Ep. 38: Simple Plan

Fine, Simple Plan is only sort of punk. Or punk adjacent. They're about as pop punk as pop punk gets. But it makes for a decent episode name. Why, because safety strategy gets oversimplified a lot. Or really, the idea of it gets oversimplified. Most safety strategy is a lot of BS anyway that ends up not being strategic at all. The boys talk about whether or not a safety strategy is even useful. Ron says yes, which is a little surprising given his stance in Episode 2 that safety people aren't really that necesary. Ben and Dave (and probably Ron, too) instead argue that what we call strategy is mostly just a PowerPoint-flavored attempt at looking busy and useful. Safety isn't the business. It's a support function (a really important one, but it's still support, not the product) like accounting and HR. Those folks are rocking out 3-year strategy plans with big ideas about how Accounts Payable will be reinventing finance. The organization has a strategic view - a big one - that other departments and divisions are meant to support. So maybe the best safety strategy is how we draw connections to support the broader strategy. You value innovation? Cool. We'd better get confident in how we understand risk and build systems that allow us to experiment without things turning into chaos. What'd you say about profitability? If we're working hard to understand work and get rid of dumb stuff, we're increasing efficiency. Aside from those discussions, a whole lot of safety is tactical, right? That's where adaptability lives, and that's usually a part of what we want. Drawing out a three-year plan doesn't really scream adaptability - at least in the way it's often done. The principles we're trying to achieve in safety don't really change, do they? It's the day-to-day management of risk and adaptation that does, and that means it isn't strategy. So, instead of creating problems to solve and putting them on a slide deck, maybe it's better to identify the top one or two things that really need our attention and go solve for those. That's how experts work - not that the boys are experts - but it's a good indicator that your teams aren't checking in on the mission and vision posters as they make safety decisions. Cool. Carry on, punks.