Prepared for Emergencies

The youth in my class were discussing what they wore to church.  Most of the girls were wearing dresses; most of the boys had on shorts and polo shirts.  But Toby had on a suit, looking dapper.  The girls complimented him, and said, “Boys wear basketball shorts all the time.”  Toby replied, “I have basketball shorts under my suit.”  When I asked why, he said, “You never know when an emergency opportunity to play basketball will happen.”

I loved that answer!  It occurred to me that most people and most businesses do not consistently prepare for emergencies.  When I worked for a company that had some petroleum spills, we regularly trained and drilled for emergency responses.  And we kept our equipment maintained and prepared for emergencies.  We were good!  But we eventually took actions to prevent spills, instead of regularly responding to emergencies.

Did we remain prepared for emergencies?  Not really.  Why?  Some believed it was not necessary, since we were not having emergencies.  As a result, we were no longer good at emergency response.  We should have been like Toby.  You never know when an emergency is going to occur, so you should always be prepared.

Posted June 23rd, 2009 in Leadership, Observations

“I Wish I Was 55,” Updated to “It Is What It Is”

In 2007, I wrote how people at one company often said, “I wish I was 55, because I can get my pension and other retirement benefits.”   In 2009, the company and many companies have eliminated some retirement benefits, such as health insurance, and reduced salaries, 401K contributions, and other compensation.   Now employees are saying they will have to work till they are 65.

I wonder what leaders of companies believe is accomplished by aggravating and discouraging employees.  When employees respond to all these changes by saying, “It is what it is;”  how does that contribute to achieving excellence.

On a positive note, I interviewed some pipeline controllers at a natural gas pipeline company last week.  They said their company provides excellent support for their job and the management appreciates the work of controllers.   That is wonderful!

Posted June 15th, 2009 in Leadership, Operational Excellence

Linked and Connected or Not

One issue about pipelines often bothered me.  The physical part of the pipeline had to be completely connected, in order to have “system integrity.”  Each piece of pipe and every fitting was joined together. Disconnects will defeat the purpose of the pipeline; there will be leaks of hazardous liquids or gas.  It is critical to be completely connected.

But organizations divided its people into areas, districts, and/or locations.  These divisions did not always link together like the pieces of pipe. Why was that?  One reason is that companies still divide people into groups geographically, functionally, or into teams.  As a result, these divisions compete rather than collaborate.  They do not communicate or they miscommunicate.  Someone told me their company is worse at communication now than they were ten years ago.  Could that be true of other companies?

Posted June 14th, 2009 in Human Factors, Leadership, Observations