A Culture of Fatalism

Posted September 26th, 2005

Daniel Henninger, in The Wall Street Journal, on September 23 quotes Fred Smith, who says a “culture of fatalism” exists about corruption in Louisiana. People believe nothing can be done about the corruption that evidently has existed in the state for years. Whether that is true or not, I do not know.

I do know that excellence cannot be achieved if a culture of fatalism exists in an organization. In my work with a pipeline company, a belief once existed that we were going to have errors and accidents that caused spills and threatened public safety. We spent most of our time, energy, and resources preparing to be good emergency responders and spill cleanup professionals. I often wondered why we didn’t spend as much time preventing spills as we spent getting ready for spills response.

It was only when leadership and employees began believing that all spills and errors and accidents were preventable that the culture of fatalism began to die. The belief led to actions, prevention programs, and attitudes that the most important responsibility was the protection of the people, the environment, and employees.

I don’t know what will be done about the culture in Louisiana, but I know that fatalism and lethargy can be replaced with faith and action.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2005 at 7:34 pm and is filed under In the News, Operational Excellence.