Why Do Problems Exist, Part 1

Why Do Things Exist

Part 1 of a 3 part series exploring philosophical and religious thought about why problems exist.

The impulse to seek causes is innate in the soul of man -- Leo Tolstoy

Isn’t it interesting to think about how it all got started?  When I say “all, I mean “all.”  Everything you can imagine -- all the physical things that you can see around you  -- all the people you know -- all the subjects, issues, and ideas you’ve heard about --- they all have origins -- origins that often go back to the beginning of humanity or even earlier.  There seems to be an infinite depth to everything.  For example, I’ve been reading about the beginning’s of the idea of “cause and effect.”  It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when “cause and effect” was not known -- at least not formally.  

In this blog article, I will summarize the thoughts of some philosophers and religious people on the subject of cause and effect in general -- that is, why do things exist?  If you think about it, everything you see around you has causes -- everything.  I’ll take you on a brief journey through our human understanding of these causes -- a journey that started in 350 BC and is, of course, continuing to this time.

In next month’s blog article, I will dig into the subjects of “problems or failures” and share what philosophy and religion have said about these things.  I suspect there will be some overlap in this month’s and next month’s thoughts.  After all, how can anyone talk about a problem without talking about cause and effect?  Interestingly, philosophical thought seems to have made a distinction between non-problematic causes and problematic causes -- and the distinction focuses almost entirely on HUMAN BEINGS.

If necessary, I’ll write a final blog article where I will try to tie the two subjects together, i.e., why do THINGS exist, and then why do PROBLEMS exist.

I’ll be honest with you -- I do not know where this is going.  I’m exploring this because I am interested and will report the results of my probing as I go.  I reserve the right to come back to this article after I finish the next article to add to, or correct anything I might find as the result of future research.  So let’s start.

Why do things exist?

Much of what we think about “cause and effect” has its genesis in Aristotle and his groundbreaking ideas established around 350 BC.  As you read the following sentences, please understand that Aristotle was not discussing “why things that go wrong.”  He was commenting on the causes of every thing that exists -- shoes, buildings, trees, and even people.  

He suggested that the explanation of a thing must answer the following 4 questions:

1. What was the “material cause,” i.e., the substance from which a thing was made?  For example, the shirt I am wearing was made from cotton.  Cotton is the “material cause” of my shirt.

2. What was the “formal cause,” i.e., the form or archetype that directs the work?  The pattern, or template used to cut my shirt is the “formal cause” of the shirt.

3. What was the “efficient cause,” i.e., the primary source of the energy required to take the material and use the template to make the shirt?  The people and machines are the “efficient cause” of my shirt.

4. What was the “final cause,” i.e., the purpose of the thing in the first place?  My shirt provides a covering for my torso to protect it against the elements as well as make me more appealing to the eyes of others.  This is the “final cause” of my shirt.

It would be beneficial for you to play with these categories.  Think of anything, yourself included, and try to understand each of the types of causes.  You’ll find the genius in Aristotle’s thinking as you explore these categories.

Aristotle’s groundbreaking ideas about causation were the foundation of almost all human thought on the subject for over 1500 years.  Then, as the age of The Enlightenment began, some complementary ideas emerged.

Thomas Aquinas (1200’s) built on Aristotle’s ideas by suggesting an order to the above 4 types of causes:  1) final; 2) efficient; 3) material; and 4) formal.  In other words, first he says comes the purpose, followed by the energy, directed at the material, according to the plan.  Again, it would be beneficial for you to play with Aquinas’ order for you to see the brilliance of his suggestion.

But as other philosophers began to dissect Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ conclusions, the ideas surround “causation” started to get murky.  

Francis Bacon (1500’s), for example, said “physics handles the material and efficient causes, and metaphysics handles the formal and final causes (at least in nature).  Note that metaphysics is “that branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.”  Bacon declared that the study of “final causes” were inappropriate to the study of physics, because the answers to these things are unknowable and, therefore, ought to be beyond the scope of human probing.

Other philosophers could not help see the connection between causation and religion -- especially when one considers the issue of “final cause.”  According to many of them, final causes in nature seemed to imply that every natural thing is governed by an indwelling form or template that is working toward a definite end, and that the whole of nature exhibits the working out of a divine plan.  In fact, Aquinas’ ordering of Aristotle’s 4 types directly points to the existence of an unknowable but almost certain divine purpose and plan.

Baruch Spinoza (1600’s), for one, vigorously rejected the link between final causes and a divine plan.  He said that “nature has no set end before itself and that all final causes are nothing but human fictions.” In fact, Spinoza was disgusted in those that will “not cease from asking the causes of causes until at last you fly to the will of God, the refuge of ignorance.”

