We can show an organization how to optimize performance through culture management! One of our basic premises is that the social sciences are no less sure or reliable than the so-called hard sciences. If there is validity to our basic tenets -- and we have become certain that there is -- there is no work that is more important than attempting to codify, qualify, and quantify culture and character. We believe that we have made some groundbreaking and unique progress on doing just that. Our methodology is relevant, elegant, and robust.
The four cornerstones of our work are The Bridge Metaphor™, The Performance Map™, The Culture Barometer™, and Exercises for Improvement™.
The Bridge Metaphor™ recognizes the importance of leadership, systems, programs, compliance, technology, and attention to behaviors -- as well as culture -- in a scheme to optimize performance. The bridge will deliver the traveler safely to the other side if all elements of the structure are strong. Balance is necessary and illustrated by the bridge. But, we believe culture, the second foundation, together with programs, strengthens all the other structural members with alacrity -- if it is addressed first.
The Performance Map™ illustrates how performance is achieved. The map is the keystone of this concept and could be said to be a “Causation Diagram” since it illustrates what actually causes things to happen. Most organization improvement efforts deal with symptoms; we deal with root causes for under-achievement. The map illustrates how beliefs and values predict performance. It suggests that it is better to work upstream on beliefs and values than downstream on behaviors. The result is enduring instead of ephemeral.
The Culture Barometer™ is the measurement tool; it is the primary “tool” in the toolbox, the Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual (VDSAM). The barometer is a matrix that list the beliefs and values as imperatives on the left side and has maturity levels we call Predictor/Descriptors™ since they both predict the future and describe the achievements of the organization…as seen by anonymous observers. If completed by an individual the result is subjective; if completed by the entire population or a valid cross-section, the result is objective.
Exercises for Improvement™ is what you do to enrich organization culture. If you need to make improvements in the physical or intellectual areas you need to perform exercises; these may take the form of physical therapy or reading a book or taking a course. You need a similar action plan to improve in the social area: You need to perform social exercises. The exercises for improvement suggest generic exercises that serve as a starting point to strategically improve organization culture.
Our work has begun in the area of loss prevention; that has served as an excellent “pilot plant” to demonstrate and develop the concepts. Now we are branching out into education and soon will be expanding into clinical psychology. There is no limit to the scope of culture and character enhancement. The methodology can be applied to virtually every area in which people work together to achieve common objectives. And, the process is culture sensitive; it will work for any industry, in all countries, and for both genders and embodies the principles taught by all major religions and all right thinking people.
Why is it Important?
Culture and character do predict performance…and it is essentially uncharted territory. There are not many disciplines of such importance that have received so little attention and for which there is such an open field in which to operate.
If we examine the reports of the commissions who studied the Challenger and Columbia accidents and the failure to accurately predict the status of WMDs in Iraq, we find they come to the same conclusions with regard to the failures. They do cover many of the symptoms of the failures but conclude…the root cause of the colossal miscues was…culture -- the culture at NASA and at the CIA and FBI or the whole intelligence community in the USA. A close look at the Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson affairs has produced similar conclusions. Author Toffler describes Arthur Anderson as a firm with “a corrosive culture of greed and dishonesty — a firm that deserved to fail.” If we take a close look at the problems in Northern Ireland or the Middle East, we will be led to conclude -- that while religion, politics, and economics are elements in the conflict, the real issues involve culture.
Social Operating Systems has invented the tools and tutorials to use them that provide the means to measure and manage culture. Ben Franklin was a strong advocate for the importance of character. He said, “More persons are at a loss for the means of improving their minds and character, than they are for the time or the inclination to do it.” The same could be said for organization culture. We even provide a toolbox for the tools. It is a manual and software that provide the know-how and instruments to measure and manage culture. The Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual is all an organization needs to strategically manage its culture. The approach is culture sensitive and is not a one-size-fits-all process. It will take you from where you are to where you want to go. Culture is the operating system for programs in social systems just as the Apple operating system for computer software is Leopard.
Application of cultural re-engineering will help everyone. For those with an effective culture, it will illustrate for them how they got to where they are; it will allow them to find their way back if they ever get lost. This process codifies what the best managers and leaders have always done. The process is the product and this is not a new program; it is a new way to look at old programs. Everything will have more scope and clarity with this information. The solutions are enduring; they are not ephemeral -- as is often the case with management fads.
