One Person ’ s SWOT Analysis of Our Society

This is my pentultimate piece for the “President’s Message” section of the Interchange. As such, I thought it was appropriate to provide a “one person’s analysis” of where we are as a Society and what may lie ahead. I have chosen to present my thoughts in the format of a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-OpportunitiesThreats) analysis of the ASCCA and the landscape we reside within. The SWOT may produce some findings of concern, but it is far worse not to be prepared than it is to make an honest assessment and take stock of one’s path. A SWOT analysis can be broken down into two broad categories. The Strengths and Weaknesses components serve as an internal assessment, whereas the Opportunities and Threats sections are to help assess the external environment. Please keep several important things in mind. First, a SWOT analysis is not the problem or the solution, but merely a tool to help identify areas for improvement. There are limitations to all performance improvement approaches (e.g., SWOT, Lean Sigma), and in this case this SWOT is also limited by being a single individual’s analysis. I hope that despite this and other limitations to a SWOT approach (some find the method too simplistic), it can help the Society and the practice of anesthesia-based critical care move forward.