It is understandable that a clash emerged between religious and scientific thinking in those days, since the main driving force of the Age of Enlightenment was a backlash against an autocratic church that controlled almost all aspects of life.  However, isn’t it interesting that the battle between secular and religious thought has lasted until the present?

David Hume (1700’s) was one who started pointing to the futility of knowing true causation, and suggested that we “are ignorant of the manner in which bodies operate on each other -- their force and energy is entirely incomprehensible to us.”  In essence, Hume suggested that we do not know WHY there is such a thing as cause and effect, and that all we CAN know is that it exists.  It was Hume who gave us the idea of  the cause of the cause of the cause -- a never ending series of dominos -- a journey back in time.  Why does the iceberg exist?  It came from a glacier.  Why did the glacier exist?  Snow accumulated over a long period of time.  Where did the snow come from?  Atmospheric conditions.  Why were there atmospheric conditions?  That’s the way our world works.  Why?  A never ending series of questions that eventually are unanswerable.

In reviewing this article, it is most astounding to me that Aristotle’s original categorization of causation that was posed almost 2,400 years ago is still valid today.  Future philosophical and religious thinking argued about the value of exploring the more intangible aspects of “formal and final causes,” and about the religious implications of Aristotle's and Aquinas’ suggestions --but not about his 4 types of causes.

What is even more astounding is that the debate about these issues continues to this day.

In the next blog, I will share the results of my research of philosophy and religion on the subject of  “problems and failures” -- undesirable phenomena that occur ON (or to) the things we have been discussing in this article.  It should be interesting.

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.

Disillusionment: the Path to Wisdom

On July 20, 2015 I read something startled me.  

Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life -- it means being free from deceptions….  Oswald Chambers

I don’t know about you, but whenever I’ve heard that word in the past, I’ve always associated it with something negative -- even painful.  When I have said “I’ve been disillusioned,” I’m usually not very happy.

Disillusionment (Oxford Dictionary):  a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.

Continuing with Chamber’s thoughts:

Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions....  Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life!

In researching other people’s thoughts about this topic, I can truthfully say that I’ve been DISILLUSIONED about disillusion -- and this time it feels great!

Wisdom comes by disillusionment….  George Santayana.  

I, for one, desire wisdom.  Therefore, I desire to be disillusioned.  Do you?

The first man to see an illusion by which men have flourished for centuries stands in a lonely place….  Gary Zukav.  

I have been in that lonely place where I seem to have been the only one who saw the illusion, and instead of resenting being the only one, now I am thankful for it.  Do you embrace truth, even when you feel like you’re the only one who sees it?  Do you desire to be disillusioned?

The longer you stay in one place, the greater your chances of disillusionment…..  Art Spander

The longer I know someone, the longer I live where I live, the longer I look at anything at all, be it a flower, a house, a nation, or our whole earth, the more I see the truth of it -- and the truth is never what I once thought it was.  It seems to be always a combination of wonderfulness and disturbingness. Are you willing to be disillusioned?

Enlightenment begins by disillusionment, is fueled by the perceived benefit of change, and is made permanent by the creation of a new order in place of the old…..  James Mullen

I desire to be enlightened.  I cannot fathom a more exhilarating state.  I embrace what it will take to get to that state.  Do you?

The disillusion of our own abilities is perhaps one of the most important things that can ever happen to us….  Tim Hansel

The older I get, the more futile I see myself and my multitude of limitations.  I recognize how little I had to do with any of my current abilities. Reaching out, or more appropriately “up,” is becoming more and more habitual.  Have you become disillusioned yet about your own abilities?  If not, you will.

Enlightenment is a destructive process.  It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier.  Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth.  It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true, total disillusionment…  Unknown

What is it about our nature that seems to abhor the value of pain?  Only the sick seek it out, but when it comes why can’t we realize what is happening?  The breaking of the shell of our understanding about ourselves and our existence is always painful -- and always the sign of growth.  Untruth, leave me!  I embrace disillusionment.  Do you?

Living in an age of advertisement we are perpetually disillusioned.  The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch….. Joseph Priestly

Something has happened to me over the last few years.  I have gotten to the point where I cannot stomach other people telling me what to think.  This is especially true with the news media, liberal or conservative.  Sure I want to know what is happening in the world, but then let me make up my own mind about it.  Sure I want to know what the latest technology has to offer, but don’t for one minute suggest to me that it will make humanity (me included) different than what it has always been.  I do NOT want to be intentionally disillusioned by the people around me.  Do you? I did not realize, before writing this blog, that Failsafe Network, Inc. is in the Disillusionment Business.   We most certainly do not tell anyone what to think. We have accepted the need to embrace pain when it comes. We applaud ignorance and are suspicious of expertise. We understand that the true light cannot come in until the seemingly impenetrable shield that covers us is broken. We implore people to slow down so that they see the truth that is right before their eyes because it is impossible to see anything when going at warp speed. And even though we often feel as if we’re the only "Root Cause Analysis" business on the road we’re on, we don’t care.  It’s the path to wisdom. Please let me know what YOU think about disillusionment.

