IntroSpect -- an Important Concept for a People in Crisis

I have been looking at things that go wrong for almost all of my adult life, and I have been drawn deeper and deeper into this fascinating field almost daily.

Looking back, however, I think the most significant thing I've learned as I've confronted the many issues surrounding the "failures" of our lives is the need for:

INTROSPECTION instead of BLAME

As you continue reading, imagine a world where everyone looked at themselves as part of their problems instead of blaming other people and things.

Let's say something goes wrong in your life.  It could be anything.  You could be involved in trying to launch a space shuttle, and it exploded in mid-air causing 7 people's death.  You could be mayor of a city with staggering murder statistics.  You could be a hospital administrator who has just been notified of a medication error that resulted in a death.   

Or you could be a homeowner whose new drone crashed-landed.  That's what happened to me, and I'll use it as an example of what IntroSpect asks people to do.

I received a new drone for Christmas. 

A month or so after I got the drone, an incident occurred when I was flying it.  One of the propellers suddenly broke apart when it was flying and the drone crash landed.

In trying to understand the causes of my drone failure, the first thing I did was to gather a lot of evidence.  I'll not say anything more about the evidence-gathering process -- that's a subject for another blog.

After gathering all the evidence, the next thing I wanted to know was HOW the propeller broke.   They key word is HOW – a focus on the PHYSICS, or MECHANICS of the event.  

I determined that a shroud that normally protects the one of the propellers had flexed too much while aloft and came in contact with the propeller – shattering the propeller.

Please note that this would be the same step no matter what the incident:  a space shuttle explosion, a murder on the streets of a city with staggering murder statistics, a medication error in a hospital that led to a death, or whatever.  I've learned the importance of UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSICS (or how) FIRST.

Now here is where it get’s REALLY interesting.

Now that I’ve understood the PHYSICS (or the HOW), I’d now ask:

What did I do that ALLOWED OR ENABLED the Physics?

Another way of asking this question is:  who did what wrong that allowed or enabled the physics?  

In the case of the drone failure, sure at this point I could stop and simply BLAME the incident on the manufacturer.  After all, they DID have a role.  But what good does it do ME to merely BLAME the manufacturer?  Is that why this incident happened to me -- to teach me to BLAME other entities for my problems?  Am I to take no ownership whatsoever for the problems in my life?

In the case of the shuttle explosion, "who did what wrong within the shuttle launch organization?"  In the case of the murder in a city with high murder statistics, "who did what wrong within the city (administrators, police, or whoever)?"  In the case of the medicinal error in the hospital," who did what wrong" that led to this error?"

Getting back to the drone, what did I do that allowed or enabled the physics?

Well, I'll admit that I flew the drone in wind conditions that were too high! That was my role.

These kinds of "admissions" are always a part of the IntroSpect process.  And there is always more than 1 person that needs to make this kind of admission.   As I suggested before, if I involved the drone manufacturer in this process, they might have admitted “we manufactured our drones with protective shrouds that are too flimsy.”

But let’s focus on me right now so I can show you the POWER of what’s next.  Remember, I flew the drone in wind conditions that were too high!

Now here is where it get’s REALLY, REALLY interesting.

Why did I do what I did?  Why does anybody do anything?  Isn’t it true that everything we do is caused by the THOUGHTS going through our mind at the time we did it?  Think about that, and you’ll see how simple all this really is.  

So “what thoughts WERE going through my mind when I decided to fly my drone that windy day?”  Well, something like: 

I’ve been waiting to fly this drone on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get some spectacular shots ever since I got this drone.  THIS IS THE DAY!  It’s a bit windy, but this is a good drone.  It can handle it.

Think about where this would take YOU if you did this on a problem that occured in your life.  Think about the space shuttle example, the murder in the city, the hospital where the medical error occurred -- in ALL these cases there were people who did something because of specific THOUGHTS that went through their minds at a particular point in time.