Our primary product is the Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual (VDSAM) that is described below and in our brochure.
The services provided include the demonstration of the process outlined in the VDSAM and all related culture measurement and management support.
The Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual (VDSAM)
The VDSAM is our guide to putting the theory of safety culture enrichment into practice…and, provision of other remarkable organizational benefits through this truly revolutionary process.
What is it?
The Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual is a “toolbox”, delivered in an attractive binder with hard copy and on four CDs, to enable a health and safety manager to measure organization safety culture and to strategically enrich it. It was created at the request of many people who had either read the book, Values-Driven Safety, attended seminars on safety culture enrichment, and/or had read published articles that summarized safety culture enrichment theory or applied it to specific problems…such as the soft-tissue injury dilemma. Many of the articles are available in our website “Downloads” section. Why is that important?
The conventional approach to health and safety management - the identification, assessment and management of hazards - remains essential. However, no matter how well it is implemented, accidents continue to happen. That is because good procedures or technology can’t cover up a poor safety culture forever.
The Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual offers a breakthrough approach that for the first time allows for the measurement and management of safety culture.
In computer terms, an organization’s safety culture is the operating system for all other safety “programs.” Working to improve safety culture does not replace anything else you are doing; instead, it will lead to the enhancement of every other effective process in use and highlight activities that are not providing a reasonable return on investment. Effective application of this process will reduce injuries, increase productivity, and reduce the need for much costly inspection.
The wise practitioner will recognize that the benefits of Values-Driven Safety™ can be applied to wider management issues as well as health and safety programs. The technique applies to individual character development too.
What do I get?
The manual is divided into six parts designed to provide everything from significant background information to the basic “tools” to create a safety culture profile of any organization and then to coach the user through the interpretation of the results and fashioning of a strategic approach to culture enrichment.
Part one includes a PowerPoint presentation that introduces all the basic building blocks and the rationale behind the methodology. This provides a good opening tutorial for the uninitiated and a good refresher for the already initiated.
Part two provides lots of information that can be used to sell the concepts to everyone from a CEO to hourly employees. It also includes the implementation recipe with the blow-by-blow account describing how you do it. It includes introductory one-minute safety and business assessment tools. It finishes with twelve key questions that are frequently asked -- and the answers.
Part three embodies the “tools” to actually do it. It begins with some case histories and then details how the data must be collected and then provides the software to create the Safety Culture Profile™ and associated breakdowns. Correlating attributes with values validates the process and its ingredients and sample profiles and sample reports will help the first timer develop their own analysis and report. The unique software provided with the manual requires PowerPoint and Excel capability. The instructions for use are explicit and if followed carefully will produce a Safety Culture Profile™ and related breakdowns that will start with a single number describing the safety culture, along with analysis of the input variables and suggested exercises to improve culture.
Part four provides the case studies and suggested tailored attributes for specific industries to encourage customization of the process. Then it provides worksheets and guidance to do just that.
Part five expands the concepts to general organization development and individual development. This is for the advanced practitioner or can serve as background and validation for anyone wanting more background and information and who wants to think about this more broadly than just for its safety applications.
Part six is filled with resource material including published articles and reprinted material from Values-Driven Safety. There is also material applying the methodology to the abatement of soft-tissue injuries and there is a reading list.
Where did this come from?
The Values-Driven Safety™ Applications Manual has been created at the request of many people who had either read the book, Values-Driven Safety, attended seminars on safety culture enrichment, or had read magazine articles that summarized safety culture enrichment theory or applied it to specific problems such as the dilemma of soft-tissue injuries.
They liked the concepts and believed in the methodology but found it difficult to implement the process without the assistance of a set of how-to tools and the right to use the intellectual property. The Applications Manual provides a clear pathway to applying this galvanizing concept to your organization.
How do I get it?
The Values-Driven Safety Applications Manual™ is available from our publishing partner, Sheridan Publishing, and can ordered online from the Sheridan Publishing website.
Click here to order the Values-Driven Safety Applications Manual™ directly from Sheridan Publishing. For information on large volume procurement, feel free to contact the producer Dan Hogan, President, Sheridan Publishing, 1154 East Woodcrest Lane, North SaltLake, Utah 84054 United States of America; or phone at (801) 635-8941; or e-mail at dhogan@sisna.com; or call the creator, Don Eckenfelder at (559) 240-2338; or e-mail him at don@sosltd.us.