Sitting in front of the drafting table, I ask him for an example.
“A really important day for me was in high school, when my history
teacher gave us an assignment. Placing a candle in front of us, he asked us
to describe it with one word descriptions, giving us only five minutes to
come up with as many words as possible. The words just kept coming to
me, and I was writing them as fast as I could. When the time was up, my
classmates revealed that they had come up with 15, 20, or 25 words. The
teacher looked at me, and I told him 225 words. That’s when I realized I
have a different way of thinking about things.”^3
This example of “ideaphoria,” or the high flow of ideas, is
characteristic of the creative problem-solvers in all branches of business
and medicine. Combined with Schmieding’s advanced spatial reasoning
and artistic bent, Arthrex has been on the cutting edge of surgeon
education from its inception. Because Arthrex was born at the advent of
arthroscopy, practicing surgeons had not been trained in arthroscopy
during their residencies. What was needed was a company that could
provide practical teaching to surgeons who were reluctant to look
awkward with the completely new technology in their hands.
What may not be obvious to the lay-reader is that arthroscopic surgery
is a wholly different set of technical skills, with angled mirrors on the end
of lenses that tilt the perspective on the television screen. It’s like backing
up a car using the rearview camera on your dashboard the first time—
things work in reverse, and a lifetime of using your eyes is of no use. In
time, we all become accustomed to using the technology, but no proud
surgeon wants to look like a fool, or worse, put their patient at risk, while
conquering a new skill.
Arthrex, while still a young company, began hosting skills labs and
producing artwork that was vastly superior to its competitors. When I was
a sports medicine fellow in Los Angeles in 2002, I was gifted an entire
collection of animated surgical DVDs from Arthrex, years before any other
orthopedic implant company could try and match them. The artwork has
always come at great expense, but directly stems from Reinhold’s artistic
sensibilities, and in my estimation, has paid great dividends for our
patients. It also has been a great business decision, and I have always
been mystified when other surgical companies skimp on their educational
budgets. Reinhold tells me, “What made it necessary is what made it
great.”