My next question will take me to another place – it will be a major step towards personal growth, because now I will ask myself:  

What thoughts SHOULD have been going through my mind that would have AVOIDED this incident in the first place?

I guarantee that if you ask yourself this question as a result of something that has gone wrong in your life where you, yourself were part of its causes, this question will cause you to STRUGGLE!  Things that go wrong in our lives should always cause us to STRUGGLE.

In the case of my drone, I struggled and struggled and finally realized that I SHOULD have thought:

Although I’ve been waiting since Christmas to fly this drone on the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s a bit too windy to try it today -- and it’s probably even more windy aloft.  I think I remember reading that we’re not supposed to fly it in high wind conditions, so I’ll wait for a better day.

Now it's time for me to reflect on 1) what I ACTUALLY thought, versus 2) what I SHOULD have thought.

Actual thoughts versus desired thoughts -- actual thoughts versus desired thoughts.  I need to DWELL on this, and then move on to answering…

What is it about the way I am that is evident in these thoughts?

Imagine doing this every time something went wrong in your life!  Imagine what would happen if EVERYONE involved asked these kinds of questions, each time something went wrong -- over and over.

Imagine an organization that launches rockets into space doing this, and the city that is experiencing high murder statistics, or the hospital that is plagued with medical errors.  Imagine your family doing this.

We are a people in crisis -- a crisis of blame and misunderstanding.  No-one is listening to one another.  We all have our own agendas.  

Things that go wrong are the ONLY phenomena of life that are capable of prying each of us out of our own biases -- as long as we're willing to abide by ONE GOLDEN RULE:

Let's all stop blaming other people and things, and instead started looking at ourselves as part of our problems.

Latent Cause Analysis -- NOT What You Might Think

I wish we would have thought of something different to call our approach to learning from things that go wrong, because Latent Cause Analysis sounds like what one might find when looking for "latent organizational weaknesses," and the two would not be more different.

Let me tell you a short story to help you understand its essence.

A family was eating dinner together. It was Friday evening, and it was part of their tradition to eat ice cream for dessert on Friday’s. The father got up to get the ice cream, and discovered there was not enough left for everyone to eat. The mom said “no worries – if you clean the dishes while I’m gone, I’ll go down to the store and get some more ice cream – I’ll be back in 15 minutes.” So she went to the store and bought the ice cream, and then got back into her car for the short drive home.

She approached an intersection and the traffic light turned red. She stopped the car to wait for the green light. But when she rolled to a stop, the car started idling VERY ROUGH. Two seconds later, it stalled.

She thought “OH NO, NOT AGAIN!” She tried to start it, and it wouldn’t start. She kept cranking the engine. It wouldn’t start. She was the first car at the light when the light turned green, but she couldn’t start the car! There were about 15 cars behind her, waiting to get through the light. They all started getting impatient. Some of them started honking their horns. Others passed her, and were not very happy.

Someone finally helped her push the car to the side of the road and then drove her back home. Of course, by this time, the ice cream melted. Even worse, of course, the mom was obviously distraught. When she finally got home, the whole family was anxious to hear where she had been, and when they heard what had happened they were sorry to hear of her experience. But they were all aware of the PRINCIPLES OF Latent Cause Analysis and jumped right into it as follows:

First, as soon as mom rested a bit and was ready to talk about what had happened, the whole family got together and sat around the table. They talked about the incident and HOW it had happened.

They all heard that the car had STALLED at the traffic light, and then each had remembered that the car had been STALLING for a number of weeks – each time getting a bit harder to start. Everyone remembered smelling GASOLINE when trying to start the car. Although the family couldn’t agree on the CAUSES of the stalling, they certainly could agree that there were some things about THEMSELVES that contributed to the mom’s dilemma.

That, dear reader, is the essence of Latent Cause Analysis -- seeing yourself as part of the problems around you instead of blaming other people and things.

