Fear Kills

In case you didn't see it, a report in the New York Times earlier this week offers a stark example of what can happen when the culture of an organization discourages open and honest dialogue. The article reports that in a study conducted earlier this year by the insurer, Lloyds, the crew of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico had significant and ongoing concerns about the safety of the rig. The Lloyds team was on board the rig about a month before it blew and conducted a safety survey and a number of focus groups with Transocean crew members over the course of several days.

Here's the passage from the article that really hit home with me.

“Almost everyone felt they could raise safety concerns and these issues would be acted upon if this was within the immediate control of the rig,” said the report, which also found that more than 97 percent of workers felt encouraged to raise ideas for safety improvements and more than 90 percent felt encouraged to participate in safety-improvement initiatives.

But investigators also said, “It must be stated at this point, however, that the workforce felt that this level of influence was restricted to issues that could be resolved directly on the rig, and that they had little influence at Divisional or Corporate levels.”

Only about half of the workers interviewed said they felt they could report actions leading to a potentially “risky” situation without reprisal.

In other words, the crew felt safe in calling out issues that were in their immediate control, but feared reprisals from the leaders in the home office if they ran their concerns up the chain of command.

I have the feeling that the disaster in the Gulf will be fodder for leadership case studies for years to come.  All of the good leaders I've interviewed and worked with over the years consistently say that one of their goals is to create an operating environment in which people feel safe to speak the truth and share what is actually going on.  

REQUEST:  Perhaps, as a public service, we should all collaborate on a list of the behaviors that leaders need to exhibit to build an environment where it's safe to speak up. Alternatively, we could come up with a list of what to do if you want to create an environment where people are afraid to say what needs to be said. In either case, I'd love to hear your thoughts over the next few days. I'll write a post next week based on your comments and ideas.

Comments

[Mike Henry Sr.]

To create a culture where it's OK to speak up:
If you're the leader, you must listen and act. Create ways to gather information around silos and organizational channels. And act on what you learn.

If you're not in charge, the best thing you can do is learn effective ways to speak up. If you're concerned about reprisal, get another job!

Isn't it terrible that some business unit leaders, directors and managers managed to protect their image while killing so many people and creating such a horrible travesty.

[Jennifer Tucker]

Agree with the "listen and act" above. Three others based on experiences in cultures of fear: (1) Know your body language and facial expressions: Words are only part of your message - your physical messages send strong signals about how you really feel. If you are a leader, get feedback on physical reactions from people you trust. (2) Avoid deferred gotcha's - Just this week, I was in a meeting where the leader used a harsh joke to belittle feedback from the previous meeting... Last week, he had asked for open feedback on an issue and people gave it. This week, they regretted it. The boss showed his clear contempt for last week's ideas by referencing them in another context - everyone knew what he was referring to, and last week's brave souls will be unlikely to ever share ideas again. Very sad and destructive. (3) Related, watch the use of humor. Teasing can easily become sniping - often, I hear it excused as "we are a family so it's OK," but often, the people receiving it are privately trained to be more defensive, and are less likely to show vulnerability. That hurts - the people, and the organization.

[Scott Eblin]

Thanks for the great observations Mike and Jenny. One of the common themes I take from your comments is accountability. We need to be accountable for our own words and actions along with doing what we can to influence positive action from others.