Napping at a Red Light

Tom was a pipeline operator, who worked rotating eight hour shifts. Tom was also an entrepreneur, who opened an ice cream store. Tom commuted thirty miles one way to the pipeline facility. Tom did not get enough sleep.

What is enough sleep? Most adults need seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep every day. Most adults don’t get that much sleep. I did an informal survey with a group of teenagers last week. Two get eight hours of sleep per night, three got seven, three got six, and two got five. That says a great deal about our society.

If you’re a shiftworker, the changes in shifts that occur every week disrupt your sleep patterns. Some people have difficulties sleeping in the daytime. From personal experience, one can develop a sleep deficit over time. On day shift once a month, I did not sleep well. After evening shift, I could not go to sleep as soon as I got home. Then I would want to sleep longer in the morning. After midnight or graveyard shift, I would be very tired, but would wake up after two or three hours.

Tom, with his entrepreneurial spirit, wanted to make the most of his time away from the pipeline job. As a result, he developed a unique napping strategy. When he had to stop at traffic lights, he would close his eyes for a few minutes. He said that someone would blow the horn and wake him when the light turned green. This is not a recommended way for managing fatigue, but it does demonstrate the measures the body takes when it is fatigued. So the next time someone doesn’t immediately move at a green light, show a little kindness because it may be a shiftworker, who needs a little longer nap.

Posted September 20th, 2006 in Managing Fatigue

Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

Glynn Daniel, our boss, told Bennie and me to “let our conscience be our guide.” That has stuck with me for thirty years. At the time, however, it had little effect on twenty-year olds who worked hard at pipeline construction and played hard most of the night at personal destruction.

The trouble with the statement, for a twenty-year old, is that my conscience was not well developed. My decisions and behaviors were of little concern to me. Looking back, I think Glynn was probably only in his thirties. Maybe the conscience starts guiding sometime after one gets married and has a child or two. When one feels and assumes responsibility for others, one begins seeking guidance.

There’s a simple risk assessment technique that is usually used in safety practices on the job. I learned it at a risk management course, conducted by DNV, Inc. It can help us check our conscience by asking five questions, before we do a task, take some action, or change something:
1. Why am I doing it at all?
2. What could go wrong?
3. How could it affect me or others?
4. How likely is it to happen?
5. What can I do about it?

Here’s a personal example. After setting up a home office, I was in the office the first few months as a consultant. My previous work had required travel about half the time. My wife was not used to me being home. This required some adjustments for both of us. One day, she said something that upset me.

Before I responded with a sharp retort, I asked myself, “Self, why am I about to say this?” Because I’m upset. “What could go wrong?” Several things can go wrong. “How likely is it to happen?” There’s a high probability. “How could it affect me or others?” It could affect both of us negatively. “What can I do about it?”
Keep my mouth shut. Asking and answering the questions was a good strategy for me. How could they help you?

Perhaps, I’ve learned something about letting my conscience be my guide, even if it took thirty years.

Posted September 20th, 2006 in Observations, Operational Excellence

Hope – A Seed of Excellence

“Dum spiro, spero. As long as I breathe, I hope.” That Latin proverb emphasizes the importance of hope. At the Kids’ Philosophy Slam, the question posed to the children was, “Which is more powerful, fear or hope?” Elsie, an eight-year old, replied, “Hope is like a gentle breeze, and fear is an icy, biting wind.” (Source: Utne, Sep-Oct, 2006)

How do we provide hope for Elsie? When I was a child, we lived for a time in Hopeful, Georgia. I sometimes wonder if the people who first settled there had come from a place of fear, looking for a new start in a place where hope could thrive. I’ve passed through Hopeful, Georgia many times since my childhood, and the words on the sign help me be more hopeful. We need reminders to remain hopeful, since the world is filled with things that cause fear.

I read a brief editorial in The Wall Street Journal recently. It speaks of Naguib Mahfouz, who was stabbed in the neck in 1994 by someone who took offense at a religious allegory Mahfouz had written forty years earlier. He said, “It became apparent to me that between me and death there was censure, but that I was condemned to hope. Mahfouz died recently, of natural causes, at age 94. We need people who remind us that we should remain hopeful, even though there are many reminders of censure.

I believe hope is a seed of excellence is because excellence in life and operational excellence in pipelines will never be achieved unless someone or some people provide a message of hope. That does not mean one can just hope, and not do anything to improve. Hope provides the starting point in getting started on the road to excellence. A person filled with despair, disenchantment, and fear can get stuck, wring one’s hands, and gnash one’s teeth. The same is true for an organization.

When someone, filled with hope, believes that life can be better and begins working to make it better, then that seed can be sowed along the path that is taken. As hope flourishes and excellence sprouts, fear does not seem so powerful. As long as I breathe, I hope. That’s neat!

Posted September 14th, 2006 in Seeds of Excellence