Let me make it perfectly clear that in a Latent Cause Analysis, the first thing that’s usually focused on is the HOW, or the PHYSICS of the event. I’m going to skip that part of the Latent Cause Analysis for the purpose of this article to focus on WHAT’S DIFFERENT about Latent Cause Analysis, and what’s different is TWO QUESTIONS:

The first question this family would answer is "What is it about the way we ARE that contributed to this event," starting with the words “WE TEND TO…… “ and ending with “AND WE KNOW THIS IS NOT GOOD.”

The second question, and the LIFE CHANGING QUESTION, is "What is it about the way I AM that contributed to this event," starting with the words "I TEND TO...." and ending with "AND I KNOW THIS IS NOT GOOD."

Finally, each person would be asked what they intend to do about the way they are – and state their answers in front of everyone.

Imagine doing this in YOUR home! Imagine doing this at work! Don't think it can work?

Try it! The people and organizations that have tried this are flabbergasted at the results. Listen to some of their comments at:

http://www.failsafe-network.com/testimonials

The Pickle Juice Analogy

A few years ago I was working with an affiliate whose name was Rob Statham (www.goosebear.com).  Rob is a master at creating analogies.  My favorite of his is one about pickle juice.

He said something like:

People are like cucumbers who have been immersed in pickle juice.  No matter where a person lives, no matter what that person does, s/he is being influenced by the pickle juice.  It’s not their “fault,” in fact they have no choice.  It’s there and they are immersed in it.

It’s interesting what happens when something goes wrong.  We find the former cucumber, pull it out of the pickle juice, and then complain that the cucumber has turned into a pickle.  How dare you are a pickle!  We hired a cucumber.  You’re fired!

Most distressingly, what most companies do is look for a new cucumber to insert into that same pickle juice. 

Insanity!

The pickle juice is, of course, the culture – a way of life of a group of people – the attitudes, beliefs, values, and assumptions that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed on by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

When things go wrong, let’s focus more on the pickle juice and less on the cucumbers.

The Value of the Intangible

The Value of the Intangible

A few months ago, I wrote briefly about a conversation with a client, where he suggested that Failsafe had better focus on helping its clients "feed the beast" or we'll start losing our clients.  That conversation happened almost a year ago, and it's been on my mind ever since.

In essence, he was talking about focusing on "the measurable bottom-line" -- that everything we do ought to be a slave to that indicator.

A few weeks ago, my daughter shared a Robert Kennedy video she saw on Ted Talks that caused her to want to share her feelings about related issues.  I hope you enjoy her comments.  I did.

Please read her thoughts, and then my final commentary.

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I recently graduated with my Mechanical Engineering Degree.  I remember going through my rigorous program at Virginia Tech solving complex problems using differential equations, completing analyses with self-coded programs, and using the solutions I came up with to reinvent my design at hand.  Why am I telling you this?  I love numbers.  I believe in mathematics.  In my college years I believed any problem could be solved with some sort of analysis involving numbers, because numbers matter! 

As my education progressed, I became increasingly interested in the concept of Root Cause Analysis in which my father had dedicated his life.  So one day during my senior year, I asked my dad if he could take me to Alaska, not just to check out the moose, but to see him teach a live audience on his methodology of Root Cause Analysis, which Failsafe calls Latent Cause Analysis.

Prior to my Alaska trip, I wanted to solve world problems utilizing numbers.  After my trip, I struggled with my passion for numbers and a realization of a profoundly deeper truth:

You can measure the tangible all day long, and hope for results, but the only true way to change anything is through the intangible.

The other day, while listening to Ted Talks, I came across a speech by Robert F. Kennedy from March 18, 1968.  I believe is more important today, than ever:

When I heard this, I had chills running up my spine. 

“… it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.   And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”

Our perceptions need to change.  We are focusing on the wrong things.  We need to realize that focusing on the intangible will inevitably affect the tangible.