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? 

What is it about the way I am that contributes to the problems around me: Part 1

As many of you know, I live in the mountains of Virginia.

Although our "Montebello" is beautiful in all seasons, and although it has taught my wife and I things we would never have learned while living in the city, there has been a definite "cost" of living in our remoteness.

One of these costs are power outages.  We're on the fringes of the public power system, and often loose power when high winds or heavy snows and ice take down the power lines.  We've had a portable generator ever since we've lived in the mountains, and have used it regularly when needed.   It's the kind you have to "pull" to start.

This last winter (2014/2015) was the worst we've seen.  We lost power often.  One time, when I was out of town on a two week business trip, it was -10 degrees Fahrenheit (that's NEGATIVE 10) and had been snowing off and on for days.  I was due to come home in 2 days, so my wife had already used all the firewood I had placed on our back deck to keep the house toasty-warm in my absence.  Because she had no more firewood, she braved the ice and snow and trudged down the hill to check the level of the propane tank.  It was at 20% -- the lowest permissible limit!

She called me, a bit upset!  I told her not to worry.  I called the propane company and scheduled delivery for the next day -- "as long as the delivery truck can make it into the driveway."

Suddenly, at about 10:00 PM, the power failed.  My wife knew she had to re-establish power quickly or the cold temperature would freeze the pipes, as well as herself.  She went outside to use the portable generator, but it would not start.  She pulled and pulled, and hurt herself.  No power, no phone, a snow and ice-covered driveway, no firewood, and seriously low on propane -- a potentially life-threatening combination of conditions for my wife.

Fortunately, the power came back in a few hours, and the propane was delivered the following morning and all was well -- but it shocked both my wife and myself into taking steps to assure this would never happen again.

First, we installed remote propane gauges so that we could read the propane levels from the house (rather than having to walk down a hill in ice and snow to check the levels).  Secondly, we installed a standby generator.

There!  It's fixed, right?  Wrong!  There's so much learning here it's almost hard to know where to stop.  For the purposes of this article, I'll focus on one main question:

"Why had we not done this sooner?"  (install a standby generator and the remote level indicators)?  

After all, I do consider myself to be somewhat of a "safety-minded person," and I most certainly love my wife and would do anything to protect her.  Therefore, after quite a bit of soul searching, the following are my conclusions about my attitudes that accounted for the circumstances that my wife encountered.  (note:  My wife most certainly had her own learning's as a result of this event.)

Attitude Prior to the Incident

• We have been successfully using that pull-start generator for 16 years. It's been invaluable!
• I test the pull-start generator before I leave on business trip and it always works fine.  All is well.
• I always make sure my wife has plenty of gas for the generator when I leave on a business trip.  I'm a good provider.
• I always bring enough wood to the deck to supply her needs for while I'm gone.

Attitude that would have Prevented the Incident

• Although we have been successfully using that pull-start generator for 16 years, both my wife and I have aged 16 years and both have a harder time pulling it.  Maybe it's time for a standby generator.
• Although I always test the pull-start generator before I leave on business trips, I have to admit that I've never tested it in severely cold weather.  I wonder what would happen if it would not start in those conditions when needed?
• Although I always make sure my wife has plenty of gas for the generator, I also should make sure the propane tanks are sufficiently full.  Those are the two things that are difficult for my wife.
• Although I bring enough wood to the deck to supply my wife's needs while I'm gone, what if I'm delayed -- or what if something extraordinary happens and she needs more?

What is it about the way I am that is exhibited in these attitudes?

To be honest, this was a difficult question to answer -- and I've found that my answers change as I think about this more and more.  This is an exercise in introspection -- an exercise  we ask everyone to go through when they are part of something that has gone wrong.  We encourage people to start their answers with the words "I tend to," and end with "and I know this is not good."

• I tend not to be aggressively proactive in considering that my wife and I are aging and might not be able to handle the things we once handled, and I now know this is not good.
• I tend to think that what we have experienced in the past is what we will experience in the future -- after all we've been around for a while and have seen a lot -- and do not think outside the box into the extremes often enough, and I know this is not good.
• I tend to rely of the predictions of experts (weather forecasters, in this case) and plan my life accordingly,without asking myself "what if the experts are wrong?" and I know this is not good.

I do not like these conclusions, because of what they imply:

• I have to face up to the fact that my wife and I are aging and cannot do some of the things we used to do!  
• I have to realize that I have NOT seen it all -- and that I have to force myself to be more cautious about the future.  
• I have to take responsibility for what happens to me, no matter what the "experts" might suggest.

And this is only Part 1!

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!

=================================

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