Characteristics of The Safest Organizations

The safest organizations are the ones that behave as if they are Living Systems.

Most of us working in safety have been brought up to see organizations as if they are machine-like. This thinking goes all the way back to Descartes (1596-1650) and Newton (1642-1727). We use reductionist approaches to try to understand them. We seek cause/effect relationships. We use linear processes for training and the like, prescribing answers and doing things TO the people. We work on this part or that part trying to fix the whole thing.

It is a bit like a doctor who works on the stomach while another doctor works on the heart as if they are not connected in some way to the whole body, and have an impact on each other.

In this reductionist arena, we put a lot of effort and time into trying to reduce injury and illness rates to levels of excellence (<0.5) and sustain these levels. This is very hard, difficult and expensive.

Yet, over the last 50 or so years, scientists have been able (by using high-speed computers) to see the world and its patterns in wonderful new ways. We can see the whole of the organization – the connections of the various parts and the non-linear ways that they interact. We discover feedback loops and self-organization.

We are able to see the whole organization as if it is a living system.
All the people are vital parts to the success of the whole. We are able to share information freely, to learn together. Trust and interdependence build and the future can be co-created.

This is not just airy-fairy stuff! When I have used this approach to working with organizations to improve their safety and business performance, extraordinary results are achieved.

This is Operation Transformation for you and your organization, for Leaders and your people.

You each can begin to take steps in this direction by going into your organization, listening and talking with the people.

Find out what they think about the work they are doing and if they have some ideas about doing it in a better way. Help them to think through these ideas and, if they are good ideas, help them to bring them into reality. This simple process will begin to open things up to a better, safer, more productive future.