I am fortunate that I was able to come into Failsafe Network to remind me on a daily basis that although numbers are important, there is something more significant in life.   It is the intangible - the feelings, thoughts, ideas, and emotions - that make life worthwhile. 

Failsafe’s investigative methodology of Root Cause Analysis focuses on not only the physics of an event, but also on the untouchable and the abstract.  We believe that the truest value of everything lies within the intangible.  

Jessica Nelms Hall

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As Robert Kennedy said, our gross national product includes monies spent on our prisons, wars, ammunitions, advertising campaigns for cigarettes, ambulance and emergency room services for gunshot wounds, and the like.

Just as measuring our gross domestic product is a misleading indicator of our nation's success, focusing on corporate profits (or the bottom line) is an equally misleading indicator of corporate success.

After all, what happens to our intangible values when we focus our souls on the wrong thing?

At Failsafe, we are in the business of helping people learn from things that go wrong. Over the years, we have discovered that it's our values, attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions about life that cause ALL our problems.

What is it about the way I am that contributes to the problems around me: Part 2

In my last blog post, I told you a story about my DELAYED and almost TOO-LATE decision to install a standby generator for our mountain home.  My wife had experienced a serious loss of power in sub-zero weather that was life-threatening.  We had similar experiences in the past, but never with such potentially disastrous consequences.

In trying to "practice what I preach," I tried looking at myself as part of that problem and I did not like what I saw.  I shared my conclusions about myself in the last blog post.

In this article, the story continues.  

We picked a contractor to install the generator, and together decided that the fuel for the generator would have to be propane.  The installer suggested to obtain a second, dedicated propane tank for the generator.  We already have a propane tank that supplies fuel for heat for our home, but this propane thank would have to be located in a different area -- an area near the new generator.

Both my wife and I didn't like the idea of an above-the-ground tank located so close to the house (and also close to a road where hunters sometimes get rambunctious with their guns,), so we decided to bury the tank.

I remember thinking:

I'll use my backhoe to dig the hole and save some money.  Besides, it sounds like fun.  It's supposed to be 6 feet deep, 8 feet long, and 3 feet wide.  I've never dug that big a hole before.

I told the contractor that I would dig the hole.  We brainstormed and decided on the best location for the tank.  I marked the area.  The contractor then told me I'd better call "Miss Utility" to mark any power or phone lines in the area -- even though we both knew that those lines were far from the intended dig.  We also looked around for anything else that might be buried underground.  The only thing we could think about was "sewer lines."  I remember saying aloud, to the contractor:

Why would a sewer line be located in this direction when the septic tank is in the opposite direction?

The contractor agreed.

As requested, I scheduled Miss Utility to come to the site.  They marked the public power and phone lines.  As suspected, the lines were far from the dig.  We were totally safe.

The next Saturday, I started the dig.  But on the second draw of the bucket I saw a grayish-looking "hose" emerge from the ground.

Nuts.  I have placed garden hoses in this area before when we used to have a vegetable garden.  It's probably a garden hose.  But I'd better stop and make sure.

I turned off the backhoe, got off, and carefully examined the "hose."  It was not a hose.  It was plastic conduit!  As soon as I saw that it was conduit, I remembered thinking:

Oh no!  That's the line to our satellite internet connection!  I forgot that they ran that line right through this area!

The satellite internet system is very low voltage, so I was not too concerned about myself or someone else getting electrocuted.  But this was our satellite line!

I hope I didn't sever the satellite internet line!

I ran inside the house and looked at my smartphone.  NO SIGNAL. 

Gees!  I severed the line!

I told my wife what happened.  She was annoyed.  I guess I don't blame her.

Didn't you remember that they buried the line right there?   Didn't you see the Satellite Dish?

But the dish was behind our blueberry bushes and could not be seen from where I was.  "Out of sight, out of mind."  She helped me uncover the conduit until we found the severed line.  We pulled it out of the way and I continued digging.

