This 2-Minute Monday Personal Injury Mindset for Healthcare Offices is about ego getting in the way of your decision making and as a result hindering your success while increasing your exposure.
2MMM: Avoid the Lemon Juice Problem, Putting Ego Aside
Here’s a true story.
A criminal named Wheeler once robbed two banks with lemon juice smeared all over his face, fully convinced it made him invisible to security cameras. His logic? Lemon juice works as invisible ink. So of course it would hide him from surveillance cameras. Not only was he perfectly visible on every bank camera, he smiled directly at them, confident his plan was foolproof.
When police arrested him using the footage, his shocked response was: “But I wore the juice!”
That case let psychologists to identify the Dunning-Kruger effect … the tendency for people to wildly overestimate their competence.
Now. It’s easy to laugh at Wheeler … until you realize business owners do this every day in the medical profession, especially in personal injury with all the medi-legal decisions. Telling yourself things like:
“I don’t need a detailed lien agreement because we trust each other.”
Result: six figures lost.
“This bill reduction will be a one-off, and they’ll make it up later.”
Result: the same low ball offers and payments across thirty more patient PI bills.
“We’ve done it this way for years.”
Result: a board complaint, an audit, fines and even license suspension.
Like Wheeler’s lemon juice, these assumptions feel logical, until reality proves them catastrophically wrong.
The issue isn’t ignorance. It’s misplaced certainty.
You build a successful practice by trusting your instincts. But medi-legal work plays by different rules, with nuances that blindside even seasoned doctors and office managers.
Most people think the biggest risks are external. In reality, they’re internal: ego, fear and overconfidence. Remember, you’re building something bigger than yourself.
Don’t let lemon juice logic cost you real, sustained success, and achieving the lofty goals you really want to achieve.
