I realize these are not objections.

00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:31.680
They're invitations to say more.

00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:32.160
Dr.

00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:36.559
Alvarez asks about where he can test out the machines and get some initial training.

00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.599
I tell him we can set something up at the intuitive surgical headquarters for him to try it out and get trained.

00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:43.920
It's small, but it's something.

00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.400
Finally, 1% interest and 99% resistance.

00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:52.480
And that's enough to keep me going through all the fear.

00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:11.359
But I'm busy and there isn't much point in doing so if the hospital won't bring on one of your robots.

00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:14.079
I'd like to introduce you to the hospital administrator.

00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:18.960
Her name is Margaret Caldwell, and I can get you 15 minutes on her calendar.

00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.279
I appreciated that message from Dr.

00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.319
Alvarez.

00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.400
So I show up to the meeting early and I get my presentation ready.

00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:31.519
But Margaret isn't interested in surgical hands and the comparison to robots.

00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:36.079
She asks, What happens if the machine fails?

00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.559
Who carries the liability?

00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:40.640
What problem are we actually solving?

00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.960
I explain about fail safes.

00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:52.000
I don't have an answer about liability, but I'm happy to put in a legal framework that protects us both, as well as provide training to ensure staff use it properly.

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:58.240
As for the problem, I tell her patients value, quick recovery times, small incisions, and precise work.

00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:02.079
She listens, raising an eyebrow like administrators often do.

00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:03.839
Then she delays.

00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:08.559
She says she liked to run it against committees, reviews, and budgets.

00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.319
I leave.

00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.039
Getting in my car, I stare at the wheel and droop my head.

00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:16.720
I've blown it.

00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:21.519
I didn't give that administrator anything to make a decision on.

00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:26.000
So they deferred again to surgeons, and we're back in the same loop.

00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.440
More months pass, more money burns.

00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:32.720
I have no idea what to tell my investors at this point.

00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:36.880
I certainly didn't reach out to them proactively to deliver any news.

00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.319
The vinyl chairs are dull green.

00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:04.079
One has a crack down the middle.

00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:08.400
Taped over so many times it's no longer clear what color it was originally.

00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.319
The lights hum.

00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:13.039
A cleaning cart rolls past.

00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:19.039
I used to walk these halls with certainty.

00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:19.920
Dr.

00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:21.839
Mole, the surgeon.

00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.160
Now I wait in them.

00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:29.839
Feeling the same uncertainty as the people waiting for the news of loved ones' operations.

00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:35.119
The stakes are different for them and me, but the butterflies in my stomach feel the same.

00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:43.200
Across the room, families sit the way families always sit, folded inward, eyes fixed on doors that won't open.

00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.079
No matter how hard you stare.

00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:48.799
I know this posture.

00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.119
I've seen it from the other side.

00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:54.160
And the thought races through my mind.

00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:55.839
I could stop.

00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:58.480
I could go back.

00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:00.160
Operate.

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:02.559
Be certain again.

00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:05.039
No one would blame me.

00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:08.799
This entrepreneurial path was always fraught with peril.

00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:12.960
But then I think about those families and why they're here.

00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.400
Those people over there don't look happy.

00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:22.799
When Papa comes out of surgery, even if successful, he's not gonna be himself for a while.

00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.359
That's why waiting feels endless.

00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:27.279
That's why outcomes matter.

00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:28.799
And Dr.

00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:31.440
Alvarez suddenly pops into my mind.

00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:35.359
His questions, his curiosity.

00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:42.400
He's a like-minded doctor who wanted to surpass his physical limits for the benefit of his patients.

00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.119
He was my 1% hope.

00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:51.039
If he hadn't shown something to me that day, this would be the end.

00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:54.960
But hope never arrives as certainty.

00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:59.119
It arrives as interest in a possibility.

00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.160
And that interest sparks refusal.

00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:04.240
A refusal to quit.

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.119
So I'll stay at it.