I'll deal with the severed line after I dig this hole.

About 30 minutes later, and about 4 feet down after another pull, I saw pieces of a large, white PVC pipe that I had apparently broken.

Good grief.  That looks like a sewer line!  But it can't be an active line.  Look how far away from the house it is!  I'll bet it's from the old septic system.

I got off the backhoe again, and went into the house and asked my wife to flush a toilet.  I ran outside to look at the severed pipe, and about a minute after she flushed the toilet the water ran out of the pipe!

What!  It's a live line?  What in the heck is the sewer line doing all the way over here!  I'm going to have to stop everything and repair that line or we won't be able to use our bathrooms!

Three hours later, after a frantic trip to town to buy materials, and after a messy, sloppy, disgusting repair job, we called it a day (yes, my wife was out there with me for moral support). 

Now, to practice what I preach.

What follows is an application of our Investigative process to this real-life problem at home.  Some of the terminology might be foreign to you, but most is self-explanatory.  

Actual Behavior:  When digging with a backhoe, I hit a satellite cable and sewer line.

Desired Behavior:  When digging with a backhoe, I avoided the satellite cable and sewer line.

Sequence of Events Leading to the Actual Behavior:

• Decided to install a standby generator at our home.
• Decided to bury the propane fuel tank.
• Before digging, I had “miss utility” map out public power and phone line.
• I could not think of anything else, so I dug.

Triggering Situation:

• When I was planning to dig the hole for the propane tank.....

Actual Thoughts While Planning:

• I’ll get “miss utility” to come in and map the power and phone lines, even though I already know where they are.  The sewer line couldn’t possible be this far away from the house.  I can’t think of anything else.

Desired Thoughts While Planning:

• I’ll have to determine where there sewer line is, and also make sure there’s nothing else I’m not thinking about.

What is it about the way I am that is apparent in the above thoughts?

• I tend to not research things as thoroughly as I should when I want to do something.

What do I intend to do about this?

• When I am about to do something significant, I will intentionally get other people’s inputs – especially those who might see things differently.  I will tell my wife of my intentions tonight, and ask her to help me do this on home-related issues

Drip-by-drip, over and over, I am seeing myself as part of the problems that occur in my life.  On one hand, this type of exercise saddens me.  

On the other hand, it liberates me.  After all, I am the only person I can change.

Why in the world do most people insist on AVOIDING this kind of introspection as part of their "root cause analysis" efforts?  Isn't it true that ALL our problems can be traced to people, just as in my backhoe example?  Isn't it "the way we are" that needs to change? 

About one year ago, my life changed forever...

Before I share the text of this blog, allow me to introduce "Monty Gillard."  Monty is one of Failsafe's Apprentices, rapidly on track to becoming a full-fledged Affiliate.  I hope you take time to read what Monty has to say.  It's more lengthy than our typical blog articles, but I think what he says will resonate within most of you.  Whatever you do, don't miss his final two paragraphs.

  Thanks for sharing this Monty!

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About one year ago, my life changed forever.  As a Contract Field Safety Advisor,  I accepted a new contract with a company who is a client of Failsafe Network, Inc.  I had no prior exposure to Failsafe or Latent Cause Analysis and attended "Day One" of a 3-Day Class with preconceived notions.

This is going to be just another Root Cause Analysis class, with yet another chart to consult in order to get the same results we've always been getting:   it was operator error, or the supervision was insufficient, or the system was flawed, etc. etc. etc.

But to my surprise, this was DIFFERENT.  This was what I always thought learning from things going wrong COULD be.  I realized I had been muzzled by these other, restrictive forms of RCA.

I had become disenfranchised with the Health and Safety Profession as a whole.  I chose this profession because I wanted to make a difference.  However, after being contracted to some of the world’s largest energy companies, I began to realize it is impossible to make a difference when using the investigative techniques used by most of the industry.  Without realizing it, I was contributing to the problem -- especially the blame game. 

