Beyond Medicine: Lessons From IKEA Furniture
The greatest trick IKEA ever pulled?
Convincing us to buy furniture…
That you have to assemble yourself!
“You’ll feel a sense of pride,” they said.
“A sense of achievement,” they said.
Bah Humbug!
The real reason?
It saves you money.
Now, that is a concept I can get behind.
Oh yes, I am familiar with IKEA assembly.
From medical student to resident and then fellow, I have moved more times than I care to remember.
Apartments.
Houses.
Then back to apartments. (APT..APT…)
At this point, I think I could qualify as a moving specialist, in addition to being an allergist immunologist
I’ll let you in on the secret I learnt
The secret to IKEA furniture isn’t just assembly.
It is disassembly.
Put it together.
Take it apart.
Move it.
Put it together again.
Rinse, Repeat.
Over the years, those savings $$$ add up.
I still find it amazing that many pieces of IKEA furniture can be built with little more than a hand tool!
I still keep those allen keys with me!
So how did I end up on the clinic floor today?
Our privacy screen had become a little shaky.
“Oh no, what do we do?”
“Leave it to me.”
A few turns of a trusted Phillips screwdriver later…
Back to doing its job.
Medicine teaches you many things.
But it does not teach you everything.
Sometimes, life teaches you skills you never expected to need.
Jack of all trades, master of none…
…but still better than a master of one