00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:09.839
But I need a boost.

00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:12.400
I'm gonna call Dr.

00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:14.000
Alvarez again.

00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:18.319
So I type in his digits, but he's unavailable.

00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:21.839
Though he returns my calls a couple hours later.

00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:28.640
He says, Margaret told me the hospital can't justify the cost of your surgical robots.

00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:32.240
I think she doesn't know how to value the technology correctly.

00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:34.000
I tell Dr.

00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:37.599
Alvarez, there's no doubt I let you down there.

00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.559
I was talking surgical in that meeting.

00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:51.599
If I could get another 15 minutes with her, I'd talk about shorter stays, less blood transfusions, lower 30-day readmissions, less complications, and mortality rate improvements.

00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:53.920
That would be better.

00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.880
I'll get you 15 more minutes, Dr.

00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:58.720
Alvarez tells me.

00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:22.160
I say, trying to keep it casual to help my brain remember, not to get technical, but to talk more about benefits to the hospital.

00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:24.480
What has changed since the last time?

00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:25.839
She asked me.

00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:28.799
Last time I was in here, I made a mistake.

00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.680
I told you about the things that matter to surgeons.

00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:34.720
Of course, you deferred me to them for further review.

00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:41.279
Today I'd like to quickly run you through why you should value these robots through the lens of the hospital as a business.

00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:43.359
That would be great.

00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:50.720
I know we have to be technologically forward here at the hospital, but I get pitches that I don't know what to do with on the daily.

00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:52.240
Please go ahead.

00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:56.480
There are really five things these robots will improve for the hospital.

00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:16.880
Shorter stays after surgery, less blood transfusions due to smaller incisions that cause less blood leakage, lower 30-day readmissions, less complications due to the precision offered by the robot and the minimal exposure of the patient, and as always, the important mortality rate improvement.

00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:19.279
Those are certainly items we're interested in.

00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.559
Each of these increase our cost of patient care.

00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:30.400
If you can provide some numbers of expected changes in these categories, we can run it against our expected savings and see if it makes sense.

00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:31.920
I'd be happy to.

00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:33.759
I'll send them to you tomorrow.

00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:38.079
Can we meet again next week to review those numbers and see if they make any sense?

00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:39.599
I'd be happy to.

00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:40.319
Thank you.

00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:42.880
Looking forward to talking again in the future.

00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:43.920
Me too.

00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.599
Have a great day.

00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:26.000
We agreed that while the hospital may have some uncertainty in the numbers, they could also do a massive press release and get some positive exposure for the hospital by being forward-thinking about technology.

00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.920
And that was enough to persuade Miss Caldwell to take a leap.

00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:33.039
Obviously, due to his interest and support, Dr.

00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:35.200
Alvarez adopts first.

00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:41.440
His incisions shrink, his recovery times shorten, his patients go home earlier than expected.

00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:46.319
Those patients tell the others they know who are seeking surgery about their experience.

00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:49.119
Other hospital administrators notice this.

00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:52.160
Hospitals start marketing it as a service.

00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:55.440
Demand appears where resistance once lived.

00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:01.759
The legendary surgical hands don't vanish, but they're no longer the ceiling to a great career for people like Dr.

00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:02.640
Alvarez.

00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:07.519
The robot doesn't replace surgeons, it changes what skill means.

00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:12.480
The floor rises, the ceiling stretches, and the industry can't ever go back.

00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:27.360
As I sit waiting, now I realize something.

00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:32.480
Every era thinks it's reached the end of replacement, that nothing else could possibly matter more.

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:36.400
We had reputations, then we had outcomes, now we have precision.

00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:39.360
Then somebody asks a different question.

00:34:40.320 --> 00:35:58.079
So now I wonder who's sitting alone right now in a waiting room somewhere, refusing to quit, measuring something that no one else is ready to care about yet, and thinking about the new tools and innovations that will matter, and we'll be able to get the body.