It is understandable that when a safety advisor first approaches a work group, their defences will go up.  They do not know whose “side” you are on.   After all, how many times have I heard,

“What does it matter.  If anything goes wrong they are just going to blame me/us anyway."

Safety Advisors are viewed as part of the "management team," i.e.,  “us against them."

This defensive reaction from the groups I was working with offended me at first, and I would try to explain that I was neutral;  that I worked for everybody.  However, as my career progressed, I realized that I did NOT work for everyone!  Most project managers view field safety advisors as their “eyes in the field” and would request audits about the work being done in their areas from a safety perspective.  More often than not, the only concern we would find would be a lack of documentation, or perhaps a small improvement which could be made in safeguarding, or personal protective equipment, etc.  A corrective action item would be created by ME, the safety advisor, and forwarded to the project manager, who then would forward it to the work team.

What is really being accomplished through this process?  It became a circus in many respects.  The safety advisor is viewed as someone who is doling out more jobs for the workers, more paperwork to fill out, or more equipment to buy.  In other words, from the perspective of the people in the field the end result is troublesome.  This perspective does not help with morale in any way.  It is simply someone else coming into an area, looking at a problem,  and deciding what the fix is.  The people who really need to CHANGE - the workers, are not engaged!  

How can this work?

Even more, when an incident occurred, most organizations I was involved with used one of the two most popular Root Cause Analysis templates used in the North American industry.  I found these checklists to be mere crutches, helping people to manipulate the chart until it worked to get you the result you desired.   If the incident was deemed to be a specific worker’s fault, he/she was removed from site or fired.  Problem solved right?  

Every time I heard this happening, and I reiterate EVERY SINGLE TIME, I felt awful, sometimes even sick to my stomach, because I had often known this person and had talked with them.  To make matters worse, I have had Project Managers or Construction Superintendents ask me if “this person should be allowed on site."   The person made a mistake!  They did not do this maliciously or with intent!  This person had almost always co-operated in the investigation and they were always told that “we simply want to learn from this."  Once they were “skidded” from site, what does that do for the morale of the rest of the workforce?  Does this breed trust within an organization?  Or is it another safety document they must review and sign.  Do we really think the workforce is retaining all this information? 

As you can see, my belief in what I was doing was waning, and it was not really the result of any one particular contract.  Often times I would spend long days in camps or hotels and without job satisfaction.  It was difficult to remain focused on my role under such circumstances.

Which brings me all the way back to the beginning.  One week in February 2014 I was exposed to something that would change my professional and personal life forever; the Latent Cause Experience.  How to REALLY learn from things that go wrong in our lives.  I have been fortunate to use LCA in an industrial setting, but I have been more fortunate to also apply its concepts in my home life.  Examining how thing go wrong whether professionally or personally can ONLY be solved by looking at yourself as part of the problem.  There simply is no other way.  

Relationships with people closest to me have actually improved immensely since I learned that you can only learn from the things that go wrong in your life by looking at yourself as part of the problem.

As my personal life changed with LCA, so did my professional life.  The founder of Failsafe Network, Bob Nelms, has given me the opportunity to enter the apprenticeship program towards becoming a Failsafe Affiliate.  This will provide me the avenue to truly make a difference.  Every class offering I have attended or helped present has changed me a little more, not only because I understand the concepts of LCA better, but because of the interactions with the class and how I see myself changing in relating to all of the people in my life.  It has reinvigorated me and I am truly excited about the journey that lies ahead with Latent Cause Analysis. 

You Have to Feed the Beast

You have to feed the beast!

As I was eating dinner with a client a few months ago, I asked him to think about how we (Failsafe) could be of better service to our clients.  I encouraged him to take time to think about his answer and to be in touch with me at a later date.  But immediately, he said “I don’t need to think about it!  Bob, if you want to be of better service to your clients,

You have to feed the beast.”

