NEW BOOK REVIEW! By AIAMC Board Member, Theresa Azevedo-Rousso, MPA
Book Review: What Matters Next by Kate O’Neill
Theresa Azevedo-Rousso |Member AIAMC Board of Directors & Co-Chair National Initiative X
Kate O’Neill’s What Matters Next: A Leader’s Guide to Making Human-Friendly Tech Decisions in a World That’s Moving Too Fast (2025) is a timely and transformative guide for leaders at the crossroads of technology, ethics, and human experience. As a leader in medical education, I found this book not only relevant but essential for shaping the future of medical education amid rapid digital changes and transformation.
Why I Choose This Book
In choosing a book for this review, I naturally gravitated toward artificial intelligence-related topics yet also wanted something that would help me make technological decisions with the confidence of a leader who is walking into a strategic planning session with right amount of caffeine to change the world.
Intersection of Strategic & Human Centric
O’Neill’s central thesis is that leaders must make tech decisions that are strategic and human-centric, a message that resonates deeply with the mission of medical education. Her credibility in bridging technology and strategy is well established, including her role as one of the first 100 employees at Netflix, where she helped shape the company’s early digital strategy. O’Neill calls herself a digital translator, a skill she learned to align and communicate the organization’s business needs to the technology teams while also relaying complex areas from the technology teams to the business teams. Such experience lends credibility to her insights into scaling technology while preserving human values.
What Matters Now-Next Action Plan
Early in the book, O’Neill lays the groundwork for change by introducing the Insights Foresights Model, which reminded me of themes from Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model that is organized into five overarching phases: inquiry, gathering, synthesis, context mapping, and decision point. O’Neill introduces a tactical framework for developing a three-step What Matters Next action plan. As educators, we appreciate the cognitive simplicity of threes in storytelling, design, and communication such as “See one, Do one, Teach one” for procedural learning or “Ask, Tell, Ask” for delivering feedback. O’Neill’s three steps are: 1) Assess the known and the unknown, 2) Identify learning opportunities, and 3) Create your now-next action plan. The last step balances immediate actions (now) with strategic planning for the future (next), which is perfect for leaders who are constantly asked to “think big” while also “just getting it done by Friday.”
O’Neill’s approach encourages leaders to move beyond reactive decision making, which often leads to delays, confusion, and the occasional existential crisis, and instead focus on values driven strategy. Her insights challenge us to rethink how we integrate digital platforms, simulation, and data analytics into our clinical learning environments without losing sight of the human beings at the center: our learners, faculty, and patients.
In summary, What Matters Next is a must read for medical education leaders committed to shaping a future that is not only technologically advanced but also deeply humane. It equips us with the language, frameworks, and courage to lead with empathy and foresight in an era of exponential change. And if it helps us survive our next strategic planning retreat with grace and a sense of humor, all the better!
About Theresa Azevedo-Rousso, MPA: Regional Senior Director & DIO, Undergraduate and Graduate Medica Education | Institute for Medical education at Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Oakland, CA. Recently completed MIT Sloan School of Management Executive Program Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy.