ABSTRACT
Helen Chan, manager in the operating rooms of a busy metropolitan hospital, started explaining how the day had been for her. She summed it up by saying ‘it’s a Friday and it feels like a Monday,’ implying that a number of things had gone wrong that morning. Later in the day, a surgeon in one OR had asked Helen for a drink of cola; she provided him with what he wanted because she knew that particular surgeon could become quite temperamental if things did not go his way. Some way into the session, the manager met the surgeon in the hallway and asked if the soda had made him feel better. He replied that the morning was progressing well. Helen smiled, thereby indicating to him that she was pleased he was having a good day; and reinforcing to herself that it was important to check that everything was going well for the surgeon.