Later, after thinking about it for a while, I got in touch with him again to probe his meaning, but he retracted the phrase and told me (more or less) that he merely meant that the results of any causal learning endeavor must be seen on the bottom-line -- and “as a business person, I would not say this is negative.”  

Please do not get me wrong.  I appreciate this person, and what he is saying.  

But why would he have initially used those words?  Did something in his subconscious suddenly emerge, revealing a true but unwanted feeling?  Do we all have “beasts” within our lives -- circumstances that always seem to threaten us that are easily placated but difficult to permanently resolve?  Are we more willing to merely keep the beast satisfied than to do whatever it takes to remove the beast (including “killing” it if necessary)?  Are we all prisoners, in effect, of these beasts -- who demand more and more, “or else?”  What are the “beasts” of our “business lives?”  Are we merely them by “feeding” them?  Would we be better off without them?  If so, what would be the meaning of “killing the beast?”  

So many questions.  What are your thoughts?  

Please reply on this blog so that everyone can share.

Are you Kidding Yourself

Are We Kidding Ourselves?

I have been privileged to have met many thought-provoking people while jaunting around the globe sharing “The Latent Cause Experience.”  One of these people is Scott Renton, a Canadian who currently works for Ledcor Contractors in Fort McKay, Alberta.  During one of our several discussions during the class, I suggested that he put his thoughts in writing.  He sent me the following article.

After you read this, please share your thoughts right here on the blog by writing a sentence or two

1) summarizing what you think Scott is saying, and then

2) stating whether or not you agree with him.

Here's Scott's article.  Thanks Scott!

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Growth. Human nature seems to thrive off of it. As long as we have existed we have been growing, developing, and expanding. Has there ever been a time where humanity has stayed still?

As humans, growth is what builds us to be the individuals that we ultimately become as adults.  But it can be difficult to measure.  In simplistic terms, it could be defined by results:  how big, how strong, and how much.  But what is often overlooked is the process in which results are achieved.  After all, who really cares why something costs less?

What matters is the savings.

With this pressure on us, how can we measure our growth as individuals?  If we are only measured by worth that can be seen and compared, then we think this is all that matters.  There is precious little room left for pondering ourselves -- who we are and why we are the way we are.  We need to keep up, and  “who cares how we do it so long as we can show results?”  To slow down and invest in developing our thoughts, our feelings, and our social maturity takes time that we are taught to think we don’t have.  After all,

What matters is ‘the savings.'

Examples of this can be found everywhere.  Advertisements tell us that we are falling behind simply if our computer or television is out of date.  Our neighbors and peers affirm this for us when celebrating our financial and material successes.

But has a person ever been praised for turning down a promotion because they felt they weren’t ready?  If we couple this with the assumption that if we get promoted at work or elevate our social status in life it demonstrates a complete readiness for the new role, then what do we create?  It could be easily argued that we create an immense pressure on ourselves to prove how far we have come and how much we have grown so that we can hold it up for the world to see far in advance of us getting there maturely as an individual.

In other words, to admit that we are smaller, slower, less intelligent than the world that we have built for ourselves is terrifying, and the world is still growing. The more we are pressured to ‘keep up’, the stronger the urge will be to project an air of confidence in lieu of stopping and asking the right questions when we don’t understand.

Who among us is willing to stop, when we could be left behind as a result? 

Who among us is willing to admit that we don’t understand, when we have projected for years that we had everything ‘under control?’  Another way of asking this, is:

Who among us is willing to trade who we appear to be for who we really are, when the cost could jeopardize our position in life?

In summary, it seems that we are creating an imbalance between our projected self and our own personal identities. We are willing to trade life experience for material profit, because so long as we believe that the only way to demonstrate our growth is by what we can hold up in front of us, our projected self will always be more important.

Scott Renton

 All Photos by: Chris Potter CC by 2.0